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Architectural Technology students at UCE Birmingham will benefit from professional recognition in future, following an announcement last month.

The Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) has formally recognised the University as an Accredited Centre for Learning and Teaching in Architectural Technology.

The news is a massive boost for hardworking staff in the School of Property, Construction and Planning.

The CIAT Accreditation Group were said to be particularly impressed, reporting that the course fully meets the institute’s requirements and congratulating the staff on the “obvious hard work, dedication and enthusiasm this has taken.“

The announcement comes hot on the heels of eleven courses receiving accreditation from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists (CIAT), the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Association of Building Engineers (ABE).

Undergraduate courses in Building Surveying, Real Estate and Quantity Surveying have all been handed an industry seal of approval, while postgraduate conversion courses in Construction, Real Estate Management and Spatial Planning were also endorsed.

The accredited courses include three new subjects – Planning and Development, Estate Management Practice and Property Development. In addition, undergraduate courses in Construction Management Economics and Construction Quantity Surveying are expected to receive re-approval from the Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB) soon.

The design and content of an accredited course has been approved by the professional body for that career and will ensure graduates meet the standards required by industry. Some give students a head start toward professional membership and assessments required before they become fully qualified.

Tony Kelley, the School’s Director of Marketing & Recruitment, said accreditation meant graduates could be confident of meeting the rigorous professional standards within the construction industry: “The professional bodies take a close interest in the provision and standards achieved on our degree courses and ensure standards of behaviour and education are maintained.”