In the last in our series on property organisations, Noella Pio Kivlehan looks at how the training tradition of the RICS continues to encourage and educate surveyors
When 49 men gathered at the Westminster Palace Hotel on 15 June 1868 to establish the Institution of Surveyors – which would receive its royal charter 13 years later – they could not have known the importance their fledging group would have for the training of new surveyors in the 21st century.
Today, the RICS – which has 159,000 members in 146 countries – has more than 500 accredited courses. The postgraduate courses alone attracted almost 5,000 students during the 2008-09 university year.
The organisation works with students and trainees of all levels. There is RICS student membership for RICS students and, separately, RICS trainees. The former are on accredited courses and the latter in employment or on structured training schemes. The most common route of entry into the surveying profession is the APC (Assessment of Professional Competence) – the two- to three-year structured scheme that leads to chartered status.
Each year, the RICS holds two sessions for the APC. It says that session two of 2009 saw 1,070 new trainees become chartered, while this session (the first in 2010) guided 761 UK trainees to professional status.
The institution says: “So far this year, 1,500 trainees have enrolled through the graduate route. Despite the decrease in trainee enrolments in the UK, there was a 1,435 net rise in the number of qualified members worldwide, including strong performances in regions such as Europe and the Americas.”
In common with other businesses and organisations, the RICS has been hit by the recession. Trainee enrolments fell by 20-30% in 2009-10 compared to the previous year. However, this is starting to change as the economy picks up – albeit slowly, with RICS member firms reopening their graduate schemes.
The RICS says: “Research shows increased optimism in an upturn in the recruitment marketplace, with many property firms, including DTZ and Jones Lang LaSalle, taking on new graduates.”
The latest RICS graduate intake survey, published in March this year, showed that 61% of the firms interviewed (20 of 33) are recruiting. In March last year, the percentage of companies taking on new graduates was 50%.
The survey also found that firms recruiting in February 2010 expected to take on just over 230 graduates, of which 72% plan to start their APC this autumn. This is an improvement on last year, when 16 firms recruited 148 graduates, with only 67% planning to start their APC in autumn 2009.
And the demand for continuing development persists. In recent years, the number of graduates and professionals starting RICS-accredited Masters courses has risen dramatically, overtaking the number enrolling for undergraduate courses.
The RICS says: “Data collected from our UK partner universities for the 2008-09 academic year showed more than 4,800 students taking postgraduate degrees and 4,200 signed up to RICS-accredited undergraduate courses. It is encouraging to see students’ continued interest in property and surveying, despite the economic crisis.”
The institution has a strong belief in its importance for students. “In terms of relevance for students,” it says, “the steady stream of RICS student members is a good indication of the regard the RICS is held in by this younger demographic. In the past three years, more than 25,000 students have signed up to membership, which is free to those on RICS-accredited courses and provides a good mix of networking opportunities, industry updates and support for their studies.
“When the economy picks up and property and construction begin to recover, the industry will be well equipped to source qualified, engaged individuals who want to succeed. The RICS will also be well placed to support them, from APC onwards and throughout their careers.”
The organisation is conscious that it must move with the times by taking steps to increase access to its professional qualifications. This has meant opening up its offer to include different levels of professional accreditation, such as AssocRICS, an associate membership that depends on experience and vocational qualifications.
The RICS explains: “By opening routes to membership and increasing awareness of surveying as a credible career choice, and with solid training and support mechanisms in place, the RICS aims to ensure that the next generation of chartered surveyors has a smooth transition to professional status.”
This is a legacy of which the 49 founding members would have been proud.
Case study
Byrony Day, 25, graduate quantity surveyor at EC Harris, London
Day has been working on her APC since September 2008 and says that sitting her final assessment in November will be a benchmark, both professionally and personally.
“Doing the APC was important for my personal development after university,” she says. “It is a mark of respect within the industry, within the company I work for, and among my peers.”
Day adds that getting the qualification will prove that she has acted in a professional manner, which will also help her in her job, saying: “The APC gives confidence in your approach to work.”
The decision to sit the APC was, she says, first and foremost a personal objective. But she adds that EC Harris does encourage its graduates to start the course within three years of joining the company.
Day says that, while she was doing the course, the RICS’ guidance was invaluable: “They tailor the guidance to your discipline, structure your training and provide all the relevant support you need,” she says.
So, with an ambition to develop professionally within EC Harris, does she plan to do a Masters? Never say never, she says, adding: “Once you are chartered, you are still required to do a certain amount of continual professional development. You are still learning and growing, even when you have the letters after your name.”
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