An architectural assistant is a graduate working in practice before registration. The day-to-day is real project work with supervision: drawing packages, models both physical and digital, planning documents, site visits, and a growing slice of client contact as you progress. It is not an internship in the coffee-run sense. Studios bill your hours and your drawings go into planning applications.
The UK splits the role in two, and ads almost always say which half they mean.
| Part 1 assistant | Part 2 assistant | |
|---|---|---|
| When | After your first degree | After your master's |
| Typical stay | A year, sometimes two | Until you sit Part 3, often 2+ years |
| What studios expect | Software fluency, drawing discipline, appetite | Job running in miniature: packages, consultants, some client contact |
| Where it leads | Back to the master's | Part 3 exam and registration as an architect |
If you trained outside the UK, don't translate your CV into this system unless you're applying to a UK or Irish studio. A Spanish or German practice reads "junior architect" more naturally, and the work is the same.
The title concentrates in the UK and Ireland, with a steady echo in Dutch, Danish and Swiss studios that recruit internationally in English. Elsewhere in Europe the same rung is advertised as junior architect, Praktikant, or arquitecto junior. If you filter only by the assistant title you will miss most of the continent: run both searches, or start from the live jobs list and filter by seniority instead.
One structural note for UK-trained applicants: RIBA practical experience can be logged abroad when you work under the supervision of an architect, so a Part 1 year in Rotterdam or Copenhagen can still count toward Part 3. Check the current PEDR rules before you sign, and get the supervision arrangement in writing.
Honestly: assistant-level ads rarely publish figures, and our index only reports pay that is actually disclosed in the ad. The sample at this level is too small to quote quantiles without misleading you. Two things we can say with a straight face: London weighting is real, and disclosed pay clusters where transparency laws or strong professional bodies push it. For the numbers that do exist, see salaries, and treat any precise "average assistant salary" you read elsewhere with suspicion.
Studios hire assistants in waves, and the big one starts when everyone returns from the August shutdown. The September hiring guide has the week-by-week timeline. The short version: portfolio of 10 to 15 pages under 10 MB, two or three projects shown deep, drawings over renders, and speculative emails in late August beat perfect applications in October. The studio directory shows who is hiring right now and who has an English site.
Yes. RIBA practical experience can be recorded abroad if you work under the supervision of an architect, and plenty of Part 1s spend the year in Dutch, Danish or German studios. Confirm the current PEDR requirements before accepting and make sure your supervisor agrees to sign off your records.
Some do, mostly practices that recruit internationally in English. Most of the continent advertises the same rung as junior architect. Search both titles or you will see a fraction of the market.
For the assistant role itself, often not in internationally-facing studios: drawings and models travel well. For site work and planning submissions the local language matters more, which is why these ads cluster in studios with English as the working language.
Late August for speculative applications, September and October for the main wave of ads, with a smaller second wave in January and February. Studio ads close fast, so apply within days of seeing one, not weeks.
From the 11 live ads matching this role that publish pay (normalised to gross EUR/year): 25th €35,978 · median €36,270 · 75th €40,073
Disclosed pay only, converted heuristically. Orientation, not gospel: transparency is uneven across countries, so this sample over-represents the markets that publish.
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