When preparing for my Final Assessment Interview, I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of topics I had to revise. With constant updates to legislation and changes to RICS guidance notes, it was hard to keep track of what information was current. Over the past nine years of helping APC candidates prepare, one piece of advice I always give is to focus the majority of revision around your own submission documents. By structuring your revision this way, the process becomes far more manageable and less daunting. Remember that the APC is personal to you, with many of the questions drawing on your own professional experiences. So in this post, I’ll walk you through how to structure your revision effectively so it remains relevant to your experience and doesn’t become overwhelming.
How To Revise For The RICS APC?
As the majority of questions are based on each candidates own experience, we can use this to our advantage and base most of the revision around our own documentation. As a starting point I highly recommend that each candidate should print out a hard copy of their submission documents. They should read through the Summary of Experience, Case Study and CPD record whilst highlighting any keywords. This exercise should be completed with a view to generating a list of potential interview questions and answers. We can see from highlighting the Summary of Experience below the potential questions that can be generated.
Highlight Keywords In Your Summary Of Experience
Potential Questions Generated:
- What are the Fundamental Components of a Contract?
- What are the obligations of the Client under a JCT Minor Works form of Contract?
- What are the obligations of the Contractor under a JCT Intermediate form of Contract?
- What are the Key Principle of the Construction Act?
- What legislation are you aware of that affects Construction Contracts?
- What Standard forms of Construction Contracts are you aware of?
- What are the benefits of Standardised forms of Contract vs. Bespoke forms?
- What are the key differences between JCT Minor Works vs Intermediate forms of contract?
- What factors would you consider when selecting a form of contract?
- What different procurement routes are you aware of?
We can see from highlighting this Level 1 section on the Contract Practice Competency, a large list of potential questions can be generated which candidates can then base their revision around. Candidates can also prepare a list of answers on how they would respond to each of these and use this as a revision tool. This can be repeated for each of the Mandatory Competencies, Core Competencies, Case Study and CPD Record.
Pay Close Attention To The RICS Rules Of Conduct & Ethical Standards
The RICS Rules of Conduct & Ethical Standards are classed as the pass or fail competency where normally any failure to answer an Ethics question correctly will result in an automatic referral of the APC candidate. With this in mind, I would highly recommend dedicating a high proportion of your revision time on this area. Again use your Summary of Experience to highlight keywords and think of potential questions and answers around these such as:
- What are the RICS Rules of Conduct?
- Why did the RICS Global Professional & Ethical Standards Changed?
- When did the Rules of Conduct changes come into affect?
- What are the requirements of RICS Regulated firms for maintaining professional indemnity insurance?
- Please explain your understanding of the Merritt vs Babb caselaw and the importance of this?
- What is Run Off cover?
- How long does Run Off cover need to be in place?
- What are the key principles of GDPR?
- How do regulated firms ensure compliance with GDPR?
- What are the key principles of the Bribery Act?
Candidates should also undertake in depth background reading on the following topics related to this competency including areas such as:
- Client Money Handling.
- Complaints Handling.
- Professional Indemnity Insurance.
- RICS Rules of Conduct.
- Setting up in practice.
- Money Laundering Regulations.
- Bribery Act.
- GDPR Legislation.
Please click here to receive an in depth guide covering potential questions & answers on these areas to support your revision.
Refer To The RICS Guidance Notes
Candidates are also recommended to use the RICS Guidance Notes available that are specific to their own discipline. These are considered as the best practice standards that professionals are expected to act in accordance with. Depending on your own pathway there are a range of Guidance Notes available to support your background reading. For example the Red Book Guidance notes relate to best practice standards for Valuation Surveyors whereas the Black Book Guidance notes contain best practice standards for Quantity Surveyors.
There are also a range of general guidance notes on matters such as Health & Safety, Client Money Handling, Professional Indemnity Insurance & Ethics that candidates should also have a high level understanding of. Be sure to download the Guidance notes that are specific to your pathway in addition to the general guidance notes applicable to all surveyors and have a good appreciation of what these documents contain.
Arrange Mock Interviews
One of the most beneficial tools I used to prepare for the APC was attending a number of mock interviews. Personally, I would recommend arranging 1 or 2 mock interviews with your colleagues, supervisor and counsellor inside your firm. If possible, try to ask colleagues who have recently passed their APC to sit on the mock interview panel as they will be able to give you an accurate portrayal of what the final assessment interview is like. If this is not possible within your firm, I would highly recommend arranging a mock interview with a specialist training firm such as Delever. Try to arrange your mock interviews for around 10-12 weeks prior to your actual final assessment. This will allow you sufficient time to take any feedback on board and address any weak areas. Write down notes of questions that you struggled to answer and allocate extra revision time to these. There is nothing like replicating the actual conditions and environment you will face on the day of your final assessment so this in my opinion is one of the most important things you can do to prepare. Seek open and honest feedback from the interview panel on how the interview could have gone better and be sure to focus on improving your weak subject areas. Interview technique also plays a key part of passing your final assessment so please check out this other post focussed on improving your answering technique.
Practice Q&A With A Study Group
Another hugely beneficial exercise I found was to practice Q&A with a colleague or study group. In my experience I found that knowing a subject area was totally different than being able to confidently and succinctly address questions verbally. Try to arrange some Q&A practice sessions with a colleague on a regular basis when preparing. Again pay close attention to your weak areas and work hard on your interview technique. The answers that you give should flow confidently and seamlessly without pause or hesitation. When addressing level 2 questions based on your experience, avoid using phrases like ‘I think’ or ‘I would’, instead talk in a definitive manner in the past tense about the experience you have personally gained.
Ask a Supervisor, Colleague Or Lay Person
If you are unable to arrange Q&A practice with a study group, the next best thing is to ask a friend or family member to run through your list of potential questions and answers with you. If they are a lay person, ask if they are able to follow your presentation and the responses you are giving. If they don’t understand fully, ask them why and aim to address any further questions they may have. Again knowing your subject area is one skill but being able to provide concise and confident verbal responses is another so any opportunity you get to practice this will stand you in good stead prior to sitting your final assessment.
Presentation Practice
Be sure to spend sufficient time practicing and fine tuning your presentation. You should practice this as many times as is needed in order that you are able to recite this seamlessly. The presentation should appear well rehearsed and make use of the full 10 minutes that are allocated as far as possible without running over. You are allowed to use cue cards within the final assessment interview but reading from a script is not accepted. Seek feedback from friends, family and colleague and check that even a lay person is able to follow the content. Avoid having a monotone delivery as you want to convey to the assessors that becoming a chartered surveyor is your passion. Take time to maintain good eye contact with the assessors, build a rapport with them and talk them from the visual photos and graphical information included within your slides. For more tips on compiling your presentation please check out the following by clicking here.
Hot Topics
Be sure to keep up to date with any hot topics, a useful resource for this is to use the RICS website and check for any key updates. Read industry articles on Modus, Estates Gazette, Building Magazine and Construction Journal. To access our e-book on the anticipated Hot Topics for 2025 please click here:-
- RICS Rules of Conduct Updates.
- Material shortages and price increases.
- Impact of Covid-19 on your area of surveying.
- Brexit impact on your area of surveying.
- Legislation changes such as GDPR, Bribery Act.
RICS APC STUDY GUIDE
For access to over 1,000 Interview Questions and Model Answers that are specific to your pathway please use the following links:
