Benefits of student membership

There are many benefits to student membership of RSUA including:

• Benefits from RIBA 

• Discounts on events organised by RSUA

• RSUA working with QUB ArcSoc and UU Architecture Society

• RIBA Belfast Bookshop discount – 10%

• Preparing for practice

• Alan Barnes Travel Scholarship

• Professional Insights Programme

• Student awards

Every year at Architecture Night, RSUA celebrates the best work of architecture students from universities in Northern Ireland.  In 2024, Hannah McMath won Best In School Undergraduate for Queen’s University Belfast while Jake McManus was awarded Best In School Undergraduate for Ulster University.  Jake also received the RSUA President’s Bronze Medal.

RSUA also honoured the best postgraduate architecture students of the year. In 2024, Laura Green won Best In School Postgraduate for Ulster University and Rachel Murphy won Best In School Postgraduate for Queen’s University. Rachel also received the RSUA President’s Silver Medal.

• Fair pay for Part 1 Graduates

RSUA promotes architecture that enhances life in Northern Ireland. To maximise the positive impact of architecture we need: talented people to choose architecture as a career; nurturing of talented people; and, working conditions that allow talent to flourish.

To attract and retain talented young people it is essential that architecture is a career where each individual is valued and where everyone’s talent and effort is rewarded fairly.

It is RSUA’s view that fair reward should be in place from day one of a graduate’s employment. We also believe that practices should have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their commitment to the next generation of architects and that students should be able to make informed decisions as to where to seek employment based on this. RSUA believes it is very damaging to the sustainability of the profession of architecture when practices seek to minimise their cost base and undercut their competition by paying Part 1 Graduates less than the UK Living Wage.

RSUA has therefore developed Commitments to Fair Pay for Part 1 Graduates which sets some minimum standards. This is a voluntary set of commitments which RSUA is encouraging all practices and all other organisations employing Part 1 graduates to sign up to.

All practices that sign up to these commitments are listed below. Practices can join the list at any time by contacting Jude Faloon by emailing  jude@rsua.org.uk. Each year RSUA will remind students of the list before they are seeking jobs. In advance of this annual reminder, chartered members will be contacted to ensure every practice/organisation has the opportunity to ensure they are listed