School of Architecture – University of Portsmouth

Year Out Practical Training Experience – Guidance Notes 2018

Practical Training Stipulations:

In order to complete the qualifications to become a registered architect you are required to complete
24 months of Practical Experience in addition to the 5 years of academic study. The ARB / RIBA rule is
as follows and there is further guidance and definitions on their websites.

(The Student) has recently completed a minimum of 24 months’ practical experience under the direct
supervision of a professional working in the construction industry which should include at least 12
months working in the EEA, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, under the direct supervision of an
architect.

A period of time in practice following the Degree course is highly recommended. The Stage 1 ‘year
out’ generally lasts an academic year between third year and fifth year. Stage 2 practical training is
considered to be from post M Arch and up to passing the Part 3 examination. The Portsmouth School
of Architecture does not require students to complete a year in practice in order to progress to the M
Arch course, but students with less experience may be asked to attend an interview. You may gain
experience during this year by working within the UK, Europe or the wider world - don’t be afraid of
working further afield at this stage, working in Australia, Europe, China or Bangkok for example is an
excellent way of gaining a global view in Architecture. You may also work in any area of the
construction industry, but you should be aware that for this experience to count you should be
mentored by a professional in the Construction Industry. If you want any ‘non-standard’ (see PEDR
and ARB websites) experience to count towards the 24 months practical training required to join the
ARB register you should check with Emma Dalton or Pamela Cole.

For your work experience to count towards the 24 month requirement you are required to complete a
reflective record – the PEDR (Professional Experience Development Record). You may decide to work
for 9 months and travel for 6 months, or some other combination. You may change jobs at any point,
but ideally you would complete a minimum period of 3 months with any one practice, nevertheless
shorter periods can be accepted, but your submission should relate to a total of 3 months, not
necessarily consecutive. The records are currently completed in 3 month sections, so consider
working for 3, 6 ,9 or 12 months in a practice. Your records are important as they will be examined for
your Part 3, so well presented records now will pay dividends in 4 years time. The following notes will
assist you in completing these records.

Keep good records of your work and activities within the office as you go and complete your PEDRs
promptly. Collect items for your portfolio when they are completed, my advice is not to leave this until
the end of the year.

During your Year Out you will be invited back to the School for 2 seminar days, where we will discuss
your work and give you advice on managing your practical training. This year out is ‘training’ and you
need to approach it with an eye on your career path. To complete your Part 3 as soon as possible the
type of work you engage with during this year will be important, and should be managed by you with
help from your mentor and/or your employer to ensure the maximum range of experience is gained.

If you have any queries regarding your work experience, please contact yearout@port.ac.uk.

GENERAL NOTES

1. Any Practical Training you wish to count towards your Part 3 submission must be recorded and
will form part of your documentary submission for your Part 3 examination. The School requires
you to submit your records on the PEDR form, available for a small fee from the RIBA. Go to
www.pedr.co.uk for lots of further information regarding records. Retrospective and backdated
records are not usually acceptable without explanation, thus we recommend you keep up to date
with submitting records throughout your practical training.

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School of Architecture – University of Portsmouth
2. Emma Dalton is the co-ordinator for the Year Out. The PSAs for Part 1 are Andy Young,
Clementine Griggs, Vanessa Orekan, Kate Yoell and Simon Hoyle. You will be allocated to a PSA
when your first set of records is submitted. If it is your first record please put Emma Dalton
down as your PSA, you will change this for future records, once you are assigned a PSA.
The PSAs are responsible for signing and commenting on your logsheets. If you have any queries
regarding your work experience prior to being allocated a PSA, you should email in the first
instance yearout@port.ac.uk PSAs can advise employers and students on all aspects of
professional experience, including commenting on matters such as salary levels and student
capabilities. The PSA reviews the PEDR sheets every quarter and comments on the breadth,
scope and adequacy of the professional experience gained by the student. In exceptional cases it
will be necessary for the PSA to advise that the student's current experience is likely to prove
inadequate for the RIBA Part 3 Examination in Professional Practice.

