APC (candidates)

The Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is the process by which RICS ensures candidates who wish to become members are competent to practise as chartered surveyors.

The APC requires you to complete practical experience, culminating in the final assessment interview, which assesses your 'competence to practise', in other words your competence to carry out the work of a qualified surveyor. In this context, to be 'competent' is to have the skill or knowledge to carry out a task or function successfully. This ability can vary from being ‘able’ to being an ‘expert’.

This section is maintained by Christina Hirst.

What is the APC?

Assessment for RICS membership

The APC includes the following components:

  1. work experience
  2. passing the RICS professionalism module, including four e-learning modules and a test relating to the RICS Rules of Conduct, professional practice and ethics, and
  3. the final assessment, including written submissions and an online interview where a panel of three assessors will interview you for 1 hour to assess whether you are competent to practise as an RICS member.

The RICS Assessment Platform is the online portal where you will manage your APC.

There are four assessments on the route to chartered membership of RICS:

  • Assessment of Professional Competence (APC)
  • Senior Professional Assessment
  • Specialist Assessment and
  • Academic Assessment.

This section focuses on the APC. Candidates can follow the structured training or the non-structured training assessment, depending on eligibility.

Find out which is the most suitable route for your circumstances, then follow either the structured training or the non-structured training (also known as preliminary review) content to see your APC journey.