Routes to Registration

3. Examination & Assessment

3 (i) Prescribed Examination

The Architects Act 1997: Section 4 states-

“A person who has applied to the Registrar in the prescribed manner for registration in pursuance of this section in Part 1 of the Register is entitled to be registered if-

1. he holds such qualifications and has gained such practical experience as may be prescribed; or
2. he has a standard of competence which, in the opinion of the Board, is equivalent to that demonstrated by satisfying paragraph (a).

(2) The Board may require a person who applies for registration on the ground that he satisfies subsection (1)(b) to pass a prescribed examination in architecture.”

The Act places on the Architects Registration Board (the Board or ARB) the responsibility for prescribing the qualifications and practical training experience required for entry to the UK Register of Architects. The Board also has a duty to ensure that those who apply for registration without prescribed qualifications have an equivalent standard of competence to those who enter the Register with prescribed qualifications. For those without prescribed qualifications from Schools of Architecture the Board prescribes examinations, under section 4(2) of the Act, at three key stages – commonly called Parts 1, 2 and 3.

The Board publishes criteria which set out the minimum levels of awareness, knowledge, understanding and ability that students of architecture must acquire at each such stage. These criteria form the basis upon which the Board makes decisions as to whether or not qualifications from Schools of Architecture can be prescribed. The same criteria must also be met at each stage by all those who pass the Board's prescribed examinations. These criteria are set out at Annex 4.

The Examination Process

The Examination Procedures are rules of the Board made pursuant to section 23(1) of the Architects Act 1997. They set out what a candidate must do in order to be examined under section 4(2) of the Act at Parts 1 and 2 for the purposes of gaining entry to the UK Register of Architects under section 4(1)(b). In order to be eligible to be admitted to the Register candidates must also pass a prescribed Part 3 examination or gain a prescribed Part 3 qualification and satisfy the Board’s requirements for practical training.

Submitting an application – ARB requirements

In the first instance the application will be reviewed by the Board’s staff to determine if the application can be accepted. The Examination Procedures require that before dates for the examination are set, candidates must submit:

• A completed application form with the prescribed material to confirm eligibility (certificates, transcripts, syllabi etc)
• a completed Analytical Commentary
• the prescribed fee

No application will be accepted unless the Analytical Commentary and prescribed fee is submitted with the application form. In such instances, applications will not be accepted and will be immediately returned to the candidate together with a form giving reasons for return.

Notification of examination date

Available dates for examination are listed on the application form. Candidates will identify on the form their preferred dates for examination in order of preference. Candidates should neither identify dates earlier than six weeks after the submission of the application form nor later than six months after the submission date. The Board will try to allocate to candidates their first choice dates for examination, but this may not always be possible. Dates for examination will be allocated by the Board on a 'first come first served' basis. Candidates will normally be notified of the dates of examination within 3 weeks of the application being received and accepted by the Board. No examination dates will be allocated until the application is received and accepted.

Candidates must notify the Board in writing within 7 days of receipt of the notification of examination dates if they are unable to be examined on the allocated dates. Candidates must identify in their notification what other dates of those listed on their application form they are available to be examined. Within 3 weeks of receipt of this notification, candidates will then be notified of the revised dates of examination.

Candidates who are unable to attend on the allocated dates and who fail to notify the Board within 7 days of receipt of the notification of the examination date that they cannot attend may forfeit the fee for examination. Complete failure to notify will always result in the candidate forfeiting the examination fee. Where applications are withdrawn by candidates after being accepted, a scrutiny fee of 10% will be charged.

Submission of Supporting Material -

Candidates must submit all Supporting Material by the prescribed deadline: either on the day immediately prior to examination at 16.00-17.00, or on the day itself at 09.00-09.30. Late submissions will result in examinations being cancelled and full re-application including fee must be made.

It is the candidate's responsibility to ensure that all Supporting Material is clearly labelled and identifiable from the Analytical Commentary. Material which, in the opinion of the examiners, is not clearly identifiable may not be examined.

