The APC final assessment: It’s all about preparation

The original title for this article was “Revising for your APC final assessment interview”, but revising level 1 knowledge is only a small element of the preparation that is required. Our advice falls into seven key areas. By following these guidelines and preparing a robust final assessment submission, candidates will be well prepared for the final assessment interview. 1. Plan ahead Planning ahead is essential. After submitting the documents via ARC, it’s time to start planning your preparation schedule. You will have a rough idea of when your interview may be from the priority dates you submitted on ARC. However, you will not receive confirmation of your interview date until three weeks beforehand. This means that you need to have some level of flexibility built into your plan, so that you are not thrown off course if your assessment ends up slightly earlier or later than hoped. The first thing to do is to make a priority list of all of your competencies; put 1 as the competency you feel weakest in and 10 as the one you feel most confident in. Pair up a mandatory and technical competency each week, starting from the bottom of your priority list. This will allow you more time overall to focus on what you perceive to be your weaker areas. When you have covered all of your competencies once, do the same priority exercise and start again. You might need to look at more than two competencies each week to cover them all again. This will depend on how many weeks you have until your earliest final interview date. Ethics should be a focus each week, as a wrong answer on this competency will constitute an automatic fail. Try to find a link from each of your competencies to ethics to really cement good professional conduct in the forefront of your mind. Make a note on a physical or online calendar of your preparation plan so that you can maximise the chances of sticking to it. Planning to be “ready” at your earliest assessment date will help to avoid any last-minute panicking! Remember, all interviews are now conducted online. This means that you can also plan your environment and ensure that you have the optimal conditions in which to succeed. This might include setting up an ergonomic workstation, checking you have good lighting, testing your equipment and minimising any potential disruptions. 2. Read widely At the start of your preparation period, reading as widely as possible will ensure that you are aware of the breadth and depth of your competencies and experience, as well as being informed about hot topics and current affairs. Make your own APC revision notes based on a wide range of sources. Often, reading about the same topic from more than one source can really help your understanding and allow you to appreciate different viewpoints. There are some topics that you will need to learn off by heart – for example, the five RICS Professional and Ethical Standards. However, retaining this information and reaching a peak is probably only physically and mentally possible for a few weeks – so save this for later on in your preparation. This part of the process can really be aided using cue cards, mnemonics or visual tools. 3. Know your level 2 and 3 experience Familiarise yourself with your experience. It is not just sufficient to know your role and experience generally, as your assessors will base their questioning on what you have written in your submission. A good way to do this is to create a working document with a subheading for each example, level and competency, together with some bullet-point notes on the context, process and advice you gave. Not knowing your experience inside out is a common area for referral – so don’t fall down on this. 4. Revise level 1 knowledge This is the part of the process that many candidates believe makes up the majority of their APC preparation. This couldn’t be further from the truth, as you’ll have found out in the rest of this article. However, candidates do need to know their competencies in a substantial level of breadth and depth. This includes level 1 knowledge as per your submission, together with the competency descriptors. You need to be able to explain the theory and knowledge behind your examples and reasoned advice, including legislation, RICS guidance and good market practice. Your assessors should start their questioning at level 3, working down the levels if they do not feel that your answers are satisfactory. However, they can ask you questions to test your knowledge and ensure that your advice or actions were adequately justified. 5. Review your CPD Anything you put in your CPD record is fair game at your interview, so be prepared for questions about anything you have written. This often includes case law and topics that may be slightly outside your core role and experience, such as dilapidations or specific building defects for a commercial property surveyor. 6. Verbally answer questions An essential part of your preparation is verbalising your submission, knowledge and experience. Practice answering questions on your submission out loud. It is not enough just to write down the answers. Ask as many people as possible to test you out. Ideally this will include recently trained APC assessors, as this will give you the most realistic interview experience possible. Being able to explain what you have advised or undertaken to someone else is a tricky skill to perfect, particularly in a stressful environment where you may be nervous. The more you practice this, though, the easier it gets. Ensure that you listen carefully to any questions and only give the information requested. Also avoid the temptation to list everything you know. Learning to keep your answers concise and clear is a key skill – and essential to succeeding in your interview. 7. Practice makes perfect Practice really does make perfect. This means repeating all of the above points as often as you can. Just reading your submission once prior to your interview won’t be sufficient. This is no different to the many times you will have repeated the same types of instruction at work, which will be essential in building your experience and confidence as a future chartered surveyor. Making sure that you cover these seven essential areas for preparation will stand you in excellent stead for your final assessment interview. Combine this with keeping yourself happy and healthy – as well as working on ways to calm your nerves and boost your confidence – and you will enjoy a positive final assessment interview. Finally, good luck! Top assessor tips Don’t try to advise outside the scope of your competence and experience during your interview – the assessors will identify this and it doesn’t demonstrate that you are a safe pair of hands. Know a little about a lot, and a lot about a little! Ensure your submission and presentation handout are client ready – don’t show your assessors anything that you wouldn’t be proud to give to a client. Top candidate tips Read about hot topics before your interview – for example, read or listen to the news the day before and be aware of current affairs. If you’re not sure of something when you are revising, write it down and spend extra time researching the topic and making your own notes. Make use of the free RICS journals and Modus, together with online articles from EG – they are an essential source of high-quality information on the industry and specific markets. Professional guidance alert Read up on the major changes to the use classes: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/757/pdfs/uksiem_20200757_en.pdf Find out about the Changing Places campaign for the inclusive environments competency: http://www.changing-places.org Monitor the Hart v Large [2020] EWHC 985 (TCC); [2020] PLSCS 105 appeal relating to a surveyor’s duty of care: https://www.egi.co.uk/legal/hart-and-another-v-large-and-others-2/ Further reading and resources Read the RICS final assessment guidance online: https://www.rics.org/uk/surveying-profession/global-professional-network/candidate/ Check out more advice for your final assessment interview on the Property Elite blog: https://www.property-elite.co.uk/blog Consider memory tools to boost your preparation: https://www.mindtools.com/memory.html The quick quiz 1. What was the government’s scheme to help restaurants called? a) Eat in to help out b) Eat out to help out c) Eat out and help out 2. Which of the Building Regulations approved documents was last updated? a) Part M        b) Part L        c) Part B 3. Can BREEAM be used to assess existing or newly refurbished buildings? a) Yes        b) No Answers: 1. (b) Eat out to help out; 2. (c) Part B; 3. (a) Yes Jen Lemen BSc (Hons) FRICS is a co-founder of Property Elite, a chartered surveyor, a registered valuer and an APC assessor