RICS Assessments

Use of ARC in 2021

ARC will not be used for assessment submission and assessor processes for the rest of 2021.

ARC will remain open to allow candidates to access their information but you should not enter any new information in ARC.

FOLLOW THE RELEVANT LINK BELOW FOR INFORMATION ON HOW THIS AFFECTS YOU

Candidates applying for assessment

Assessors

Access resources for assessing in 2021

New and current candidates

Access guides, templates and additional support

Counsellors

Find out how to support your candidates in 2021

New Rules of Conduct published

RICS published new Rules of Conduct on 11 October 2021, with an effective date of 2 February 2022.

No candidate will be assessed against the new rules until 2 February 2022.

However, all candidates should be aware the new rules have been published. Please read the FAQ document for candidates, assessors and counsellors for more information.

Read FAQs

Candidate support

Download your candidate guides and templates to start recording your experience and preparing your submission. You can also access additional support resources; these include candidate community groups, free drop-in sessions with RICS assessment staff, and sample submissions.

Candidate guides and templates

Associate assessment candidate guide

Download Associate assessment candidate guide

The candidate guide provides all the information you need to prepare your submission for assessment.

Associate assessment submission template

Download Associate assessment submission template

This template can be used by all Associate candidates. Make sure you download the case study template below too.

Associate assessment case study template

Download Associate assessment case study template

This template can be used by all Associate candidates to prepare your case study. Remember to download the Associate submission template above.

Pathway guides

You will also need to download the pathway guide for your chosen area of practice.

Find your pathway guide
APC candidate guide

Download APC candidate guide

The candidate guide provides all the information you need to prepare your submission for assessment and prepare for the final assessment interview.

APC diary template

Download the APC diary template

This template is primarily for use by APC structured training candidates who need to record a minimum of 200 days experience for each year of structured training. It may also be useful for all APC candidates as a record of how you have developed your competencies and therefore support the writing of your summary of experience.

APC 2018 pathways submission template

Download APC 2018 pathways template

This template can be used for APC interview assessments and APC preliminary review (written assessment) for those candidates on the newest pathways (from August 2018). Make sure you download the case study template below too.

APC pre-2018 pathways submission template

Download APC pre-2018 pathways template

This template can be used for APC interview assessments and APC preliminary review (written assessment) for those candidates on the older pathways (before August 2018). Make sure you download the case study template below too.

APC case study template

Download APC case study template

This template can be used by all APC candidates to prepare your case study. Remember to download the appropriate APC submission template above.

Pathway guides

You will also need to download the pathway guide for your chosen area of practice.

Find your pathway guide
Senior professional applicant guide

Download senior professional applicant guide

The applicant guide provides all the information you need to prepare your submission for assessment and prepare for the final assessment interview.

Senior professional submission template

Download Senior professional submission template

This template can be used by all senior professional assessment candidates. You only need one template to apply for assessment.

Pathway guides

You will also need to download the pathway guide for your chosen area of practice.

Find your pathway guide
Specialist applicant guide

Download Specialist applicant guide

The applicant guide provides all the information you need to prepare your submission for assessment and prepare for the final assessment interview.

Specialist submission template

Download Specialist submission template

This template can be used by all specialist assessment candidates. You only need one template to apply for assessment.

Pathway guides

You will also need to download the pathway guide for your chosen area of practice.

Find your pathway guide

Assessment process

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Assessment process

Chartered assessment

There are two submission windows every year to be accepted for final assessment .

Assessment/Pathways	Submission dates
APC Land and Property	15 February – 1 March 2021 13 September – 7 October 2021
APC Built Environment	15 - 31 March 2021 1 – 15 October 2021
SPA/Specialist All pathways	13 September – 7 October 2021

Once submitted the following final assessment dates apply to APC only. SPA / SPE candidates will receive an acknowledgement communication once submitted with details of assessment dates.

Northern Ireland based only

Pathways	Week Commencing - Your options in ARC	Assessment days this week
All Land and Property pathways	w/c 25 October 2021	Tuesday
All Built Environment Pathways	w/c 6 December 2021	Thursday

Scotland based only

Pathways	Week Commencing - Your options in ARC	Assessment days this week
All Built Environment Pathways	w/c 6 December 2021	Tuesday - Wednesday
All Land and Property pathways	w/c 25 October 2021	Wednesday - Thursday