3. Completed final copies of your PEDR should be sent to the administrator, Lisa Edgar, at the
School (see address below). They will be registered and payment dealt with, after which they will
be forwarded to your PSA.

4. For administering practical training, the school currently charges a £250 annual fee to cover PSA
costs and administration. Fees may be paid as a lump sum when the first three month’s log
sheets are submitted to the School, or as 4 separate payments of £62.50. (Fees will be increasing
from July 2019 to £300 for the year or £75 per PEDR). These fees must now be paid at the
University online store http://onlinestore.port.ac.uk/, select Product Catalogue, Creative and
Cultural industries and then Architecture. Please note that cheques are no longer accepted.
Note – any logsheets sent in without payment will not be processed. Discuss this with your
practice, as many practices will support your learning by paying these fees.

5. PEDR Logsheets must be submitted at quarterly (3 monthly) intervals and reach the School
office no later than 4 weeks from the last date of the log sheet. This is in order that the PSA
can comment on and sign your record within the 2 month deadline required by the RIBA. Note – it
is the PSA that must sign within 2 months, not your submission to us that must be within 2
months. All PEDR sheets will be logged in with relevant dates noted. Any log sheets which are
returned unsigned, due to insufficient standard or tardiness, may not count towards Practical
Training.

6. Stage 1 Seminars at the school: We hold two day-long seminars each year. Each seminar begins
with a brief update and a short presentation on key aspects of Professional Practice, followed by
group discussions. Students share their year-out work experience with each other, and discuss
topical issues related to practice. It is at this time the tutors and PSAs can identify students who
are not gaining sufficient experience and offer advice. It is also an excellent networking
opportunity for students to compare experiences.

7. The role of the employer (see PEDR website): To sit down with students on a 3-monthly interval to
set a professional training agenda and review the educational value of the previous period. To
review, comment on, and sign quarterly log sheet submissions. To allow (5 or 10) days per year
study leave, paid, in order that students may attend seminars at the School. Any employer not
complying with these simple requirements should be brought to the attention of the PSA, who will
contact the employer directly. Students should ensure office mentors comment on their logsheets
before submitting to the school.

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR LOG BOOK COMPLETION

A. Presentation
1. Records should be clearly and concisely written. They should form a reflective record of events
and work you have been involved with. Consider your log book to be a written account of your
practical training work, just as your portfolio is a graphic account of that work.

2. Limited graphics may be included, but keep them simple, concise and RELEVANT (max 3 A4
sheets). A complete set of drawings is not required as you are not being assessed on design
skills.

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School of Architecture – University of Portsmouth
3. Check and double check for spelling mistakes and poor grammar. Have someone else proof-read
what you have written. Spelling mistakes and poor grammar interrupt the flow of the narrative for
the person reading. It also looks unprofessional. Poorly written logsheets will be returned for
revision and resubmission.

B. Student, Employer, and Academic Details

1. One logsheet records 3 months’ experience (possibly less if you have taken a break after a period
of, for example, 5 months, in which case you will submit a 3 month record followed by a 2 month
record). Your ‘Stage of Experience’ for post-Degree and pre-Diploma/Masters is ‘Stage 1’ or ‘Part
1’.

2. The school address is:

School of Architecture
University of Portsmouth
School of Architecture
Eldon Building
Winston Churchill Avenue
PORTSMOUTH
PO1 2DJ Telephone: (023) 9284 2099

3. All logbooks must include a description of the office.

What to include in brief description of the office:
• Who are they?
• Where are they?
• What is its structure, e.g. sole practitioner, partnership, etc.?
• How many people do they employ?
• What is the organisation, e.g. who does what?
• What is their primary client base? Where are their clients?

C. Work Stages
1. Your time for each quarter is recorded online on a project basis. You should keep a detailed
account of your time through each day to facilitate completing the form. Once your hours are
recorded for individual projects, the total hours are calculated automatically for the overview
sheets.

