The UK architectural route comprises of three stages, Part 1 (normally 3 year undergraduate degree in architecture), Part 2 (normally a B.Arch/M.Arch 2-year postgraduate degree) and Part 3 (diploma in professional studies normally carried out part time while in employment).

Therefore the "m.arch" will be the Part 2 and the "pg dip" will be the Part 3!

not neccessarily true, lekizz....

Depending on where you study in the UK, you get a different degree for your part 2. In edinburgh part 2 is a 2 year M.Arch, in Cardiff it's a 1 year M.Arch, here in the Bartlett it's a 2 year diploma. All are equivalent to the RIBA Part 2.

Just to add another layer of confusion, here in the Bartlett you can finish your diploma and go on to do a M.Arch afterwards (though this is generally only useful for extending research into your diploma project and doesn't affect your part 3).

From what you've said, droog, I'd say your American M.Arch is equivalent to RIBA Part 2. That means you'll need to do your Part 3 in the UK to be licenced (which is to be expected given the different regs etc).

Hope that helps.

to make further muddy, while in north america it is possible to get a m.arch professional degree in the UK it is not, so if you don't have 5 years of specifically archi-education you won't get your part II, even if you have a masters degree.

a lot of people from my school in canada went on to uk and had m.arch accepted as part II, then did part III after working in london for a few years. none found it particularly hard. just expensive.

@ Chris Hildrey

Read my reply, I clearly described the normal route. I am well aware there are one or two exceptions. After all, I studied at Cardiff!!

Like jump says, I'd be surprised (and a bit disappointed) if a two year US degree is accepted as equivalent to 5 years of UK education. I suppose you would have to demonstrate that you had accomplished (by one means or another) the knowledge and experience equivalent to the 5 year UK route.

one more confusion to add - i studied in scotland and did a 4 year part 1 course (BArch) and then a 1 year part 2 which was a PgDip.

the pgdip could have been converted to a masters with another 6 months added on...

lekizz - don't take it personally. You may have described the 'normal' route but you didn't make that clear - nor mention that there may be exceptions. I'm just trying to help the OP.

I'm a bit confused now...you say you'd be surprised if the m.arch was equivalent to Part II? But in your reply you suggested it would be equivalent to Part III?!?

My point was simply that I'm studying Part II and my course is a post graduate diploma. To answer the OP's question directly, the pgdip is Part II, the M.Arch can be part II or an additional conversion course as belle says. Part III would be what I would call a prefessional diploma rather than post graduate, but I may be wrong there.

Basically, I can see why the US M.Arch would be equivelent to Part II as (as far as I understand it) it takes either 5 years straight through, 4+2 years finishing with an M.Arch, or 4+3/3.5 years for an unrelated undergrad course followed by an M.Arch I course. Either way, I'd say that's a fair swap for a Part II.

i don't know anyone who tried, and since i did undergrad arch degree then m.arch it didn't apply to me either, but i was told that if you did unrelated undergrad degree followed by an m.arch in north america your education would not be recognised in UK. it has to be 5 full years of archi-only education.

i assume there are ways around this but did know one feller from canada who did the non-arch undergrad route and moved to london to work as architect there. he never bothered to try and get reciprocation. luckily in his company they did not seem to care and looked at his experience and capabilities rather than what papers he had...for him it had no impact on his career, at least to get started. i think situation today is significantly different now though.

You guys have over complicated it...

There's part I, II and III. Part I and II are gained at Univeristy, and Part I is gained after 3 years, part II is a further two years of study..., a total of 5.

Names given to the first 3 years, BSc (arch) BA (Arch) or nothing.
Names given to the next two years Dip.Arch, B.Arch, M.Arch

Further to that there are many masters and other programs such as PHD's one can pursue after that... M.Arch. PhD, Doc,

I would rank a M.Arch I candiate as a part II even though they only studied for three years, as they have another degree, and the three years of study were more intense than our part I.

(The difference between a M.Arch I and M.arch II is explicit in the states, it is not in europe. Some people may have a masters from somewhere like the barlett or the AA, this is post proffesional masters, others may have it from some schools that give the M.arch after 5 years study, Employers will know where you got your masters from and how to grade it...)

british riba part I/II/III are the three degrees associated with professional qualification as an architect. part I is usually obtained after 3 years or equivalent of study at an accredited architecture school. this is known as the "degree" or "undergraduate diploma". after that follow 2 more years of postgraduate study, which if undertaken at a recognized school leads to a "postgraduate/pg diploma". this is also known as "professional diploma in architecture" and equals riba part II.

when subsequently working in architecture, in order to be able to register with the arb (architects registration board) and actually call yourself "architect", being able to sign off projects etc you will undertake your part III. this is connected to an academic institutaion which will eventually be the awarding body but the work is mainly carried out in a practice. you are examined for building regs, conduct etc and have to present a case study (typically the project you are working on in your office). this is allegedly as lengthy as it is boring but will result in a "registered architect" status, which aside from the powers that come with the title even in some offices entails an immediate huge pay rise. in others not even a tiny one.

ma/m.arch./msc etc undertaken in the european system are all research degrees with different contents and time of study. none of them really contribute towards your eligibility to call yourself/register as an architect in a european country.

us-educated architects that come here ususally get accepted as being of part II-status (architectural assistant/junior architect in an office) and normally have to go through the full part III-process to be able to register. this may entail translating all of your study to the riba scale (expensive) first to be eligible, but in your case it seems your ok for part II.

oups sorry didn't see that last one..could have cut chunks out of mine

this is relevant part of e-mail from arb i got when i started process. it was several years back so take with grain of salt.


Thank you for your enquiry, we don't recognise Overseas Qualifications as they stand, so in order for you to get your qualification recognised at the UK Part 1 & 2 level, you would need to go through our Prescribed Examination Process to get your equivilence in Parts 1 & 2 ( after 5 years of study, Part 1 only if less than 3 years) , after sucessful completion of these you will then be required to take the UK Part 3 accompanied by two years work experience, one of which can be from an EU country. Once you have completed this you will then be able to apply for registration as an architect.


i was told the 5 years in question have to be archi-study. if you have m.arch with undergrad in other discipline you get part I only. again don't trust me on that point.

yeah - the arb are very picky about which qualifications from overseas they recognise. i work in London with a lot of people from outside europe, with fantastic qualifications from the country where they studied and most of the time they don't bother to go through the process.

empea is right - if the arb doesn't recognise your qualifications it can be long and expensive - you have to demonstrate you fill all of their criteria and this means going back through all of your work right from your first year of study and presenting it to them.

i think that there is another, more long term route to get professionally qualified in the UK that you can apply for after a certain number of years working as an architect but don't quote me on that...