What’s the average time I’d have to go to university to be an architect? Often, people say 7 years and I want to be one

Question: What's the average time I'd have to go to university to be an architect? Often, people say 7 years and I want to be one but feel like that's a lot of time of my life to spend in school.
- Keywords:
  architecture,
  time,
  university
Asked by JessL to matthewgataesperanca, joshuadavies, freyawise, andrewwood2, Alastair HH, Adam C on 24 Nov 2025.
- Freya Wise answered on 24 Nov 2025:
  
  The average time to become an architect following a university route is five years of study plus 2 years of on the job work experience and training. This generally involves a bachelor’s degree (3 years), a year of work experience, a masters degree (1-2 years) and then another year of work experience with a final exam to become a fully qualified architect. So it’s not all sitting at university, there is lots of practical learning as well.
  
  There are also now other routes to becoming an architect such as professional apprenticeships where you do a mix of working and study which don’t require you to go to university full time. You might find some of these websites useful if you want to look into it in more detail:
  https://www.riba.org/learn/become-an-architect/
  
  https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/architect
  
  https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/property-and-construction/how-to-become-an-architect/

Question: What's the average time I'd have to go to university to be an architect? Often, people say 7 years and I want to be one but feel like that's a lot of time of my life to spend in school.