England and Wales based only

Pathways	Week Commencing - Your options in ARC	Assessment days this week
Building Control (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 6 December 2021	Friday
Building Control (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 13 December 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Building Surveying (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 22 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 29 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 13 December 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Commercial Real Estate (including Commercial Property pre-July 2018)	w/c 1 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 8 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Corporate Real Estate	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Corporate Real Estate	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Environmental Surveying (including Environment pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Facilities Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Facilities Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Geomatics (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Geomatics (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Infrastructure (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 6 December 2021	Friday
Land and Resources	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Land and Resources	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Management Consultancy (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Management Consultancy (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Minerals and Waste Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Minerals and Waste Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Personal Property / Arts & Antiques (including Arts & Antiques pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Planning & Development (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 8 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Planning & Development (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Project Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 22 November 2021	Tuesday - Wednesday
Project Management (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 13 December 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Property Finance and Investment (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Property Finance and Investment (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Quantity Surveying & Construction (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 22 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 29 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 13 December 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Research (Built Environment only)	w/c 6 December 2021	Friday
Research (Land and Property only)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
Research (Land and Property only)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Residential (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 8 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Residential (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Rural (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 1 November 2021	Tuesday
	w/c 8 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Taxation Allowances (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 6 December 2021	Friday
Valuation (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 1 November 2021	Tuesday - Wednesday
	w/c 8 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday
Valuation of Businesses and Intangible Assets (including pre-July 2018)	w/c 25 October 2021	Friday
	w/c 15 November 2021	Tuesday - Friday

Preliminary Review

We run two preliminary review sessions each year, approximately 5 months before the submission deadlines for the interview sessions above.

Pathways	Submission dates	Preliminary review result dates
Land and Property	13 September – 7 October 2021	7 December 2021
Land and Property	15 - 31 March 2022	31 May 2022
Built Environment	15 - 31 October 2021	30 December 2021
Built Environment	15 - 30 April 2022	30 June 2022

Associate Assessment

We run four associate assessment sessions each year.

Pathways	Submission dates	Assessment dates
All pathways	10 - 20 July 2021	6 September 2021
	1 - 8 October 2021	30 November 2021
	3 - 10 January 2022	28 February 2022
	1 - 10 April 2022	31 May 2022

Some pathways require you to select a specialist area when you apply for final assessment. View the document for more information.

Pathways and their related specialisms

You will be required to declare your chosen specialist area in Assessment Resource Centre (ARC).
Confirmation of date and time

Confirmation of your interview date and time will be emailed to you 10 days prior to your assessment.

Once your assessment date has been set, it will not be possible to change unless there are extenuating circumstances. Sometimes due to circumstances beyond RICS' control, interview dates and times may change. If this happens you will be contacted, and we will follow the rescheduling procedure as laid out below.

Rescheduling APC interviews

We aim to ensure any previously referred candidates see a new panel at their next assessment. Sometimes, due to the chosen specialist area, assessor availability or other conflicts of interest this is not possible and therefore a referred candidate may see one member of a previous panel at a subsequent assessment.

Assessors are trained to assess each candidate as if it was their first time based on the submission and performance of the current assessment. Candidates should not be alarmed if they see a panel member who has assessed them before on entering the assessment room.

If you have submitted your application for final assessment, and then wish to defer, you must inform RICS Membership Operations by email. It is your responsibility to notify RICS if you wish to defer, RICS will not accept notification from a third party.

RICS will grant a 14 day cooling off period from the date you submit for assessment within which you can defer without charge, after this point a £275.00 deferral fee will be payable when you next apply.
Candidate questionnaire

A few days after your interview you will receive a questionnaire from RICS about your experience; RICS would appreciate you completing this as your feedback is important to us.

Receiving your result

Chartered assessment: The result will be sent via email within 5 working days after your interview.

If you have not received your result by 17:00 hours on the due date, then please do get in touch on apc@rics.org.

APC Preliminary Review: The results will be available approximately 8 weeks after the end of the application period, on the last working day of the month (i.e. apply 15-31 March, result issued last working day of May)

Associate assessment: The result will be available the last working day of the month after the submission date and display on your homepage of ARC.

If you have not received your result by 17.00 on the due date please contact RICS. RICS disregard bank holidays so you will not have to wait longer for your result if there is a bank holiday close to your assessment date.

RICS website

The successful candidates will have their names added to the Global Members Directory and a full pass list will be added to the Assessment Results within a few days of receiving your result.

Referral reports and award packs

Unsuccessful candidates will receive a referral report via email within 21 days from the date of their result.

Successful candidates will receive an Award Pack by post. This is ordered on the first day of the next month following receipt of the result and can take 6-8 weeks to be delivered.

Please note that successful candidates will be required to pay an upgrade fee and any increase in annual subscription* upon qualification and can be paid online at rics.org/renew. An email will also be sent alerting newly qualified members to this updated online invoice.

* For qualifications after October, the subscription invoice will cover the following year rather than the current year.

Candidates who are referred will be required to pay as resit fee of £275.00 for every additional assessment. This payment will be requested via ARC at the next application.
Candidates who are referred have the right to appeal.

You cannot appeal simply because you disagree with the assessors’ decision about your competence. The appeal panel does not question the merits of the assessors’ decision. It looks at the way the final assessment was conducted, and will allow the appeal only if, on the balance of probabilities, there was fault in the process.