Supporting Material must be submitted in a format which complies with the Board's guidelines. Material which, in the opinion of the examiners, does not comply with the Board's guidelines will not be examined.

The Examination- 

The Board will appoint a pool of examiners who will be registered architects from both practice and academia. Three examiners from the pool will be chosen by the Registrar to form the examination team (henceforth the examiners) for each candidate. One examiner will lead the examiners and be responsible for ensuring that all the appropriate administrative work of the examiners is completed, and will act as the main point of contact between the examiners and the Board’s staff. The examiners will be required to make a judgement as to whether or not they are confident that the candidate has demonstrated compliance with all the Board's criteria, and will report that judgement in writing to the Registrar.

The examiners, in the first instance, will make a judgement as to whether or not the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material demonstrate that either:

1. All the criteria are met; or
2. Most of the criteria are met and compliance with the remaining criteria could be determined by the candidate offering oral explanations of the work.

If the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is not considered by the examiners to meet the requirements of (a) or (b) above, the examiners will recommend that the candidate fail the examination and the candidate will not be required to offer Oral Explanations at an examination interview. Candidates will then be required to attend at the time specified to have their Supporting Material returned to them. Discussion about reasons for failure will not be entered into but a full written report will follow by post.

The examiners may identify in writing on the Board's form where, in relation to specific criteria, compliance has not been demonstrated and will comment briefly on the nature of the deficiencies. However, the examiners cannot advise as to any remedial action required.

If the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is considered by the examiners to meet the requirements of (a) above the examiners will prepare a series of questions to ask the candidate orally at the examination interview. The candidate’s oral responses to these will form the basis of the examiners’ judgement as to whether or not they can be confident that the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is derived from a sufficient understanding of all relevant matters. Candidates will be expected not merely to show familiarity with the work but also be able to explain and justify their work.

If the candidate's response to questioning is sufficient to enable the examiners to be confident that the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is derived from a sufficient understanding of all relevant matters, then the examiners will recommend that the candidate pass the examination. If the candidate's response is insufficient, then the examiners will recommend that the candidate fail the examination.

The examiners will identify in writing on the Board's form the reasons as to why, in their judgement, the candidate’s response to questioning was insufficient to enable them to be confident that the Analytical Commentary and/or Supporting Material was derived from a sufficient understanding of all relevant matters.

If the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is considered by the examiners to satisfy (b) above the examiners will prepare a series of questions to ask the candidate orally at the examination interview. The responses will form the basis of the examiners’ judgement as to whether or not those criteria that were not clearly met prior to interview can now be considered to have been met following the candidate’s oral explanations. The responses to questions will also form the basis of the examiners’ judgement as to whether or not they can be confident that the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is derived from a sufficient understanding of all relevant matters.

If the candidate’s response to questioning is sufficient to enable the examiners to be confident that all the criteria have been met the examiners will recommend that the candidate be recognised as having passed the examination. If the candidate’s response to questioning is either insufficient to enable  the examiners to be confident that all the criteria have been met and/or the Analytical Commentary and Supporting Material is derived from a sufficient understanding of all relevant matters then the examiners will recommend that the candidate fail the examination.

The examiners will identify in writing on the Board's form the reasons as to how, in their judgement, the candidate failed to meet the required standard.

Decisions of the examiners are made by majority where a consensus cannot be reached 

The Registrar- Communicating the decision

If the Registrar is satisfied, taking into account the report of the examiners and any reports or advice from the independent examiner(s), that the candidate has demonstrated the required standard of competence he/she shall notify the candidate that the relevant examination has been passed.

If the Registrar is satisfied, taking into account the report of the examiners and any reports or advice from the independent examiner(s), that the candidate has not demonstrated the required standard of competence he/she shall notify the candidate that the relevant examination has been failed.

If the Registrar is unable to decide on the basis of the material before him as to whether or not the candidate has demonstrated that he/she has met all the criteria the Registrar may consult with the Prescription Committee and may require that the candidate be re-examined. Re-examination will not normally incur payment of the prescribed fee, but this shall be at the Registrar’s discretion.

