counsellor guide

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Counsellor guide

Assessment of Professional Competence

Guidance for CounsellorsEurope, Russia/CISAugust 2015


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Counsellor guide

Section 1Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 06Commitment is key .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 06

Section 2 Overview of the APC .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 07What is the assessment journey? ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 07

Membership requirements ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 07The competency approach ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 09

Candidate’s Registration .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 09

What is ‘MyAPC’ – online portal? ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10

The competency approach ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10

The key elements of the APC ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Section 3 The counsellor .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

The counsellor’s role .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 12Practical guidance ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12

Section 4 Enrolment .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 13The importance of the candidate’s enrolment date ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Essential guides .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

Contents


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Section 5

The competencies.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

The mandatory competencies ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14

The technical competencies ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 14

Section 6 The final assessment ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15Interview .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Judging the evidence ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15

Section 7 Your role: a chronology .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16Key aspects before training starts ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Daily and weekly .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

The planning ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

The timings ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Checklist ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Outcome of the interview ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 17

Guidance for referred candidates .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Appeal (before and after the final assessment) ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17Re-assessment of referred candidates ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................17

Section 8 Where to find help ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18


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Counsellor guide

Section 1

Introduction

Commitment is keyThe business world continues to change and management best practice

focuses heavily on training as an investment for the future. T he RICS

Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) is part of that investment.

Those seeking membership of RICS must demonstrate an ability to operate

as technically skilled practitioners and a commitment to meet high ethical

standards which ensure the integrity of the profession is maintained.

Membership of RICS places on ever y member responsibility for the delivery

of ‘surveying services’ within an ethical context and subject to specific core

values. These values underpin all RICS conduct regulations and requirements.

This guide will help you prepare for the commitment and responsibility that

goes with training an APC candidate . It provides background informationand gives specific guidance on the requirements of the competencies and

professional development. It looks at your involvement in the various stages

and the reviews that must be carried out during the training period.

The roles of Counsellor and employer are fundamental to the APC and

the success of the candidate at the final assessment stage . RICS greatly

appreciates your time and effort helping to ensure the maintenance of

standards and the status of the profession.


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Section 2

Overview of the Assessment

What is the Assessment?The membership assessment routes is the practical training and

experience which, when combined with academic qualifications,

leads to RICS membership.

The objective is to ensure the candidate is competent to practise as

a chartered surveyor. The APC normally consists of:

• a period of structured training – for structured training

candidates only

• the final assessment interview.

Membership requirementsRICS recognises that some candidates will already have considerable work

experience by the time they complete an accredited degree. RICS reduces

the period of structured training for those with more than five years

relevant work experience.


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Section 2

Membership requirements at a glance

AcademicQualifications Relevant Prior Experience(pre-degree experience can count)A PC Str uc tur ed Tr aini ng A PC Fi nal As se ss men t

Interview

RICS accrediteddegree

None. • 24 months structured training to

meet competency requirements

• Regular meetings with counsellor

• 48 hours professional development

for each 12 months structured

training.

• 60 minute interview including

10 minute presentation

• Testing on professional

practice/ethics.


At least five – nine years relevant experience

before starting APC.

• 12 months structured training

• Regular meetings with counsellor

•

48 hours professional developmentover the structur ed training period.

• 60 minute interview including


•

Testing on professionalpractice/ethics.


Minimum 10 years experience. None, straight to final assessment. • 60 minute interview including



practice/ethics.

Bachelors’ degreeor professional bodyequivalent

At least 5 years’ relevant experience post-

qualification.

None, straight to final assessment. • 60 minute interview including



practice/ethics.

Senior Professional/

Expert Assessment

• 10 years’ relevant experience, and now in a

senior industry position, either in terms of

management responsibility or acknowledged

expert specialist status; OR

• 5 years’ experience with an undergraduate

degree or equivalent professional qualification

and a relevant post-graduate degree (master’s

level or higher)

• OR; 5 year higher qualificat ion eg PhD in

a surveying related subject.

None, straight to final assessment. • 60 minute interview

including 10 minute personal

introduction based on résumé

• testing on professional

practice/ethics and leadership

and management skill/

specialist expertise.


