"There is a dark cloud over architecture apprenticeships"

Government funding cuts will make it much harder for architecture firms in England to take on apprentices, having a major negative impact on the profession, writes RIBA president Muyiwa Oki.

Despite being relatively new, architecture apprenticeships are undoubtedly a success, receiving rave reviews from both apprentices and the practices that hire and develop them.

However, there is a dark cloud over apprenticeships, with potential funding cuts looming after the UK Government announced plans in September 2024 to defund level-seven apprenticeships, which include the completion of a master's degree and combine studies with practical, on-the-job experience.

Defunding apprenticeships will have a hugely negative impact on the profession

Set to replace the apprenticeship levy – a tax paid by UK employers over a certain size used to fund apprenticeship training – is a new growth and skills levy, which will allow businesses to use 50 per cent of their levy contribution to fund training through routes other than apprenticeships. This change aims to create new, shorter apprenticeships and support younger people at the start of their careers. Both of which are welcome moves, but the bad news is that to pay for this, businesses will be asked to fund more of their level-seven apprenticeships without the financial support of the levy.

Ensuring that a wide range of experiences and voices are reflected in the buildings and places we create requires many different routes into architecture education, including apprenticeships. Defunding this route would prevent most architecture practices from taking on apprentices, narrowing access to the profession and hampering efforts to increase the sector's capacity to meet the needs of the government's growth mission.

In response to the proposed funding cut, institutes representing architects, planners, construction professionals and surveyors have joined forces to call for a rethink, highlighting the negative impact that cuts would have on students, and the knock-on effect on employers and the built environment at large.

As a highly skilled and regulated profession, there are limited routes to becoming an architect. Apprenticeships offer a flexible, accessible and inclusive pathway. They allow those who may have not even have contemplated a career in architecture to earn a salary while continuing their studies – key to supporting those who have family or caring responsibilities. As a profession that has struggled to attract and retain a workforce that reflects the society it serves, it's particularly important to make architecture accessible to people from underrepresented backgrounds.

Architecture practices that hire apprentices see a wealth of benefits. Apprentices help them invest in a long-term strategy for the future of their business, allowing them to support, retain and advance the careers of young professionals. Architecture apprentices gain real-world experience by training in practice, which can help them to develop the specialisms needed to address specific skills gaps.

Considering the success of architecture apprenticeships to date, defunding them will have a hugely negative impact on the profession. We all know that profit margins are tight, and RIBA’s Business Benchmarking data evidences this. Asking practices of any size to fund apprenticeships themselves means that many, if not all, will be unable to afford it.

For tomorrow's built environment to be better than today's, it needs the input of voices that historically haven't been heard

Defunding level-seven apprenticeships could jeopardise the whole journey to professional qualification. Level-six architecture apprenticeships are equivalent to an undergraduate degree, and many taking this route go on to progress to the level-seven apprenticeship. Removing funding from level-seven apprenticeships limits progression opportunities for level-six apprentices – potentially deterring people from taking that first step towards becoming an architect.

How this potential funding cut squares with the government's own housing ambitions is unclear. Last year, the prime minister announced his Plan for Change – a series of milestones aligned with the government's overarching missions. Part of this was reaffirming the "hugely ambitious" commitment to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this parliament.

For architects, this presents a mammoth opportunity – the chance to help deliver the high-quality, sustainable homes and places of the future. But to do this, there needs to be a pipeline of talent. level-seven apprenticeships should be part of the solution, not seen as part of a problem.

Our built environment benefits from different perspectives, ways of thinking and innovative approaches. To create places that meet the needs of all members of our communities, we need a diverse, representative profession.

Without more accessible, affordable routes like apprenticeships, so many talented people with unique and valuable perspectives will be locked out of the profession, and the problem of underrepresentation in architecture will only be exacerbated. I truly believe that for tomorrow's built environment to be better than today's, it needs the input of voices that historically haven't been heard.

I urge the government to reconsider

Skills England's own analysis of current and future skills needs acknowledges that the government's growth ambitions will increase the demand for architects. It's a no-brainer – apprenticeships are a solution to deliver both economic growth and new high-quality, sustainable homes up and down the country.

Of course, architects are not the only professionals facing level-seven apprenticeship funding cuts. But in a regulated profession that takes many years of study and practical experience to qualify, apprenticeships are particularly important. They have been a welcome change to the educational process – positive for both students and employers.

I urge the government to reconsider defunding level-seven architecture apprenticeships if it wants to drive growth, fix the housing crisis, and, in the process, improve the built environment for everyone.

Muyiwa Oki is the president of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an architect at construction company Mace.

The photo is by LinkedIn via Unsplash.

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