Architecture is the most socially exclusive profession in the UK, ahead of law, medicine and accountancy, according to research by the Cabinet Office.
And, as Building Design notes sadly, "it costs more to qualify than in any other sector (and the salary is rubbish)".
RIBA president Sunand Prasad identified student debt as a serious problem, and added that more needed to be done to improve access for older students.
As someone who started their Part I at the grand old age of 28, studying part-time on day release one day a week, I completely endorse Prasad's comments: my practice were pretty supportive, but I was still working a 40+ hour week (compressed into four days), on four-fifths of my rather meagre salary, drowning in course-work and model-making in the evenings and at weekends.
I had absolutely no life or leisure time apart from one evening a week of band practice, and sadly I just couldn't sustain the colossal effort required to complete my degree. Which is one of the reasons Why I Never Became an Architect. I still feel sad about this sometimes.
One of the readers' comments on the BD story caught my eye though. 'muhammad badr' argues for a change in the law, making the need to employ an architect a statutory requirement for RIBA stages A to D, but he notes:
"This only makes sense if a well designed built environment is important to society/government. For this to be the case, the built environment has to be held as more of a resource for all. At the moment it is (and has been) a cash cow."
His comments are spot on: architecture and the built environment are about so much more than proft margins on flats and offices. A truly visionary government would recognise this and embrace the industry's potential. But as I've said before, this Labour Government doesn't care about Construction.