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Section 2

The competency approachThe assessment is primarily competency-based. It requires candidates

to demonstrate that they have the skills and abilities needed to perform

specific tasks or functions. These are based on atti tudes and behaviours as

well as skills and knowledge.

The specific competencies candidates must achieve will depend on the APC

pathway being taken. There is an APC pathway for e ach of the discipline

areas in which surveyors work. As competence can only be demonstrated

on the basis of actual work experience, the pathway w ill be determined by

the candidate’s employment. The candidate’s counsellor should help advise

the candidate on which pathway to follow.

Candidate’s RegistrationRICS will review the candidate’s CV and will notify the candidate of the route

to membership they are eligible for. The candidate will then:

• be set up in an online portal called ‘MyAPC’

• the candidate will complete an online APC passport application,

including:

– competencies declaration for your chosen APC pathway

– contact details

– upload academic certificates

– counse llor details (name and email address)

– pay the required application fee.

Once the candidate has completed the AP C passport application, the

counsellor will be sent an email from ‘MyAPC’ to r egister as a counsellor.

The welcome email will say:

Welcome ‘MyAPC’ email:

Dear Counsellor

I am pleased to inform you that a counsellor account has been

created for you in ‘MyAPC’. To log on, please click on the website:

http//www.joinmyapceu/

• Log in – your email address

• Password – enter the password

• Account - select the counsellor

If you have any problems logging on, please reply to this email.

Kind regards

MyAPC

You will need to log into the MyAPC portal, example of ‘MyAPC’ log in screen:

You will then see the candidate’s passport application needs signing by you,

this will be in something called your ‘to do’s’.


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Section 2

What is ‘MyAPC’?‘MyAPC’ is the online platform candidates residing in Europe, Russia/CIS

uses for the duration of their APC from enrolment to Final Assessment.

• Easy to use and from any location (only internet access required)

• All parties (candidate, counsellor, assessors and RICS administration)

have access via passwords to ensure security

• Helps candidate manage the documentation online and submit it

without printing and posting

• Automatically reminds candidate, counsellor of outstanding actions

and next steps.

Throughout the journey of supporting your candidate(s), you will be sent

automatic emails from ‘MyAPC’ asking you to sign off various documents

at the different stages of the candidates journey.

Please note: The ‘MyAPC ’ emails are not spam emails and it is important you doread the messages.

The key elements of the APC– overview*Structured training: the formal, struct ured approach to the delivery

of training and experience over any given period.

*Self assessment log planner: a self assessment planner within the

candidate’s ‘MyAPC’ space to help plan how the candidate’s experience

and training will meet the competency and professional development

requirements. They must be signed and dated by the counsellor.

It is the counsellor, at the time of your application for the final assessment

interview, who must be satisfied that you have achieved the specific

competencies.

Please note: structured training and the self-assessment log planner are only

applicable to those candidates completing 12 or 24 months structured training.

Professional development the systematic maintenance, improvement and

broadening of professional knowledge, understanding and skill throughout

your career.

Summary of experience: A detailed summary of experience, about each of

the mandatory and technical competencies.

Please note: Senior professionals/Experts do not complete a summary of

experience.

Case study: written report of the candidate’s own personal involvement

in a project or projects during their training. It must provide a critical

appraisal of the project together with an outline of the lessons they

have learned. It will provide important evidence of the competencies the

candidate has achieved. The case study must give detailed evidence of your

ability to work competently and to apply the knowledge relevant to their

APC pathway.

Professional development: must undertake profes sional development

for each 12 months structured tr aining. In the context of life-long

learning (LLL), the APC professional development is an introduction to the

candidate’s continuing professional development (CPD) commitments

following qualification.

• APC route 24 months structured training – 96 hours

• APC route 12 month structured training – 48 hours

• APC route no structured training – 20 hours over last 12 months

• Senior professional/expert – 60 hours over the course of 3 years

It is the candidate’s responsibility, with the counsellor, to plan and achieve

professional development. Professional development helps the candidate

to gain extra skills and knowledge that are not always possible to achieve

within the week-to-week business of the practice.

It is important to plan and structure professional development but to

remain flexible. It must complement and support the AP C competencies.

It can be achieved from formal training courses, distance learning

programmes, informal structured reading and secondments. The

counsellor should take an active interest and help with the e valuation.


