RIBA president-elect Paul Hyett has attacked the education system for churning out architects who are ignorant of procurement trends, building technology and Egan-style teamworking.
Speaking at the Association of Consultant Architects' annual dinner last week, he called for a radical overhaul of architects' training to prepare them for the realities of modern construction.

The education system, he argued, had not moved on from the post-war period.

"We're still educating architects as if procurement changes hadn't happened. The Part III exam prepares people for traditional procurement. But the state no longer delivers buildings itself, it delivers them through external procurement routes such as PFI." Hyett, who replaces Marco Goldschmied as RIBA president on 1 July, said architecture schools had to stop regarding buildings as artefacts and focus on teaching issues that are important to the rest of the industry, such as building cost and technology.

The Construction Industry Training Board welcomed Hyett's comments. "That was one of the areas we were seeking action on," said CITB chief executive Peter Lobban. "The Egan report emphasised the need for everyone to be given teamworking skills."