Candidates will normally be notified in writing of the Registrar’s decision within 3 weeks of the examination.

Independent Examiners- Monitoring the Prescribed Examination

The Board appoints independent examiners to report to the Registrar and to the Board’s Prescription Committee on the following matters:

• The consistency of examiners’ judgements
• The conduct of examiners and the fairness of the examination process
• The performance of candidates

At least one independent examiner will be present for each session of examinations and will observe a selection of interviews. Independent examiners will not intervene in the examination of individual candidates by the examiners. However, they may report to the Registrar any concerns arising from the examination of individual named candidates and provide advice to him in relation to such candidates.

Appeals

An appeal must be lodged within 30 days of notification of the failure being sent to the candidate. It should be addressed to the Chair of the Prescription Committee. The appeal must be in writing and can only be lodged on the following grounds:

• Defects or irregularities in the conduct of the examination and/or examination process that had a materially adverse effect on the candidate’s performance.
• Special circumstances for example illness, family bereavement etc.) which were not known to the examiners at the time of the examination and the candidate can show good reason why such circumstances could not have been known to the examiners at the time of the examination.

The candidate should also enclose copies of any relevant documentation that they wish to be taken into account. Please note that appeals can only be made against process and not examination outcome.

Should it be necessary to do so, the procedure and format can be obtained from the ARB.

Third Party Review

The Board’s Examination Appeals Procedure is subject to Third Party Review. Third party reviews look at whether the Board (or its committees or panels) has properly followed its rules or the statutory procedures laid down in the Architects Act. They also test whether the procedures were appropriate and efficient. Decisions of the Board (or its committees or panels) cannot be dealt with by third party review. The proper forum for appeals against decisions is through the Courts.

Applications for Third Party Review can only be requested once the Appeal’s Panel have made their final decision.

Requests for third party review must be made within 30 days of the date of the Appeal’s Panel decision.

Application forms can be obtained from the ARB office or the form can be completed on our website, www.arb.org.uk. You must clearly identify details where the procedure has not been followed, or where they were inappropriate and/or inefficient. In particular, you must specify any defects in or deviation from a procedure. If you fail to give us these facts, the Registrar may decline to submit a matter for review. The Registrar can also defer a review if it interferes with any Court or other formal procedure.

Application

If you would like a set of examination application papers, please contact the ARB (info@arb.org.uk). Alternatively, application details and forms are also available to download at the Board’s website.

Re-examination

Candidates who have failed the examination and satisfied neither a majority of thematic headings nor a majority of criteria, may apply to be re-examined at any time following the notification of their result. No candidate is permitted to apply to be re-examined more than twice, unless the Registrar is satisfied that there is substantial evidence that the candidate’s level of competence has materially improved since the last previous examination.

Re-sit

Candidates who have met a majority of thematic headings and a majority of criteria but do not meet the ‘Referral to Lead’ below, will not be required to be re-examined against the criteria in any thematic headings which have been entirely satisfied. Candidates will be required to satisfy at re-sit, all criteria within the one or two thematic headings that were not entirely satisfied. Candidates eligible for re-sit must satisfy the outstanding criteria within 12 months following receipt of the notification failure.

Referral to Lead Examiner

At Part 1, candidates who have met 13 or more criteria and failed no more than one criterion in any thematic heading, may be offered the opportunity of satisfying the outstanding criteria by referral to lead examiner who will consider a further submission made by the candidate. Candidates eligible for referral to lead examiner must satisfy the outstanding criteria within 12 months following receipt of the notification failure.

At Part 2, candidates who have met 22 or more criteria and failed no more than one criterion in any thematic heading, may be offered the opportunity of satisfying the outstanding criteria by referral to lead examiner who will consider a further submission made by the candidate. Candidates eligible for referral to lead examiner must satisfy the outstanding criteria within 12 months following receipt of the notification failure.

The Examiners’ Code of Conduct is set out in Annex 2