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Section 2

The following framework may help you design a flexible plan with the

candidate:

Ensure that your candidates can provide evidence of a planned and

systematic approach in their submissions. The relationship between thetopics selected and the competencies must be clearly demonstrated.

Professional development planPersonal skills development – linked to mandatory competencies

– normally 16 hours per year

Technical skills development – linked to core/optional competencies


Professional practice skills development – linked to professional

practice competencies, code of ethics and conflicts of interest



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Section 4

Enrolment

The importance of the candidate’senrolment date and guidesA delay of a few weeks in the candidate enrolling could put the final

assessment back six months, as final assessments are normally held

twice a year.

Once the application is accepted, the local RICS office of the candidate’s

country of r esidence will confirm the candidate’s registration and the

start date for recording experience (if applicable).

Essential material in addition to this guide:

• the APC Candidate’s guides

•

the APC Requirements and competencies guide• the APC Passport (enrolment form)

• the pathway guides

These guides are available from yo ur local RICS office and can also be

found on the RICS website www.rics.org

Please note: Working alongside this guidance, you will also need to access the

e-learning counsellor module. Your RICS local office will give you log in details to

access the module.


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Section 5

The competenciesFor structured training candidates, each APC pathway requires a period of

training during which the candidate completes the mandatory and technical

competencies that make up the minimum requirements for the APC.

For non str uctured training candidates, (including senior professional/

expert candidates) will have to demonstrate that they have met the

mandatory and technical competencies required by the chosen pathway.

The competencies have three levels of attainment which are progressive in

terms of skills and abilities:

Level 1 – knowledge and understanding

Level 2 – application of knowledge and understanding

Level 3 – reasoned advice and depth of technical knowledge

The candidate must satisfy three types o f competency:

Mandatory competencies – personal, interpersonal and business skills

common to all pathways

Core competencies – primary skills of the chosen APC pathway

Optional competencies – selected by the candidate with the counsellor

from the list for the chosen APC pathway

Discuss with your candidate and decide at which point they reach the

required level of skills and abilities for each of the competencies. The

number of days taken to reach the appropriate level of competence will

depend on a combination of the following:

• the starting point – has there been any previous experience?

• the candidate’s aptitude and speed of progress with the competency

• the quality of the training and experience provided

• the particular competency.

Before you sign off a candidate at any level on their progress, study the

wording of the particular competency carefully.

You must be satisfied that the candidate has been given the appropriate

experience and will be able to answer questions on the competency at final

assessment. The counsellor must make a judgement before signing off

the candidate in the record of progress. This judgement must uphold the

rigorous standards of RICS.

The mandatory competenciesThese competencies are a mix of the professional practice, interpersonal,

business and management skills that are considered common to, and

necessary for, all surveyors. These competencies are compulsory for all

candidates. Candidates must achieve the following minimum standards.

Level 3

• Conduct rules, ethics and professional practice

Level 2

• Client care

• Communication and negotiation

• Health and safety

Level 1

• Accounting principles and procedures

• Business planning

• Conflict avoidance, management and dispute resolution procedures

• Data management

• Sustainability

• Team working.

The technical competenciesFor each APC pathway, specific technical competencies must be achieved.

The competencies are divided into core and optional. For some pathways there

will be an element of choice in the core competencies, and for the optional

competencies a choice must be made from the APC pathway list. For some

pathways one optional competency can be taken from the full list of technical

competencies and some pathways allow candidates to select a mandatory

competency as an optional and take it to a higher level. For full details, see

the APC Requirements and competencies guide and the APC pathway guides.

It is important that you give careful thought to the candidate’s choice and

combination of competencies. The combination must reflect not only the

work of the candidate in their day-to-day environment (driven by the needs

of clients/employer) but also what is appropriate to the APC pathway.


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Section 7

Your role: a chronology

Key aspects before training starts• Make your commitment clear from the outset.

• Help the candidate with the APC Passport (enrolment form).

• Plan the professional development.

• Put dates in the diary for three-, six- and 12-monthly reviews

(for structured tr aining candidates only)

• Make sure that you sign all the appropriate documents, at the

appropriate times.

