The Architects Registration Board (ARB) has today announced changes to its approach to professional practical experience, as part of its wider reforms to architectural education and registration.
The changes implement the findings of the independent Professional Practical Experience (PPE) Commission established by ARB to examine professional practical experience, which reported after a year-long review in 2025.
They follow a consultation earlier this year on proposed changes to ARB’s Standards for learning providers, guidance for employers and trainees, requirements for a new Trainee Record of Experience, and the Registration Rules governing practical experience.
In response to the consultation, ARB has retained the overall framework and objectives of the proposals, while using the feedback to make changes to give providers greater flexibility.
Alan Kershaw, ARB Chair, said:
“Our aim is to make sure that all trainees have access to high-quality practical experience and the support they need to develop the competence required for registration.
“The feedback we received through our consultation has helped us further strengthen and refine our proposals. We have used this to shape changes that will give trainees a more supportive and flexible experience, while maintaining the high standards required for registration.
“The new framework for practical experience published today will give learning providers greater flexibility to integrate academic learning and practical experience. It will also provide much greater transparency for trainees about what they should expect from their PPE and how they can access guidance and support.”
ARB has published:
minimum requirements for the Trainee Record of Experience; new guidance for employers and trainees; revised Standards for learning providers and an updated accreditation handbook; and an outline of the changes that will be made to ARB’s Registration Rules governing practical experience.
New Trainee Record of Experience
Under the new requirements, trainees, their learning providers and employers will use a Trainee Record of Experience to support structured reflection on their practical experience and enable learning providers to better advise them on their progress.
The Record will not be assessed by ARB as part of the registration process. Instead, it is intended to help trainees, employers and learning providers identify gaps in experience and support trainees as they work towards meeting the required Competency Outcomes and registration.
New guidance for trainees and employers
ARB has published new guidance for trainees and employers of trainees, explaining clearly their respective roles and responsibilities during professional practical experience. This guidance is intended to help ensure that practical experience is productive, fair and meaningful.
Learning providers can use the guidance to help trainees and employers understand what constitutes suitable experience and how trainees can make the most of their time in practice.
Revised Standards for learning providers
The revised Standards focus on the support providers should offer throughout a trainee’s qualification route, including oversight of individual progress and ensuring access to appropriate guidance and support. The Standards also give examples of how providers can develop relationships with employers to support their trainees. ARB agreed with feedback received during the consultation that requiring learning providers to maintain a list of employers could prove impractical and disproportionate.
The Accreditation Handbook has been updated to reflect the new Standards.
Removal of the two-year minimum requirement
ARB is also removing the requirement for applicants for registration to have completed at least two years of practical experience.
Applicants will continue to need qualifications demonstrating that they have met all of ARB’s Competency Outcomes. The time needed to achieve these outcomes will vary depending on the nature of an individual’s education and practical experience.
The change will provide greater flexibility for learning providers to develop qualifications that combine academic learning and practical experience, without trainees needing to categorise their experience according to a fixed time requirement.
The removal of the two-year minimum does not reduce the standard required for registration. Applicants will still need to demonstrate that they have achieved all of ARB’s Competency Outcomes through accredited qualifications. Combined with the Trainee Record of Experience, there should be much greater transparency for trainees about their progress against those competencies.
A more collaborative model
The changes are designed to improve access to high-quality practical experience, provide trainees with clearer and more consistent support, and give learning providers greater flexibility in how they meet ARB’s requirements.
They also represent an important step forward in addressing the significant variation in the quality of practical experience identified by the PPE Commission, as well as the challenges faced by trainees who can be left carrying much of the responsibility for ensuring their experience meets the requirements. The new framework aims to create a more collaborative model, with employers, learning providers and trainees each playing a clear role in supporting trainees to gain high-quality practical experience and develop the competence required for registration.
When the changes take effect
The guidance is intended to come into force in December 2028, in line with the transition to the new education framework and new requirements for professional practical experience. It has been published ahead of this date to provide advice on the characteristics of good professional practical experience and to help trainees, employers and learning providers prepare for the new requirements.
The revised Standards for learning providers and updated accreditation handbook will apply to qualifications as they transition to the new outcomes-based framework. Existing accredited qualifications do not need to meet the revised requirements immediately, but all qualifications must have transitioned to the new framework by 31 December 2028.
The removal of the two-year minimum requirement will take effect for trainees completing qualifications that have transitioned to the new outcomes-based framework. Until a qualification has transitioned, trainees completing that qualification will remain subject to the existing practical experience requirements, including the two-year minimum.
ARB will now work with learning providers to support the transition of their qualifications to the new outcomes-based framework and the new requirements for professional practical experience. This will include working with providers as they develop and adapt their qualifications to meet the revised Standards and support trainees in gaining the experience they need to achieve the Competency Outcomes.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Useful links
The Trainee Record of Experience: Minimum Requirements Professional Practical Experience: Guidance for Trainees Professional Practical Experience: Guidance for Employers of Trainees Standards for Learning Providers Accreditation Handbook Consultation analysis report
About ARB
ARB is an independent professional regulator, established by Parliament as a statutory body, through the Architects Act, in 1997. We are accountable to government.The law gives ARB a number of core functions: To ensure only those who are suitably competent are allowed to practise as architects. We do this by approving the architecture qualifications required to join the Register of Architects. To maintain a publicly available Register of architects so anyone using the services of an architect can be confident that they are suitably qualified and are fit to practise. To set the standards of conduct and practice the profession must meet and take action when any architect falls below the required standards of conduct or competence. To set requirements for and monitor the continuous professional development that architects must undertake, to provide assurance to the public about the continuing competence of the profession. To protect the legally restricted title ‘architect’.
What is professional practical experience?
Professional practical experience is the experience trainees gain through working in architectural practice and other relevant professional settings as they develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to practise as an architect. It forms an important part of the journey towards registration, allowing trainees to apply and develop their learning in a professional context and build the competence required to meet ARB’s Competency Outcomes.
Consultation results
ARB received 87 responses to its consultation, which ran from 15 January to 15 April 2026. Responses came from a range of stakeholders and provided detailed feedback on each element of the proposed changes. Feedback was broadly positive on the proposed guidance for employers and trainees, with 57% of respondents agreeing with the employer guidance and 62% agreeing with the trainee guidance. There was also more support than opposition for the proposed minimum requirements for the Trainee Record of Experience, with 48% agreeing compared with 17% disagreeing. Views were more mixed on the proposed changes to the Standards for learning providers and the removal of the two-year minimum practical experience requirement. Concerns focused particularly on the potential resource and implementation burden for providers, the proposed requirement to maintain a list of suitable employers, and concerns that removing the two-year minimum could be perceived as lowering standards. ARB has considered this feedback in finalising the changes. In particular, providers will no longer be required to maintain a list of suitable employers, and the requirements for providers have been made less prescriptive while retaining the overall aim of providing greater support to trainees.
For more information and media enquiries, please contact media@arb.org.uk
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