Bricks & Mortar: APC and the transition to permanent online assessment

LISTEN Following the implementation of the UK lockdown, the RICS acted swiftly to move its session 1 2020 APC assessments online. The experience has been judged a success and the RICS has confirmed that all of its APC assessments will now take place online. To discuss the change, EG’s Sarah Jackman is joined by the RICS’ assessment support manager Gill Quinn and Roy Albert, a lead valuer in the Wales & West Regional Valuation Unit at the Valuation Office Agency, who has recently completed the APC assessment online. Albert reflects on the experience itself – of overcoming initial anxiety to later benefiting from the availability of the RICS’ support mechanisms – and offers practical tips for those preparing for online assessment later in the year. Quinn explains the background to the changes, looks at how they have been received from both an assessor and candidate perspective and highlights the benefits to being assessed using this new format.