Daily and weekly

The counsellor must maintain regular contact with the candidate. Mostimportantly the counsellor must:

• ensure the candidate’s day-to-day work broadly covers their

competencies

• discuss before and evaluate after any planned training or professional

development activities

• involve the candidate in work-based activities, ensure other staff are

aware of the candidate’s training needs and are prepared to assist

when interesting opportunities arise

• record examples of the candidate’s performance at regular intervals

– to refresh your memory in your quarterly reviews.

Planning time with your candidate

Planning:• set aside a time and a place where you will be undisturbed

• review your personal notes on the candidate’s performance

• ask the candidates for their views and feelings on their progress

– and ask them to prepare a few notes to bring to the meeting

• in this discussion always use as a reference point the competency

definitions in the APC Requirements and competencies guide and

APC Pathway guides

• at the end of the meeting record your comments on training to-date

as part of your ongoing progress report and aim to include one or twoaction points for the coming quarter to emphasise to the candidate

that it is an active partnership

• ask the candidate to add comments to the report of progress.

Timings:• At 3-6 monthly reviews work with your candidate to update the

summary of experience template and review the self-assessment

log planner

• At the halfway point review and liaise with the candidate, agree

progress and focus for the coming months

• At the 6 monthly reviews judge what competencies have been achieved

and when - are they ready for final assessment?

• Discuss the topic for their case study. What would show the best

spread of skills, which will cover 2 or more technical competencies?

What project have they worked on in the last 24 months that best

demonstrates their analytical ability and ability to give sound

professional advice?

• Conduct a mock interview to help them prepare for the type of

questions they may get asked.

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Section 7

The counsellor should provide a strategic overview of the candidate’s progress

against the competencies and should also assist with areas of uncertainty.

Please note: you may be a counsellor to a candidate who isn’t following any

structured training eg a Senior Prof essional. If this is the case, t he weekly and

monthly review will not be applicable, but you must still sit dedicate time to your

senior professional candidate and go through all the competencies to ensure

your candidate is ready for the final assessment.

Checklist – what must be signedoff by the counsellor

• APC passport application

• Self assessment log planner (12 and 24 structured training

candidates only)• Summary of experience (not applicable to senior professional/

expert candidates)

• Case studies.

Please note: RICS stands for the highest standards of professionalism. Candidate’s

submissions for interview must reflect this. Unsatisfactory submissions will give

a severe disadvantage and greatly reduce the chances of success at interview;

so RICS will not proceed with the interview unless the documents the candidate

presents are of suitable quality. If they are not, the panel has the right to reject

submission which will result in assessment being deferred until the next session.

The role of the counsellor is to check the candidate’s submissions (no matter

what route they are following or how experienced the candidate may be)

and ensure it is to a high standard suitable to be presented to a professional

panel of RICS trained assessors.

Outcome of the interviewThe local office o f the candidate’s country of residence will let the candidate

know the result within 21 days. Should the candidate be unsuccessful and be

referred, then notification of this will include a referral report explaining why

the panel reached its decision. The referral report will be sent within 21 days.

Guidance for referred candidatesYour support and guidance will be of great importance to a referred candidate.

Ask them to write a few notes about their experience in relation to the referralreport contents. When you meet, adopt a counselling style of interview.

Help the candidate understand the outcome of the assessment and accept

the reality of the situation. The candidate must take ownership of the outcome

and either accept the result and not seek to blame anyone else or (if you feel

that there are grounds for an appeal) provide you with evidence to support

an appeal. You and the candidate must agree on a way forward.

Appeal after the final assessment

After final assessmentThe candidate will have 21 days from the date of the results letter from

RICS to make an appeal. Details on how to appeal will be given by the RICSlocal office.

Re-assessment of referredcandidatesNaturally if your candidate is referred they will be disappointed. It is the role of

the counsellor to keep the candidate motivated and help steer the candidate

through a re assessment. The candidate will be supplied with a referral report

from the panel members highlighting the reasons for the referral.

To be eligible for re-assessment the candidate must submit:

• continue to record their CPD – this will need to be uploaded onto their

‘MyAPC; account• write a new case study or re-submit the same case study as long as the

project is no more than 24 months old)

• provide an updated summary of experience

• agree with your counsellor how you will address the deficiencies identified

in the referral report and complete the referral deficiency report in your

‘MyAPC’ account.

