Final Examination in Professional Practice (Part 3) Architecture

Part 3 Interview Guidance

Interview Day

Timing
● Candidates will be allocated 1 hour slots
● Interviews will last 45 – 50 minutes
● Interviews will be programmed at hourly intervals

Dress
● Suits are not necessary but you should dress as if you are meeting a client at the office
but be comfortable.

Arrive
● In good time, not less than 45 mins before your scheduled appointment
● Staff will be on hand in the Eldon reception area to answer any last minute questions

Interview Room
● The interview will take place in an office in Eldon
● Part 3 staff will show you to the interview room
● The examiners will introduce themselves to you
● Water will be available in the room
● There may be an observer sitting in (external examiner/Part 3 staff member), this is to
monitor parity between the pairs of examiners and for in-house training purposes only
and they will not be involved in the interview or the assessment.

Preparing for Interview

● Ask architect(s) in your practice to give you a mock interview – several if possible and
act on the advice given

Interview Questions & Answers

● The examiners will start with a question to put you at ease – the weather, how you
travelled, where you work, your CV, hobbies etc.
● Examiners tend to base their questions on your Part 3 work, but they can come from any
part of the syllabus/criteria. Read your case study, career evaluation, exam and PEDRs
in the days before - you must be up to speed on the content.
● Know what has happened to your project since the CS hand-in and be able to
discuss things like claims and practical completion.
● Make sure you are up to date on current affairs within the construction industry.
● Overall aim of the interview is to test your knowledge and judgement and to see how you
handle yourself when put to the test. They will push you, to see how much you know.
● You cannot be expected to know everything – but should be able to converse to some
extent over the majority of areas of the criteria.
● If you do not know do not guess, better answers would be
■ “I’m unsure of that – I would have to look that up / ask advice”
■ “I think it’s this – but I would have to check it”
This approach is acceptable once or twice.
● Remember there is often more than one right answer.
● There will be NO FEEDBACK during the interview so you will not be able to judge the
outcome.
● If the questions seem ‘circular’ (i.e. similar to an earlier question) it is usually because
your first answer was inadequate and they are giving you the opportunity to improve on
it.
● Do not overdo the answer – if you have gone on talking and they are looking like they
want to interrupt, bring your answer to a close.
● At the end of an interview there is usually an opportunity to ask questions, I suggest that
you offer a SHORT comment on a more appropriate exam answer, if it has not already
Final Examination in Professional Practice (Part 3) Architecture

come up, or offer up some recent experience in the office that demonstrates your
competence. Otherwise say you have no queries.

Marks
● Students doing the Part 3 will have no marks for the documentary submission prior to the
interview as these are marked by the external examiners that will be interviewing you
and the final moderation of these marks takes place on the day of the interview.
● Try not to second guess what your mark might be so that you can present as confident
but measured.

Notification
● Times for interviews and names of examiners will be sent out in good time before the
interview date.
● Please let us know immediately if there is a conflict of interest. Also check with your
office as your examiner will be reading your case study which may contain commercially
sensitive information
● Results for Part 3 are by email, in the few days following the interview and after the
Board of Examiners. Occasionally there is a referral that holds up individual results.
● Unsuccessful candidates will have an opportunity to discuss their result with a member
of the Part 3 team in the week following the interview.