In the autumn term of 1999 Marc Corbett and Nick Hayhurst carried out a survey of the finances of students of architecture in the UK, the response rate was high and the results alarming. The report built on a similar survey carried out in 1997 by Leonie Milliner and revealed that students of architecture were facing a significantly higher level of debt than students in other academic subjects. It was also found that students were spending significantly less on resources than three years ago and that 12% of students received a level of remuneration below the minimum wage in their year out.

A paper "National Survey of the Finances of Architectural Students in the UK, 1998/9", funded by the RIBA, was published following the survey and was presented at the first archaos conference held at the RIBA in February 2000.

Nobody ever said that being an architecture student was easy, but there is an increasing disparity in the number of students enrolling on degree courses in architecture schools and those qualifying at part 3 stage.

We believe that while some students leave the course to follow alternative careers (where the chances of recognition are often greater and the wages are normally higher) a proportion of students are not completing the course because of negative factors such as financial hardship and discrimination.

download financial survey report [currently unavailable]