Once you have completed the above, the candidate will be re-interviewed at

the appropriate assessment dates for the country the candidate is based.

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Section 8

Other support material and information to notePlease note: Working alongside this guidance, you will also need to access the

e-learning counsellor module. Your RICS local office will give you log in details to

access the module.

RICS RegulationAs an RICS student/trainee, your candidate(s) must comply with RICS Rules

of Conduct and Ethical Standards that are also mandatory for all RICS

members and regulated firms. RICS Regulation is responsible for ensuring

that RICS students, trainee and members meet this requirement and can

take actions in case of non-compliance. For fur ther information please

visit www.rics.org/regulation

Continuing Professional Development (CPD)Once your candidate has qualified as a profes sional member, the current

policy on CPD requires all practicing members to undertake and record

(online) at least 20 hours of CPD per calendar year of which 10 hours must

be of formal learning.

The RICS Online AcademyOnline learning is an efficient way to further develop professionally and

offers many topics ranging from technical aspects for land, property and

construction to leadership, management and personal development. Find

out more about e-learning modules, web classes and distance learning

courses that might be of interest to you and your candidate.

Encourage your candidate to make use of their local and virtual networking

opportunities to engage with this rich environment of support and insight.

Contact your local RICS local office to understand what is coming up

and connect with the RICS Linkedin group – linkedin.com/groups or

facebook.com/RICS


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rics.orgGLOBAL/JUNE 2015/DML/20617/COUNSELLOR GUIDE

Confidence through professional standardsRICS promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards

in the development and management of land, real estat e, construction and

infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards – bringing

confidence to the markets we serve.

We accredit 118,000 profes sionals and any individual or firm registered with RICS issubject to our quality assurance. Their expertise covers property, asset valuation and realestate management; the costing and leadership of construction projects; the developmentof infrastructure; and the management of natural resources, such as mining, farms

and woodland. From environmental assessments and building controls to negotiatingland rights in an emerging economy; if our members are involved the same prof essionalstandards and ethics apply.

We believe that standards underpin effective markets. With up to seventy per cent of theworld’s wealth bound up in land and real es tate, our sector is vital to economic development,helping to support stable, sus tainable investment and growth around the globe.

With offices covering the major political and financial centres of the world, our marketpresence means we are ideally placed to influence policy and embed professional st andards.We work at a cross-governmental level, delivering international standards that will supporta safe and vibrant marketplace in land, real es tate, construction and infrastructure, f or thebenefit of all.

We are proud of our reputation and we guard it fiercely, so clients who work with an R ICSprofessional can have confidence in the quality and ethics of the serv ices they receive.

United Kingdom RICS HQ Parliament Square, London SW1P 3ADUnited Kingdom

t +44 (0)24 7686 8555f +44 (0)20 7334 [email protected]

Media enquiries [email protected]

Ireland38 Merrion Square, Dublin 2,Ireland

t +353 1 644 5500f +353 1 661 [email protected]

Europe(excluding UK and Ireland)

Rue Ducale 67,1000 Brussels, Belgium

t +32 2 733 10 19f +32 2 742 97 [email protected]

Middle East Office G14, Block 3,Knowledge Village,

Dubai, United Arab Emirates


Africa

PO Box 3400, Witkoppen 2068,South Africa


Americas

One Grand Central Place,60 East 42nd Street, Suite 2810,

New York 10165 – 2811, USA


South America

Rua Maranhão, 584 – cj 104,São Paulo – SP, Brasil

t +55 11 2925 [email protected]

Oceania

Suite 1, Level 9,1 Castlereagh Street,

Sydney NSW 2000. Australia


North Asia

3707 Hopewell Centre,183 Queen’s Road East

Wanchai, Hong Kong

t +852 2537 7117f +852 2537 [email protected]

ASEAN

10 Anson Road,#06-22 International Plaza,

Singapore 079903

t +65 6635 4242f +65 6635 [email protected]

Japan

Level 14 Hibiya Central Building,1-2-9 Nishi Shimbashi Minato-Ku,

Tokyo 105-0003, Japan


South Asia

48 & 49 Centrum Plaza,Sector Road, Sector 53,

Gurgaon – 122002, India

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