Philippine Bachelor degree in architecture

Junalie · October 2021

Hello po. Is bachelors degree in architecture in the philippines already equivalent to bachelors degree in australia? Sino na po nakatry or na-assess po dito? Thanks po.

athelene · October 2021

@Junalie said:
Hello po. Is bachelors degree in architecture in the philippines already equivalent to bachelors degree in australia? Sino na po nakatry or na-assess po dito? Thanks po.

Assessment for what purpose? Further study? Migration?

As far as I know, the PH bachelor degree may be recognized to be equivalent to a bachelor degree in Australia. If you are looking to do further studies in Australia, then my answer would be "yes, most likely." I have several friends from UST who were able to get admission in a master's degree at Sydney Uni using their bachelor's degree for admission. Another friend who studied architecture in Mapua was able to get into a master's program at UNSW with his bachelor degree.

If you mean assessment for migration purposes, like to nominate Architect as the skilled occupation, my answer would be "yes, it would be equivalent to a bachelor's degree, but it won't be enough to get a positive skills assessment as an architect." The PH 5-year bachelor degree is not considered equivalent to the AU master's degree (the minimum required to be eligible to sit for the exam for architect registration) by the AACA.

Most people who have migrated in Australia have gone through the architectural draftsperson pathway to get permanent residency. So far, no one in this forum or my personal acquaintances who are Filipino have successfully received a positive assessment in the OQA just by using their bachelor's degree from the Philippines. The specific thread that talks about this can be found here: https://pinoyau.info/discussion/898/architect-applying-as-architectural-draftsperson/p1

agentx44 · October 2021

Hi Junalie, check mo sa google kung anong exam ang kailangan mo itake dito sa australia usually ang first step na makikita mo kung ihohonour yun school mo dito tapos if yes pwede ka magproceed mag exam to be licensed here. Usually ganyan process, kung ayaw mo mag exam pwede ka magschool nalang ng masters or bachelors. Hope it helps

agentx44 · October 2021

@Junalie said:
Hello po. Is bachelors degree in architecture in the philippines already equivalent to bachelors degree in australia? Sino na po nakatry or na-assess po dito? Thanks po.

Hi Junalie, check mo sa google kung anong exam ang kailangan mo itake dito sa australia usually ang first step na makikita mo kung ihohonour yun school mo dito tapos if yes pwede ka magproceed mag exam to be licensed here. Usually ganyan process, kung ayaw mo mag exam pwede ka magschool nalang ng masters or bachelors. Hope it helps

athelene · October 2021

@agentx44 said:

@Junalie said:
Hello po. Is bachelors degree in architecture in the philippines already equivalent to bachelors degree in australia? Sino na po nakatry or na-assess po dito? Thanks po.

Hi Junalie, check mo sa google kung anong exam ang kailangan mo itake dito sa australia usually ang first step na makikita mo kung ihohonour yun school mo dito tapos if yes pwede ka magproceed mag exam to be licensed here. Usually ganyan process, kung ayaw mo mag exam pwede ka magschool nalang ng masters or bachelors. Hope it helps

Doing a bachelor's degree in architecture in Australia will not help someone who already has completed one in the Philippines. Only a Master of Architecture will be useful for migration and registration purposes.

The only body/organisation relevant to architecture registration in Australia is AACA. The process for getting registered in Australia is clearly specified in the AACA website: https://aaca.org.au/registration-as-an-architect/

The first step to registration is getting an accredited MArch degree in architecture, but the BS Architecture in the PH is not on the list of degrees recognized to be equivalent to the Australian MArch. This is the main problem for PH graduates, as it is difficult to get a positive skills assessment for migration purposes with just the BS degree alone. To be eligible for migration and/or registration, you either do further studies (accredited MArch), submit OQA (need to do both stages 1 & 2; and it is only recommended if you have already completed a master's degree), or sign up to do NPrA.

One cannot take the APE (Architecture Practice Exam, equivalent to the board exam in the PH) without getting that degree equivalency. But once you do pass one of the three pathways, you can then be eligible for APE (which consists of logging work experience, the actual exam, and an interview).