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Architects have somehow managed to gain a reputation as being huge earners but the reality is somewhat different. An architect's wages are more comparable to what teachers earn than to what doctors or lawyers make in their annual wage.
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Wages
The average wage of an architect working in the UK is around £40,000pa- £45,000pa while top partners and directors may earn up to 80,000pa- £90,000pa. Most architects working in the UK today will earn about £30,000pa - £40,000pa. Part 1 year out students usually earn about £16,000pa - £22,000pa while Part 2 graduates will earn about £23,000pa -£27,000pa. Approximately 34% of all architects in the UK work in London and earnings there are about 17% more than the UK average. |
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Culture
On average architects do about 9 hours a week of overtime on top of an average 38 hour week, this for the most part is unpaid overtime. This means that most architects are earning a lot less per hour than their annual wage suggests. |
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Recession
According to job centre benefit statistics the architectural profession is the worst hit by the recession in the UK with over 1,500 architects seeking government benefits. In 2007, Before the recession hit, about 0.25% of architects were on job seekers allowance but in March 2009 RIBA president Sunand Prasad estimated that about 30% of architects in the UK were unemployed or underemployed. The profession has however recovered from a similar position created by the recession in the early 1990's. |
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How does it compare?
It is very difficult to compare what people earn in other professions to what architects earn because there are so many different strands and positions in each profession but here are some very general comparisons. An experienced finance banker could earn £200,000+ a year with millions in bonuses. Juniour doctors working for the NHS will earn from about £25,000pa to £70,000pa. NHS GP's will take home £60,000pa - £120,000pa while consultants will earn up to £175,000pa. A newly qualified lawyer will earn about £40,000pa -£60,000pa which will increase to £65,000pa £80,000pa after 5 years of experience and £95,000pa+ with more experience. 20% of the top graduate programmes will pay new graduate recruits more than £30,000pa as starting salaries, trainee area managers at Aldi will start at £40,000pa and a new graduate can expect to get a starting wage of £31,000pa when they join a management consulting firm. What teachers earn in the UK is more comparable to what architects make: Trainee teachers will make £16,000pa -£28,000pa while qualified teachers will earn from about £20,000pa - £35,000 but with more experience excellent or specialist teachers can earn up to £60,000pa while head teachers will earn £40,000pa - £110,000pa. |
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Conclusion
Architects don't earn a fortune as many outside the profession believe, but they do earn a decent wage and on average and an experienced architect will earn about £40,000pa £45,000pa. The recent recession has hit architects hard and although there are very few jobs around there is evidence that suggests that architects in employment are earning just as much as they were before the recession. Of course if you really want to make a lot of money in the architecture world you would have to create your own successful commercial architecture firm, this however is an extremely difficult thing to do and would take many years to achieve. Architects earnings don't even come close to those of corporate lawyers or bankers but they earn more than enough to have a comfortable lifestyle. |
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References
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