yes. it's the standard practice all over the world.

In Australia, if your qualification is unaccredited, you can go for the NPrA (national program of assessment) in order to be eligible for the practical exam:

seven (7) years experience within the last 10 years including:

three (3) years in an architectural practice under the supervision of an architect – one year of which must be in Australia
3000 hours of logged architectural experience at the prescribed levels in the seven (7) mandatory Prescribed Elements of Competency (3300 hours from 1 January 2015).

Meaning it has nothing to do with your academic qualification whatsoever. Don't have to go thru part 1 or part 2 thingies, straight proceed to part 3 exam if you pass this assessment.

In the UK, yes you need to go thru part 1 and 2 even if you are qualified architect from other parts of the world besides EU.

But to meet the criteria for part 1 and 2, you are and will be evaluated based on academic and/or working experience. Plucked from the ARB examination guide on supporting material:

"You are not limited to academic projects and it is entirely appropriate to include office-based and other material. You should not rule out anything which you think is relevant.
Applicants who can provide little or no academic work will need to assemble a composite of supporting material drawn from office work, personal work and if appropriate, surviving academic material. It is quite in order for candidates to comment on deficiencies in early work and suggest solutions. Supporting material is not limited to integrated design projects but may include, by means of example, (though not exclusively):
• school projects
• office projects
• personal projects (including plans, sections,
elevations,– axonometric projections, etc.
• competition entries, etc.
• references – client, employer, contractor, etc.
• CPD/IDP certificates
• log books and critical self-appraisals
• dissertations, reports, theses
• project briefs and feasibility studies."

So again, not limited to just purely academic performance.

have u seen any recognition of prior learning programmes in malaysia? it's where experience accumulated throughout the years are converted into academic credits, which later equals to a diploma, degree or even masters.

the answer would probably be highly unlikely u've seen one.

and there's a reason for that. RPL is only recently introduced in malaysia in 2009. and it's limited to certain fields at the moment. so far, no professional courses have been included. in the UK, RPL have been around for a long time. it's where people convert their working experience into diplomas or degrees to get further in life. and they already have the system fully fleshed out to cater into a lot of profession, in which architecture is one of them.

we dont have this system, not for architecture, not for anything else, ever. until 2009 that is. it means we dont have a system to recognize local working experience as part of learning. we still have a long way to go on this. it's not limited to LAM, it's the national policy. things are already changing. what u're complaining is not new to us. we've been harping on it for so long. i mean, people like kamil merican (principle of GDP architect), which is very prominent in local scene, still is not professionally qualified in malaysia (as far as i know). he's been fighting for this change most of his life, and slowly new policies are introduced at national level to finally allow LAM to accommodate them.

so after we have the ability to recognize local experiences, then we will have the framework to recognize overseas experiences.

but then again, LAM already have the IDP module which anyone with an architectural degree (non-accredited) can take. my colleagues from japan already took them and passed and acquired his LAM part 2. but yes, u still need an architectural degree to qualify. at the moment, as long as that degree is recognized by the originating country to practice there, the holder can register with LAM to take the part 2 exam with IDP module.

the IDP module (integrated design project) is a 4 month theoretical design project, like a mini-thesis, where all that experience u said u've acquired to be showcased. it's something anyone could take, where the more experience they have in practice, the better the outcome will be, hopefully.

but it doesnt mean anyone with 10 year experience WILL CERTAINLY pass. i dont know how much work experience u have under ur belt, thing is, not everyone will get to do everything from A to Z in a project. during my practice years, i'm good at ideation and talking/convincing the client to accept the design. my firm exclusively put me upfront for 2 years without having had a single hand in working drawing or technical detail production, site works or consultant management.

imagine doing that for 10 years? i might probably fail IDP because i cant draw a retention wall for a sloping house. point here is, accumulation of experience is great. no one doubts that. but for any professional exam, there's a standard to uphold. there's a reason medical training includes working in teaching hospitals AFTER going through academic structure. no one can obtain a medical license without a medical degree. same with architecture.

Fair point. Probably will throw in application except london area. London schools are good but they are way too expensive (living cost is damn too high)
My first choice probably will be strathclyde too. I heard they can offer both LAM and RIBA accreditation. I think that will be my most concern to pick the right school.
Thanks for your opinion.

do note that most top ranking schools (especially those in london) have a substantial amount of scholarships lying around, particularly for international students. i didnt apply during my years over there because i was already under contract with JPA malaysia. but my colleagues didnt have any problems getting one.

Hi, mr. azarimy. I've been following your threads since before I was even enrolled into architecture programme.
Currently im in my fifth semester, and going through it nicely but I still have certain problems.

First of all, I felt throughout my classes, especially during design classes, I felt that I'm getting "scapegoated" and the lecturers are playing favourites? I'm not sure if this is something I should go "deal with it". I'm seeing these students just took a floor plan from some compilation of famous works and change their window placement, rename some spaces and call it a new design. While me here trying to go from scratch and building up from my base concept gets to be called "design in isolation"

I never missed a crit session, and I always write the critiques in my little logbook and crit sheet. But those "favourited" students gets an easy pass, the lecturers give a straightforward answer on how to fix their deisgn. While I'm here only get scolds at personal level and he left me in the dark without any hints (also with the rest of the people who aren't so close with him). But lately I tried changing lecturer to a non-studio master, and my design is improving.

