Training & Workshops
Specialist APC workshops and training courses for public sector candidates and organisations. Designed to bridge the gap between everyday local authority and public body casework and RICS assessment benchmarks, our sessions deliver actionable guidance on written submissions, case studies, and mock interviews.
All of our courses and workshops can be delivered 1-to-1 or in small groups, either online or in person. Just let us know what format works best for you or your team.
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Deconstructing the Assessment Process: A step-by-step breakdown of the entire RICS qualification journey, clarifying eligibility routes, key milestones, online portal navigation, and formal submission windows.
Selecting the Right Pathway & Competencies: How to choose the most viable pathway for your role and select a balanced mix of core and optional competencies that reflect genuine workloads rather than wishful thinking.
Mapping Public Sector Casework from Day One: How to identify high-value experience within day-to-day activities.
Mastering the Competency Levels: Clear definitions and practical examples showing the exact progression from Level 1 (knowledge), through Level 2 (application), to Level 3 (reasoned advice and client recommendations).
Diary Logging & Best Practice: Practical systems for logging daily work, tracking relevant CPD hours, and writing concise diary entries that make drafting the final submission straightforward rather than stressful.
Maximising Supervisor & Counsellor Relationships: How to prepare for structured quarterly review meetings, set clear six-month objectives, and proactively flag and resolve experience gaps early.
Setting a Bulletproof Timeline: Building a realistic, milestone-driven study and drafting schedule to avoid last-minute panic and ensure you hit your target assessment sitting with confidence.
Duration: 2 Hours
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Cracking the Competency Code: Understanding the exact linguistic difference between Level 1 (knowledge), Level 2 (doing), and Level 3 (advising) in written form.
The "I" Rule: Eliminating collective passive phrasing ("we assisted with", "the council agreed") and replacing it with direct, accountable evidence of your personal work.
Mapping Day-to-Day Work: Translating your daily property tasks—lease renewals, dilapidations, rent reviews, asset valuations, and site disposals—into punchy competency evidence.
Managing Word Count Discipline: Practical editing drills to condense 400-word explanations down to 150-word high-impact statements that still convey technical rigor.
Mandatory Competency Drafting: Evidencing health and safety, client care, accounting principles, and sustainability using everyday public sector procedures.
Peer Review & Live Red-Penning: Hands-on editing of draft statements with real-time feedback on clarity, structure, and assessor expectations.
Duration: 2-Hour (1-to-1) / Half-Day (Group)
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Project Selection Surgery: Evaluating potential workplace projects to identify a subject with genuine technical complexity, individual accountability, and robust dilemmas.
Structuring the 3,000 Words: Formatting the submission according to RICS guidelines: project overview, personal role, core challenges, and measurable outcomes.
Framing Public Sector Dilemmas: Isolating and articulating genuine dilemmas involving conflicting public interests, political sensitivities, or statutory constraints.
Critical Analysis vs. Description: Moving away from a chronological diary of what happened and demonstrating why you gave specific advice and how you weighed alternative options.
Writing the Reflections Section: Drafting honest, analytical "lessons learned" and identifying what you would do differently, which panels scrutinise closely during the interview.
Avoiding Automatic Disqualification Pitfalls: Ensuring full compliance with client confidentiality, committee reporting rules, redaction standards, and word-count caps.
Duration: 2-Hours (1-to-1) / Half-Day (Group)
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Deconstructing the 10-Minute Limit: Understanding the panel’s evaluation criteria, timing expectations, and how the presentation sets the tone for the entire interview.
Condensing the Case Study: How to extract the core narrative, critical project dilemmas, and personal contributions from a 3,000-word submission into an engaging verbal story.
Slide Design & Visual Precision: Formatting clean, professional slides that guide the panel without clutter, technical jargon, or becoming a reading script.
Communicating Public Sector Context: Presenting public sector complexities—political committees, statutory duties, and community impact—concisely without getting bogged down in background administrative details.
Pacing, Delivery & Nerves: Practical vocal techniques to manage timing, command the room, maintain professional body language, and speak with confidence under pressure.
Anticipating the Opening Questions: Mapping out the immediate lines of questioning panels typically pursue based directly on your presentation slides.
Duration: 2 Hours (1-to-1) / Half-Day (Group)
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Core Standards & Mandatories: A thorough breakdown of the RICS Rules of Conduct and the five Global Professional and Ethical Standards, framed around the public interest and governance.
The High-Stakes Triggers: Deep dives into the scenarios that lead to automatic referrals—handling gifts and hospitality, identifying and managing conflicts of interest, whistleblowing, anti-bribery, and public procurement integrity.
Unearthing Everyday Work Examples: How to look at routine casework—such as committee approvals, Section 123 disposals, contractor selection, or managing political and community sensitivities—and identify the subtle ethical judgments needed for your written submissions.
Writing for the Assessment: How to draft mandatory competency statements that demonstrate proactive ethical leadership and reasoned advice, rather than just ticking a compliance box.
Anatomy of Assessor Questioning: An analysis of why the interview wraps up with ethics, how panels evaluate your answers, and what benchmark separates an acceptable answer from an immediate referral.
Drilling Classic Assessor Favorites: Step-by-step frameworks to handle the classic questions panels love to ask.
Live Scenario Practice: Testing your real-time responses against sudden curveballs, ethical traps, and grey-area dilemmas so you can articulate clear, principled decisions under pressure.
Duration: 2 Hours (1-to-1) / Half-Day (Group)
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The 60 Minutes Unpacked: A minute-by-minute breakdown of the final assessment interview, from candidate setup and presentation through core questioning to final ethics checks.
Inside the Assessor Mindset: How panels use the competency matrix, balance chair versus panel responsibilities, and determine borderlines between a pass and a referral.
Deconstructing Referral Triggers: Examining the most common candidate mistakes—lack of depth in mandatory areas, weak ethics responses, failing to defend the case study, or over-reliance on team achievements.
Defending Your Submission: Preparing your notes, annotating your uploaded documents, and predicting exactly which phrases in your paperwork will attract scrutiny.
The Final Four-Week Revision Plan: Building a structured revision schedule covering pathway guides, standard guidance notes, recent statutory updates, and industry news.
Readiness & Interview Day Logistics: Setting up your environment for virtual interviews, managing adrenaline, and closing your interview on a clear, professional note.
Duration: 2-Hours
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Aimed at candidates in the final 12-months of the APC. The Complete APC Accelerator includes the following courses and workshops:
The Competency Writing Clinic
The Case Study Clinic
The 10-Minute Presentation Workshop
The Final Assessment - What to Expect & How to Prepare
Duration: Modular or Multi-Day
Get in touch
Whether you are just starting your APC journey, putting the finishing touches to your submission, navigating a referral, or preparing for your final assessment, we are here to support you.
Get in touch by phone or email today for an informal chat with a fully qualified APC Assessor to discuss how we can help.