The RICS Assessment of Professional Competence, the APC, is how most surveyors become chartered and gain the letters MRICS. It tests whether you can apply your knowledge in real work and give sound, ethical advice to clients. This guide explains the routes, the competencies, the written submission and the final interview, and where AssocRICS fits in.
RICS updates its rules from time to time, and the figures below are taken from its candidate guidance as it stands in autumn 2026. Always check the current APC candidate guide and your pathway guide on the RICS website before you enrol or submit.
Choose your pathway
You take the APC on a pathway that matches the work you do, for example Building Surveying, Quantity Surveying and Construction, Commercial Real Estate, Valuation, Residential, Rural, Geomatics, Project Management or Building Control. Each pathway has its own guide setting out which competencies you need and to what level. Pick the one that fits the experience you can actually show, not the one you would like to do next.
The routes in
Which route you take depends on your degree and how much experience you have:
- RICS-accredited degree, under five years' experience: a minimum of 24 months of structured training (400 days of experience), with CPD alongside it. This is the usual route for graduates.
- RICS-accredited degree, five to ten years' experience: a minimum of 12 months of structured training (200 days).
- RICS-accredited degree, ten years' experience or more: no structured training needed, though you still need recent CPD.
- Another degree or approved professional membership, with five years' relevant experience: the preliminary review route (see below).
RICS also has separate routes for senior professionals, specialists and academics. Apprentices on the Chartered Surveyor degree apprenticeship take an end-point assessment that leads to chartership too.
Structured training
Structured training is a period of recorded, supervised experience. You log your experience against the competencies for your pathway on the RICS assessment platform, along with your CPD. The guidance asks for at least 48 hours of CPD in each 12 months of training, at least half of it structured, such as courses, webinars or formal training.
You work with two people. Your supervisor guides you day to day. Your counsellor, who must be a chartered surveyor, oversees your progress and signs you off as ready for assessment. You should meet formally every few months to review where you are. If your employer has a training scheme, ask how it supports the APC: many firms run study groups and mock interviews.
The competencies
There are three kinds:
- Mandatory competencies: the professional and business skills every surveyor needs, such as ethics, client care, communication, health and safety, sustainability and teamworking.
- Technical core competencies: the main skills of your pathway.
- Technical optional competencies: chosen from a list for your pathway, to reflect the work you do.
Each is assessed at up to three levels, reached in order:
- Level 1: knowledge and understanding.
- Level 2: applying that knowledge in practice.
- Level 3: giving reasoned advice and showing depth of knowledge.
Level 3 matters most. Assessors want to see that you can advise a client and explain why, not just describe what you did.
The preliminary review
If you do not have an RICS-accredited degree, your submission goes through a preliminary review before final assessment. Assessors check whether your written submission is ready. The outcome is either that you are suitable to proceed, or that you are not yet, with feedback on what to improve before you resubmit. It is a check of readiness, not a pass in itself.
The written submission
Before the interview you submit:
- A summary of experience: written statements against each competency at the level you are claiming, with real examples from your own work. The current guidance sets word limits for the mandatory and technical sections.
- A case study: up to 3,000 words on a project you were personally involved in during the two years before you submit. It sets out the issues, the options you considered, the approach you took and why, and what you learned.
- A CPD record and confirmation that you have completed the RICS Professionalism module, which covers ethics and the Rules of Conduct.
RICS does not allow AI tools to write any part of the submission, and checks for it. Write it yourself, in your own words.
The final assessment interview
The interview takes about an hour and is held online by video call, with a panel of two or three chartered surveyors. It usually runs like this:
- A 10-minute presentation from you on your case study.
- Questions on the presentation.
- A longer discussion of your wider experience and technical competencies.
- Questions on ethics, the Rules of Conduct and professional practice, and a close from the chair.
Ethics carries real weight: a weak answer here can be enough to be referred. If you are referred, you get a report explaining why and can try again after gaining further experience. RICS sets a limit on attempts and a time limit from enrolment, so check the current rules.
Our guide to surveying interview questions also helps with the kind of reasoned answers assessors are looking for.
AssocRICS as a step
Associate membership, AssocRICS, recognises surveyors with practical experience, including technicians and people without a degree. Entry depends on your experience and qualifications, for example four years of relevant experience, or fewer with an approved qualification. The assessment is a written submission with a summary of experience, a shorter case study and a CPD record. AssocRICS members can later progress to chartership: RICS sets out the progression route in its guidance.
Why it matters for your career
Many Senior Surveyor roles and most roles at Associate level and above expect MRICS, and chartership is usually the biggest single step up in pay. Compare £25,000 to £35,000 at graduate level with £40,000 to £64,000 for a Senior Surveyor, and see our surveying salary guide for more.
Find your next role
Look for employers that support the APC in graduate and trainee surveyor jobs and surveyor jobs, or get new ones every Monday with the free SURVEYINGJOBS.COM Weekly.