Architectural Education - The power of apprenticeships
Famously, it takes seven years to become an architect, longer even than some routes to qualifying as a doctor. I don’t think any of us in the trade begrudge this long slog – the Grenfell tragedy shows us what a responsibility it is to work in this profession.
In this month's blog, I thought we’d take a look at the long road to becoming an architect, the power of apprenticeships and how that process has been working for us at Hope.
How it works… traditionally
The traditional route to qualification involves:
A 3-year undergraduate degree (RIBA Part 1)
A year’s work experience
A 2 year postgraduate Masters or Diploma (RIBA Part 2)
A further year’s work experience before the final professional submission, exam and interview (RIBA Part 3).
The formal academic elements of this can be studied part-time or full-time, and the work experience elements are stated as minimum times, so the reality is that most architects have taken quite a bit more than seven years to get qualified.
There are also a few options about how you approach the various academic elements…
I studied for my undergraduate degree at The Bartlett, during the late 90s – the high point of the school’s notoriety for practices that included bullying, over-work, racial and sexual abuse, and emotional torture. This was perhaps partly responsible for me taking a career break, and then studying for the remainder of my professional qualifications via the RIBA’s Office-Based Examination, now called the RIBA Studio.
This route involves no formal academic teaching (instead allowing you to privately employ a tutor of your choosing) and has you continue in practice full-time. Incidentally, this involved me working far longer hours than I ever did at The Bartlett! The result was that I took something like 14 years to go from leaving school to getting that final ARB (Architects’ Registration Board) qualification.
At a minimum then, the conventional full-time route to becoming an architect involves at least five years of academic study and the fees and costs that come with that. That’s 5 years of £9,000 tuition fee student loans, meaning that you enter your professional life with at least £45k of debt around your neck.
The practice perspective
From the point of view of an architects’ practice, we get the opportunity to hire students for a year after their degree, work them hard, pay them very little and keep the profits from the fees we charge for the projects they work on, right?
Well, not exactly.
Quite rightly, the RIBA requires Chartered Practices to pay all employees the National Living Wage, so the days of free or cheap Part 1 students are long gone. The reality is that Part 1 students come into practice with great presentation skills and loads of ideas and enthusiasm, but usually next to no experience of practice life, limited CAD and BIM skills, and only the beginnings of an understanding of the UK’s planning and building regulations.
It’s some months into their placement year before they can be expected to get up to speed and meaningfully contribute to the practice’s workload, and the practice invests a lot of time and energy into that process. Then, after a year, they leave, heading back to university for the beginning of their Part 2 course. Those skills are lost, replaced with another doe-eyed graduate…
Doesn’t work that well for anyone by the sounds of things, does it?
Apprenticeships and their role in training future architects
Recently, a new route has emerged – the Architecture Apprenticeship. In 2012, the government published a review, written by Doug Richards, into apprenticeships. This opened the door for Architecture to be studied as an apprenticeship, and ultimately gave birth to the Level 6 (Part 1 equivalent) and Level 7 (Part 2 & 3 equivalent) qualifications. The new Apprenticeship Levy on businesses of more the 100 people put funding in place for apprenticeships and made it affordable for small businesses to support employees who wanted to further their studies.
The concept of a modern apprenticeship is that rather than leave work to study full-time at a university, students carry on with an employer, and interweave academic study with their time at work. For architecture apprentices, this generally means working in the office three days a week, spending two days in university during term time, and working full time in the office outside of term time. The apprentice keeps earning a full salary and keeps building their career within the practice. The practice gets to keep the knowledge and skills it has helped the apprentice build and also sees new ideas and innovations flow into the practice as a result of the ties being formed with the university.
Now, doesn’t that seem like a better result for everyone?
How this is working for us
At Hope Architects, we’ve partnered with Nottingham Trent University to help two of our graduates continue their education while remaining part of the team here at the same time. Adam graduated in 2022 and started his Level 7 apprenticeship in 2023, and Cameron started his Level 7 Apprenticeship a year later in September 2024. The Level 7 course lasts about four years (there is some flexibility built in), so should see them both qualify as architects in 2027 and 2028 respectively.
For all the reasons you can probably already guess, this is a fantastic option for architecture practices that want to make a longer-term investment in their workforce and for budding architects who want more continuity in their development, especially when they find a practice they feel a part of.
Getting it from the horse’s mouth
It’s all well and good to hear what I think. What about the apprentices themselves? Adam has kindly answered a few questions about his experience on his apprenticeship with us recently.
Why did you choose to do an apprenticeship?
After completing my undergraduate studies, I spent a year in practice at Hope Architects. I fell in love with the working ways of an architect's practice, and it felt like the achievement of a great ambition of mine. The thought of going back to full-time education and part-time working in a shop did not appeal to me one bit. So, I scoured the internet in hopes of alternative solutions and came across the level 7 apprenticeship. It seemed to tick all the boxes for me, and my workplace. I was able to continue my study, whilst also retaining my position at Hope Architects and further developing my career.
How do you believe this apprenticeship will affect both your current job role and future career?
Being able to work in practice alongside my studies, means that I am getting the best of both worlds. I am gaining valuable skills that can only be taught in practice, such as networking and client interaction. I also bring knowledge back to the practice when I’m furthering my academic research. I hope that I’ll be in a good position to build a great career at the end of my study, and will already have made a huge start on that with Hope.
How have you balanced studying alongside your professional role?
Although balancing work and study can be challenging, it has taught me to be disciplined with my time management. This is the key difference I've noticed between full-time and part-time study. I’ve managed my time well so far and haven’t experienced the work to be overwhelming.
The team at Hope has also been very supportive by offering help and support throughout my modules. They are mindful of my workload, especially around university deadlines, and have worked with me to make sure the university work gets done on time while keeping the ball rolling on work projects too.
What is your favourite thing about your apprenticeship?
What I love most about the apprenticeship route is the opportunity to continue developing my career while completing my studies. I’m able to earn and learn simultaneously, all while laying the groundwork for my future career and supporting Hope Architects to deliver great work.