Education policy review

We recently updated members on the background and reasons behind our Education for Everyone objective.

This review of the RTPI’s degree accreditation procedure is appropriate to ensure that it remains fit-for-purpose.  This is because the context for initial planning education, the profession at large and the Institute has changed significantly since 2003 when the current principles of accreditation were adopted. Our Corporate Strategy has set the context and scope for this project.

We wish to retain the strong principles for initial planning education of academic quality and preparing graduates for planning practice, while supporting expansion of course delivery and numbers of students studying, and completing, a planning degree.

Removing unintended barriers to the development of professional planners for students, as well as universities and employers, is a key aim and this review has begun to look at options to expand fully accredited and specialist planning at three-year undergraduate level, alongside the current master’s level.

The Institute has undertaken a significant amount of research so far and commissioned a number of reports and surveys from consultants, including:

Skills and training needs of the profession

Benchmarking across the professional body sector, and with members and universities

Students and graduates

We recognised there is a little more to do to consider all the options, issues and opportunities for planning education.  We will continue to engage with and listen to members and key stakeholders into the next phase of the review.

Thank you to all stakeholders - universities, RTPI committees, employers, graduates and students - who have been engaged with the project and helping to gather views and reflections over the past 18 months or more.  We are currently taking stock of all the information and evidence and no decisions have yet been made, as noted by Victoria in this update on timescales and the importance of the project.

We should be able to provide a further update by this Autumn.

We wish to retain the strong principles of academic quality and preparing graduates for planning practice, while supporting expansion of course delivery and numbers of students studying, and completing, a planning degree.  The review has primarily focused on the professional standards and core learning outcomes for initial education for graduates to move into their first job in planning.

Removing unintended barriers to the development of professional planners for students, as well as universities and employers, is a key aim and this review has begun to look at options to expand fully accredited and specialist planning at three-year undergraduate level, alongside the current master’s level.

Thank you to everyone who has been involved and given time to the project.  We are considering all the information we have recieved.

We would welcome your views and reflections on planning education and skills.  Please send them to [email protected]