I'm asking here instead of other architectural forums, since you are an Architecture lecturer yourself. Is this is normal for this course, or some tips I should remember?

these things do happen, and it's quite common. most of the time it's attributed to the lecturers ability to manage the studio and instruct students, but it also depends on the ability to go deep into the students' designs. this is more prevalent in studios with inexperienced lecturers, or lecturers who thinks they're too good for everything else.

but the thing is, not many of these favourite students will survive post school. and i'm not saying this to make you feel good. i have friends in practice who keeps complaining how they fire top graduates from local schools because they cant put together a valid argument on design! some survived for 3-4 months, others 1-2 weeks before having to change schools. in fact, some could not land in a good firm and eventually ended up in school, teaching.

academic wise there's nothing wrong with them. but when u work in practice, u need to know ur design inside out. and i mean KNOW everything about it. if u take somebody else's design, change a bit here and there and call it yours (like your friends did), then u wont be able to justify why that room there with that orientation and that shape, right? because it came from somewhere else!

not to worry about it. u will have the last laugh. just do what u do and be true to yourself.

and possibly switch school after ur part 1 to see how other schools do it. wanna join UTM?

keeping the pie sizeable, but are they improving the "quality" of their design as reflected in the quality of life via design input for general Malaysian.

they just have not factor the issue with "academic qualification flaws" in the system.

Education can provide the "experiment room for their architecture vision" but not the practicality. Look at the design this day in malaysia, are they practical to a sense of architecture?

Hi sir. Can i know what is the salary of fresh graduate architect and the salary after few years of working experience? And which college should i choose to study architecture? Thanks sir

In kl fresh graduate architect* can expect average of rm3.2k - rm3.5k. Other parts of Malaysia may be slightly lower, ie in Sabah and Sarawak the average is about rm2.8k - rm3.2k.
After 2 years of experience you should expect around rm5k+ in kl.

* fresh graduate from abroad with little to no prior working experience.. Not sure about local graduate. But in my firm local or abroad we are treated to same salary range.

Thats about right, for a part 2 graduate (meaning after 5years of study), dont forget to mention that

Is architecture course of LKW college good? And one more thing sir, what the different between civil engineer and an architect? I'm stuck between civil engineer and architect. Thanks

please read up the 1st post in the 1st page. it should shed some light to ur questions. if u have further questions, dont hesitate to ask again.

Accredited International Schools

Studying overseas is one of the recommended option to study architecture. It is advised that an architect to travel as much as they can, to understand other buildings, arts and cultures. I personally would recommend studying in Europe, as you can really benefit a lot from travel. The link below provides a list of recognised overseas schools (Australia, UK and New Zealand).

Recognised Architectural Programmes

Dear Mr.Azarimy,

I checked the above website but under search I had keyed in List of recognized overseas schools and I don't get any results. Where do I check for the list in this website.

I'm trying to find out if there is any universities here in Malaysia that allow my son to study Foundation.

hello there. you may find the list here:

http://www.lam.gov.my/accreditation/list-o...ised-programmes

try and use desktop browsers, coz i tried opening it on smartphones but the tabs that shows UK, australian and NZ schools did not appear.

on foundations thingy: any specific reason why u choose foundation? because it would close the doors to all IPTAs as none accepts foundations except for UM's asasi. even A-levels have a better acceptance in case-by-case basis compared to foundations.

but if u do opt for foundations, then look at which private universities you want your so to end up in. for example, if you choose taylor's, then go for their foundation. do note that even IPTSs dont accept foundations from other schools openly.

foundations are fast. no doubt about it. but it's only if you already know which IPTS you wanna end up in.

Dear Mr Azarimy,

I stumbled upon this forum and you do seem to be an appropriate person to direct this question to.

I have a sibling who has received offers for architecture for both Monash and Melbourne University and is currently torn between the two. We are well aware that Monash is currently not on the list of accredited universities by the LAM. However, we heard through the grapevine that the LAM will be releasing a new list of accredited universities sometime during January. Do you have any insight as to if and when this will happen? If so, what are Monash's chances of getting on the list? It would make the decision making process very much easier.

Thanks!

Not sure where u get that info from, because aa one of a handful of people who sits in the accreditation committee, I sure as heck didnt hear any list to be released haha.

What is going to happen is, 2017 will be the last cohort to study using the overseas accredited list that u see currently. After 2017, the list will be obsolete, and no overseas architecture schools will be automatically accredited by LAM. So ur sibling's part 1 (should he/she be going to melbourne) will be accredited, but when he/she wanna continue for part 2, it wont be anymore.

When the automatic accreditation ends, overseas schools whi r interested to continue the accreditation will seek LAM out to arrange for accreditation and vetting process. Should they be successful, they'll be added to a fresh list of accredited schools, just like what happens to local schools.

So by then, ur sibling could choose to further in those schools instead. For now, my suggestion is to go to melbourne.

Thank you so much for your prompt reply!
I have further questions if you don't mind.

1. How does accreditation work? Is it based on 'when X graduates' or 'when X enters into university'?

2. I'm not sure if you are aware, but Melbourne University introduced its new model in 2008, which means that current architecture students obtain a degree called Bachelor of Environments (3 years) which is designed to be a general pathway to master degrees in engineering, architecture, surveying and other related fields. Students then go on to do a Masters of Architecture (2 years). We noticed that this differs from "B. Arch / M. Arch (Coursework) - Option C" for University of Melbourne in the LAM list. Does this affect accreditation for Part 1 or Part 2 in any way?

Thank you so much for your time.

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