It does not reach any conclusion about the candidate’s competence to practise: it considers only administrative or procedural matters.

Appeal panel

Appeals are considered by an RICS appeal panel of three chartered surveyors who have no connection with you or your employer, and no previous knowledge of your final assessment interview.

The appeal panel has no powers to admit a candidate to RICS membership: if an appeal is approved, the original final assessment interview is disregarded and you will be given a fresh interview.

Associate Candidate Appeal Form 2021.docx (0.20MB)

APC Candidate Appeal Form 2021.doc (0.20MB)

How to appeal

You have 21 days in which to appeal. This is taken from the date on which your referral report is issued.

Complete the APC candidate appeal form (download it from this page) and submit the required appeal fee (no third party may appeal on your behalf).

Detail, in no more than 1,000 words, the reasons for the appeal. No further supporting documentation is permitted and no representations may be submitted by another party who was not present at the interview (e.g. supervisor, counsellor, employer)

Send to RICS within 21 days of the date your referral report was issued.

The process takes approximately seven weeks following receipt of your appeal.

The outcome of an appeal

Decline

The panel decides to decline the appeal - RICS will write to you explaining the reasons for the decision.

The original decision stands along with the panel’s referral report and instructions on how to apply for re-assessment.

The appeal panel’s decision is final. There is no further right of appeal.

Allowed

The panel decides to allow the appeal - RICS will write to you advising that the appeal has been allowed and that the original assessment result and referral report are now void.

You will be provided with a re-assessment by a new panel using the existing submission documents. RICS will do its best to establish a date suitable for all parties as soon as possible, and not more than three months after the outcome of the appeal. You may not submit any new documentation for the re-assessment.

The appeal fee will be held in credit.

Please note that the outcome of the appeal re-assessment is final. There is no further right of appeal following this decision.

Prelim Candidate Appeal Form (0.20MB)

Once you are enrolled as a candidate, there are many ways you can get support on your assessment journey or share your experiences with other professionals pursuing an RICS qualification?

RICS Assessments LinkedIn group

The RICS Assessments LinkedIn Group is available to support you through your assessment by sharing knowledge and experiences of the assessments, ensuring a motivating and encouraging environment for all who are working towards an RICS qualification.

Ask questions. Provide your own advice. Access support materials.

Membership of the group is open to all current RICS candidates and any RICS-qualified professionals wishing to proactively support candidates in becoming qualified.

Request to join the group here

Not using LinkedIn yet? It provides a great opportunity to raise your profile, growing your network with other candidates, RICS professionals, the industry and wider LinkedIn networks.

Mentor scheme

A voluntary mentor scheme is operated by RICS for APC and Associate Assessment candidates. The main function of the scheme is to provide support for APC and Associate candidates. This includes assisting candidates in their preparation for assessment. They may also be able to provide help to referred candidates with preparation for their next assessment. Their role is to:

Advise candidates on training, experience and recording against the competencies
Advise candidates on templates including the case study*
Advise candidates on expectations of the written assessment or interview process and assessment day
Provide support based on their own experiences of the assessments

*Please note this does not include ‘checking’ submissions prior to them being submitted for assessment.

A mentor provides an independent voice, which can be used to assist the candidate and counsellor with the assessment process. Any advice given should be subject to approval by the candidate’s counsellor who has ultimate responsibility for assessment support.

A mentor is not a counsellor, and mentors are not expected to provide this role.

Finding a mentor

Ask in your workplace and let colleagues know that you are looking for someone to support you
Join RICS Matrics, created to look after the interests of members entering or not long in the profession of surveying and start building your networks
Use LinkedIn to ask for mentor support through the APC candidate private group
Obtain contact details of a mentor from the appropriate mentor list available to the right..

Become a mentor
We welcome any AssocRICS, MRICS, or FRICS members who would like to join the mentor scheme. Please email ukicandidatesupport@rics.org

Mentor downloads

APC Mentor List (0.13MB)

Associate Mentor List (0.02MB)

Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)

If your are following the assessment of professional competence (APC) route towards Chartered membership, we can help you understand the APC process, equip you with the skills to demonstrate competencies and prepare you for the final assessment.

The APC Prep Day will take you step-by-step through each stage of your Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).

APC Prep Days

Find out more

APC candidate training plan

The APC candidate training plan is a best practice document for use by APC candidates who are required to complete structured training.

This document is produced to assist the candidate, counsellor and employer with creating a training plan for the candidate.

APC Candidate Training Plan (0.27MB)

APC Assessment Interviews

Whilst you can enrol at any time there are specific enrolment dates that will dictate when you will be able to sit final assessment.
See the 'Deadlines for submission and assessment' section below for full details.

All final assessment interviews are held via a digital platform

Find out more