APC

Enrolling on the APC

The first step to becoming a chartered surveyor is to enrol on the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). 

The APC is a competency-based assessment that requires you to demonstrate specific competencies based on your actual work experience. The competencies that you need to demonstrate depend on the APC pathway that you follow which will be determined by your employment.

There are 22 APC pathways split into three categories. These guides have been prepared by RICS Professional Groups and explain in detail how the competencies are interpreted in the context of your particular professional discipline.

If you are based in the UK you'll be eligible to enrol on the APC if you have completed an RICS-accredited degree and you are in suitable employment. This must be with a firm that has completed an APC Training Agreement. 

• View list of firms with an APC Training Agreement

The APC Training Agreement will be completed by your employer and registered with RICS. Your employer should also complete a candidate structured training programme which will detail their training plans demonstrating a commitment to ensure you obtain all the required experience, and follow the APC training process correctly and professionally in accordance with RICS guidance.

Contact your Regional Training Advisor if you, your suerisor or counsellor have any concerns about the structured training requirements. 

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Training agreements - transitional arrangements

The Structured Training Agreement (STA) process has now been superseded by the APC Training Agreement.

Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) candidates prior to September 2011 were required to work for a firm with a RICS approved STA approved by their local RICS Training Advisor (RTA). This process has now been upgraded with the approval element now being provided by RICS Membership Operations. 

Transitional arrangements:

• Any new firm that wishes to support candidates through the APC will be required to submit a signed agreement that they will provide the necessary support and training required by their employees
• RTAs that are already in touch with firms about upgrading existing agreements or entering into new agreements will complete these approvals  

Note:

Firms that already have approved structured training provider status will not be affected by these changes and candidates should continue to work towards final assessment.    

RTAs will continue to provide assistance to employers and trainees with their day to day queries as well as continuing with their regional involvement with workshops/mentoring sessions.

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Once you have identified the route to membership that you wish to follow, you will need to complete an enrolment form from RICS. This form can be downloaded for both Graduate Route 1 and Graduate Route 2. For all other routes please email contactrics@rics.org.

You can apply at any time of year but there are specific cut-off dates that will affect your potential final assessment session.

Please note that if you wish to apply for any route other than Graduate Route 1 and 2 you will also need to send us a copy of your resume.

The fee for the APC is currently £450 plus a £52 registration fee. If you are a sandwich student and are registering during your placement year you are eligible to pay a reduced fee of £100 at enrolment, with the remaining fees due before you sit your final assessment.

If you are based outside the UK please contact your local RICS regional office to find out how you can qualify as a chartered surveyor. A full list of contact details is available from the World Regions.

Once you are ready to enrol on to the APC you will need to request an APC enrolment form by emailing contactrics@rics.org.

Please note that if you wish to enrol on any route other than Graduate Route 1, you will also need to send us a copy of your resume. You can enrol at any time of year but you will need to check the enrolment deadline dates as this will affect your potential assessment date.

Once you have recieved and completed your enrolment form you will need to send this to the following address:

Please do not send any sensitive information such as credit card details or passwords via email. Sending of credit card details is not an approved method of RICS processing and/or accepting payment.

You can roll back your APC start date by one month if you were in relevant employment before enrolling on to the APC. To do so you will need to send in a written request along with confirmation of your employment start date, along with your completed enrolment form.

The following guides provide all the information you need to help you with your APC:

• APC requirements and competencies guide
  A detailed guide to mandatory and technical competencies for the APC
• APC candidate's guide
  A complete guide to your APC including, enrolment, structured training and final assessment