As interest in historic buildings grows there is a steadily increasing demand for people with conservation training from preservation organisations such as the National Trust and English Heritage (and their Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish counterparts), from local authorities and from owners of every kind of listed building. Conservation officers in particular have to be able to specify the correct type of lime mortar one minute and draw up a repairs notice or produce an urban design statement the next. At present such people have to be recruited from graduates who have completed courses in architecture, archaeology, chartered surveying, town planning or art history. What is needed is a undergraduate university qualification which provides both a comprehensive academic training in the history of architecture and a practical understanding of construction and the care of historic buildings. One means of achieving this in the short term would be to expand archaeological degree courses (to be found at most universities) to cover the study not only of buried remains but standing buildings and their conservation. This will help produce conservation professionals with the broad range of skills they need.