Curriculum overview

The RIBA CPD Core curriculum is made up of 10 mandatory topics which help to ensure overall competence and aid personal, professional and practice development. Members must carry out at least two hours of study in each of these 10 every year.

10 core curriculum topics x 2 CPD hours = 20 study hours per year. The 10 topics are:

• Being safe – health and safety
• Climate – sustainable architecture
• External management – clients, users and delivery of services
• Internal management – professionalism, practice, business and management
• Compliance – legal, regulatory and statutory framework and processes
• Procurement and contracts
• Designing and building it – structural design, construction, technology and engineering
• Where people live – communities, urban and rural design and the planning process
• Context – the historic environment and its setting
• Access for all – universal or inclusive design.

The 10 topics are accompanied by study notes (see the attached PDF). These notes do two things: they suggest an overall approach to competence in the 10 topics and they act as a potential study guide with suggested ways forward covering a number of subjects within the 10. You are free to develop your CPD based on this study guidance, or you may choose other learning pathways within any or all of the 10 topics.

You will also note that some subjects in the study notes, for example, 'risk assessment', appear in several curriculum topics as they are essential to competence in a number of areas. This would not mean that you would study risk assessment more than once!

What, where, from whom and how you choose to study each of the 10 topics depends on the expertise you need in practice. Many members may only need general awareness CPD for some or all 10 of the topics. The more expertise you need in practice, however, the more detailed your CPD in that topic ought to be.

You are otherwise free to choose the exact detail, specific subject, and type of CPD yourself. Note that 'CPD' can be any relevant learning activity. Depending on the expertise needed, your CPD time can include anything from weekly reading at one end of the spectrum, to extra qualifications at the other, with an endless variety of learning activities in-between.