Answers · UK 2025/26

What is an architect's salary and take-home pay in the UK?

A newly qualified UK architect (Part 3) typically earns around £34,000 to £42,000 outside London. On a representative £40,000 salary in 2026/27, take-home pay after Income Tax (£5,486) and National Insurance (£2,194.40) is £32,319.60 a year, or about £2,693.30 a month.

Last updated: 3 July 2026Last reviewed: 3 July 2026How we verify

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Architect salaries in the UK vary by qualification stage and location, with Part 1 and Part 2 assistants (before full RIBA/ARB registration) typically earning £24,000 to £32,000, and newly qualified architects who have completed Part 3 commonly earning £34,000 to £42,000 outside London, rising into the £50,000s and £60,000s with experience and into partner or director roles well beyond that. Taking a representative newly qualified salary of £40,000 for 2026/27: taxable income after the £12,570 Personal Allowance is £27,430, entirely within the 20% basic rate band, giving £5,486 Income Tax. National Insurance is 8% of £27,430, which is £2,194.40. Combined deductions of £7,680.40 leave £32,319.60 take-home a year, around £2,693.30 a month. Many architecture practices help fund Part 3 professional exams and ARB registration for their assistants, and reimbursement of genuinely work-related professional fees and subscriptions is usually tax-free, provided the professional body is on HMRC's approved list of professional bodies. Self-employed and freelance architects, increasingly common in the profession, are instead taxed on their trading profit through Self Assessment and pay Class 4 National Insurance at the lower self-employed rate rather than employee Class 1 NI.