2. Students must complete a minimum 35 hours per year of Continuing Professional Development.

D. Project Details / Brief Description of Project

1. You must provide details about the projects on which you have worked during that period, and
other activities you have spent your time on. It is important that you record details of the projects
on which you spent a significant amount of time or learned a significant amount. Projects on
which you have worked only a short period of time or smaller projects may be lumped under a
‘Various’ heading. It is not necessary to provide a written description of every project. Time spent
on CPD, holiday, ill, study days, etc. should be accounted for under a separate ‘Project’ title, such
as ‘Miscellaneous’. It is important that you record all your hours to ensure you reach the minimum
requirements for practical training.

2. Brief Description of Project / Project Details. Consider this to be a snapshot of the project.
Present this as a bullet-point list and include:
• Project title,
• Client name (unless confidential),
• Project location,
• Type of client,
• Type of appointment (e.g. SFA10
• Type of contract (e.g. JCT SBC 11)
• Project scope (e.g. size in area or hectares and budget),
• Current stage at RIBA work stages.

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School of Architecture – University of Portsmouth
3. When you introduce a project for the first time, provide as much relevant background information
as you can. This is important for the reader, because it sets the scene for future log sheets.
Include the following:
• What has been completed before your involvement,
• How many people are involved in the team,
• What ‘your’ company has been employed to do, etc.
All your records will eventually be read as one document, therefore avoid a lot of repetition from
one record to the next. This will bore your final examiner!

E. Brief Description of Tasks Undertaken / Points of Special Interest

1. In this section you need to provide a full but concise description of any significant or peculiar
circumstances about the project. These entries will be of considerable value to the Professional
Practice Examiners. Remember your log book is the means of explaining your experience to your
examiners, so ensure you use every opportunity to do this.
2. Concisely describe, with enough relevant detail, what you have done for that month, include in
your descriptions:
• WHO: is involved
• WHAT: what you have done,
• WHERE: e.g. site meetings, planning committees, if relevant
• WHY: why you did what you did and what was the result, what you have learned and what
experience you have gained.
3. Be succinct; this is important. Good descriptions flow like a narrative, are comprehensive, and
provide the external examiners with a good basis to judge your experience. It is important that
you explain your understanding of ‘things’, even if it means you are not telling your reader
anything new. Do not include detail that is irrelevant, e.g. ‘phoned client to confirm meeting,
searched plans in archive, xref-ed drawings, etc. If these tasks are significant, then you need to
expand a little and explain why they are relevant.
4. You should accumulate information for this section by keeping a diary or ‘job book’ and by
referring to anything the office may have written about the project, such as press releases, design
statements for planning submissions, office brochures, etc. (particularly for background
information). See above for the inclusion of graphics.

F. Student Commentary
1. This section is of particular importance to the external examiners. You are expected to evaluate
your performance and describe in more detail what you have learned. Aim to be constructively
critical and objective of your performance. Refer to specific projects and events, because it is
through these you will be learning. Also, describe what you want to learn next, and how you might
go about it, give some indication that you understand this is a learning exercise, and comment on
your success or otherwise in the next record. Remember that the records will be read through one
after the other by your Part 3 examiner in X years time, so commentary that ‘follows up’ previous
comments will make good sense.

G. Signatures and bureaucracy

1. Your Employer Mentors should be making constructive comments about your work on every
record. They should be indicating through these how you have performed and what you have
learned. Refer them to www.pedr.co.uk for further guidance. Endeavour to get a comment
before submitting the record.
2. Please ensure that you retain a copy of all Practical Training Records prior to posting them to the
School. The School does not retain copies of any PEDRs. Log sheets must be submitted at
quarterly intervals, to reach the School office no later than 4 weeks from last date of log sheet.
Any records submitted late must be accompanied by an explanation. Draft copies are not
accepted at Part 1.
FINALLY
Remember your records form part of your documentary submission for your Part 3 examination. It is
YOUR responsibility to ensure that fully signed records are kept in a safe place. We recommend that
you keep a copy of the original in a separate and safe location from the original. We do not keep a
copy.

If you have any queries regarding your work experience, please contact yearout@port.ac.uk
Good Luck!
Emma Dalton RIBA
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School of Architecture – University of Portsmouth
Senior Lecturer
Year Out Co-ordinator
Course Leader – Part 3