 Capper pushed for architecture to be a university-learnt skill rather than the established practice of being "articled" to an existing architect to learn the skill.In 1903 he returned to Britain, taking a chair as Professor of Architecture in Victoria University of Manchester.His successor in McGill University, Percy Erskine Hobbs, left McGill in 1909 and Capper expressed an interest in returning, but the position was instead filled, rather ironically, by Capper’s former assistant, Ramsay Traquair, and Capper continued in Manchester until 1912.