Applying for RIBA Chartered Membership via MEAP Stage 2
The Membership Eligibility Assessment Panel (MEAP) is a panel of prominent academics and practitioners who assess the applications of international architects and academics that do not hold RIBA-recognised qualifications, but want to become international RIBA Chartered Members.
You can complete the Stage 2 application using our PDF form.
The form will download automatically, so you should keep this guidance page open to help you fill out the form and check the criteria.
How to complete section one of the MEAP Stage 2 form:
Please carefully read and complete each section of this application form and return to the RIBA with the appropriate documentation. Your application will be reviewed by the MEAP panel at the next available date (usually every month throughout the year).
The form will ask you for a personal statement and recent reference letters. If you are using the PDF file mentioned above, please include these documents as attachments when you email us your application.
The personal statement is an opportunity for you to explain why you would like to become a Chartered Membership of the RIBA as well as stating your career history to date. The reference letters are considered key documents, intended to give the panel a full understanding of your role and responsibilities within each particular project. It is vital that these reference letters are as current and comprehensive as possible in order for the application to be properly assessed. The reference letter must mention at least one of the projects that you mention in your application and must be on company letterhead.
How to complete section two of the MEAP form:
The next section of the form provides you with the opportunity to summarise your professional practical experience, and how the projects you’ve worked on relate to the RIBA’s criteria for Chartered Membership.
This criteria helps us understand how your experience as an architect outside of the UK meets our requirements for Chartered Membership.
These 10 points form the basis for many national and international validation systems reviewing standards in architectural education, including those operated by the RIBA, the Union International des Architectes (UIA), and the Commonwealth Association of Architects (CAA).
Validation criteria are used by the RIBA to determine professional competencies and in the context of the MEAP process, confirms that your education and professional practical experience meet the threshold for RIBA Chartered Membership. Mapping your work against these criteria offers an opportunity for you to critically reflect on your learning, and provide a useful summary of your career to date. Please note this section must also be written in first person so the panel can see your personal contribution to the project.
Please indicate which criteria are best reflected in your application by ticking the related box; each box will be indicated as TV1, TV2, GA1, GA2 etc.
Applicants are expected to demonstrate the application of all the Themes and Values and all the Graduate Attributes across their design projects and reference these in the roles and responsibilities section.
There are six Themes and Values (TV) for Architectural Education, as follows:
TV1 - health and life safety: demonstrating authoritative knowledge of statutory frameworks to safeguard the community and end user
TV2 - ethical and professional practice: acquiring professional and communication skills to ensure projects are delivered with integrity and accountability within global, national, and professional climate targets
TV3 - structures, construction, and resources: demonstrating climate literacy, responsible specification, and ethical sourcing to enhance wellbeing, minimise embodied carbon, waste, and pollution, and reduce demands on energy and water
TV4 - histories, theories, and methodologies: critically analysing and researching narratives and cultural, environmental, and social values in architecture to understand and extend architectural pedagogy
TV5 - design pedagogies and architectural expression: critically evaluating authentic aesthetic, compositional, and spatial principles to synthesise socially, ecologically, and environmentally sustainable integrated studio projects
TV6 - business skills: developing capability in business skills relevant to working in practice and practice Management
There are four Graduate Attributes (GA), as follows:
GA1 - demonstrate an understanding of how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research, to creatively synthesise complex environmental, social, and spatial issues, showing originality and the use of hypothesis in the application of knowledge
GA2 - undertake study at, or informed by, the forefront of the academic and professional disciplines
GA3 - demonstrate ability to generate design proposals which integrate an understanding of environmental building physics and comply with relevant statutory standards to meet the RIBA Sustainable Outcomes Guide targets (including standards for zero carbon design)
GA4 - develop the qualities for employment including sound judgment and personal and collective responsibilities, response to evidence-based feedback, and the use of initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments
The form will ask you to provide details of five projects you have worked on; these may be academic projects completed during your education, or professional projects.
For each project you need to include the following information:
- project name and date
- project location
- project description including how it demonstrates the criteria
- up to 10 images of the project [NB: these should include site and other record photos, location details, contextual and cultural information, design development sketches, production information drawings - both general arrangement and detail design, interiors, or renderings of each project]
- description of your role in the project [e.g. client, design architect, architectural assistant, site architect, project manager, developer. Please describe your specific role and responsibilities for each project
- tick boxes indicating which of the 11 points in the criteria list the project meets
If you are completing this form as a PDF and wish to submit images that are particularly large or detailed, feel free to collate them into a digital portfolio, host them on the web, or send them using a secure file sharing upload service.
Other supporting information:
In addition to the five projects, there is also an opportunity to expand on areas of your professional career that can touch on any other research fields, teaching, or mentoring that demonstrate your well-rounded qualities as an applicant. These can be used to reflect the RIBA criteria points as well. Documents relating to this can be attached to your email for the PDF form.
Once you have completed the stage 2 application form, check that for each of the six TV points and four GA points, you have:
- provided a brief explanation of (at least) one project and how it meets this criterion
- described specific roles and responsibilities for each project executed in practice
- provided further evidence and illustration of this work
- your references reflect on the projects included
- included a personal statement to demonstrate what RIBA Chartered Membership would mean to you on a personal and professional level
If you have any questions regarding your application, please email MEAP@riba.org.
Please make sure you've completed the MEAP Stage 1 application form before completing Stage 2.
Please return your completed application to MEAP@riba.org.
