The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) awards recognition to university courses it considers to address the ‘competences’ central to professional work in building conservation. Full recognition acknowledges that a course seeks to address all competences, whilst ‘select’ recognition is granted to courses focusing on a number only.
The MSt in Building History is a specialist course and does not seek to cover the same breadth of topics as most conservation courses. Accordingly, the IHBC has awarded it ‘select’ recognition for its more intensive examination of key specialist areas, notably in the understanding or evaluation of historic buildings. However, students who already have professional experience in conservation, or who use their professional placement on the course as a way of gaining suitable experience, will quickly meet the broader requirements for IHBC membership. Students graduating from the course typically find that their specialist expertise is highly valued by employers for a wide variety of historic environment roles, including heritage consultancy, conservation officers with local authorities, and a range of professional opportunities with Historic England and other heritage bodies.