Apply for the Real Estate Agency Examination

To find out more about the REA examination, please click on the links below:

• About the REA Examination
• REA Examination Requirements
• REA Examination Schedule
• REA Examination Fees
• REA Examination Syllabus
• REA Examination Results Notification
• Appeal for Review of REA Examination Results
• Validity of REA Examination Results
• REA Examination Rules
• Deferment of REA Examination

About the REA Examination

Under the new regulatory framework, individuals who intend to assume the role of the Key Executive Officer (KEO) of an estate agent are required to possess a pass in the Real Estate Agency (REA) examination, or equivalent.

The REA examination is administered by CEA's appointed examination administrator, NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd (NTUC LearningHub). NTUC LearningHub handles and manages all examination enquiries, including registration*, deferment, results, eligibility matters, appeals and will reply to applicants and candidates. NTUC LearningHub will respond to enquiries within five (5) working days, or longer if the enquiry is more complex or if the volume of emails is high.

*Important: Please note the examination registration periods for the Real Estate Agency (REA) examination under the section “REA Examination Schedule” below. 
Registrations are done via NTUC LearningHub’s website.  

REA Examination Requirements

1. Candidates will need to attend and complete the REA Course conducted by a CEA Approved Course Provider (ACP) before applying for the REA examination. They will be issued with the Certificate of REA Course Completion after they have completed the REA course, subject to a minimum attendance rate of 75%. Candidates are required to submit a copy of this Certificate of REA Course Completion when they register for the REA examination.

Note: Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science (Real Estate) course and Diploma in Real Estate Business course offered by the National University of Singapore and Ngee Ann Polytechnic respectively on or after 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications, will be granted exemption from Paper 1 of the REA examination. They will be required to attend and complete the partial REA course for Paper 2 and Paper 3 to be eligible to sit for REA examination Paper 2 and Paper 3. Course completers will be issued with the Certificate of Completion for Real Estate Agency Course (Papers 2 and 3). For details, refer to the List of Recognised Equivalent Qualifications.

2. The Certificate of REA Course Completion and Certificate of Completion for Real Estate Agency Course (Papers 2 and 3) have the same validity period of 2 years for the purpose of determining eligibility to take the REA examination. Candidates are eligible to take the REA examination within 2 years from the completion date of their REA Course. Beyond the validity period, candidates will be required to attend and complete the REA course again before they become eligible to take the REA examination.

3. Candidates must meet the minimum educational requirement of at least 4 GCE O-level passes or equivalent when they register for the REA examination. Candidates are required to submit a copy of their qualification certificate for verification by CEA's appointed examination administrator when they register for the examination.

4. Candidates who wish to submit their qualifications (e.g. overseas qualifications or private diplomas) for assessment to determine if the qualifications meet the educational qualification requirement may email their academic certificates, academic transcripts, any other supporting documents together with the completed Educational Qualification Assessment form to CEA at licensing@cea.gov.sg.

Candidates must attach all supporting documents when submitting their application. CEA does not accept education certificates certified by a notary public as a form of verification proof. Candidates without original copies of the graduation certificates, are required to provide a letter of confirmation of award/duplicate copy from the issuing institutions/universities. For bachelor and above qualifications from China, candidates are required to provide a verification proof either from the China Higher Education Student Information and Career Center (CHSI) or China Academic Degrees & Graduate Education Information (CDGDC) if they do not have the original copies of their certificates.  CEA will inform the candidate of the outcome of the qualification assessment.

Candidates must submit the notification outcome of CEA qualification assessment and a copy of their qualification certificate when they register for the REA examination. 

5. Applicants who have attained Level 5 and above for the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WPLN) assessment in these 5 components (Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing and Numeracy) will be recognised to have met the minimum qualification requirement of 4 GCE O-level passes. Find out more about the WPLN Assessment (PDF,935KB), and register at the British Council.

6. Candidates who obtain a modular pass (in one or two papers) for the REA examination will be allowed to retake only their failed paper(s) in modular re-sitting in subsequent REA examinations. Candidates taking the modular re-sitting of the REA examination are required to take note and comply with the following:

i) Modular re-sitting is only applicable for candidates who have passed at least 1 paper of the REA examination.

ii) Candidates with more than 1 failed paper are to re-take their failed papers in the same examination at their next attempt.

iii) There is no change to the requirement for REA course participants to pass the REA examination within 2 years from the date of issuance of the Certificate of Completion for the REA course. Candidates who are unable to pass all 3 papers of the REA examination within the 2-year timeframe will have to re-take the REA course before attempting the REA examination. Partial passes in the REA examination will become invalid once the REA course certificate expires. Candidates will have to re-take the full REA examination again, i.e. Papers 1, 2 & 3.

Candidates may refer to CEA's appointed examination administrator for more details on the rules and regulations for the REA examination.

2024 REA Examination Schedule (updated on 10 November 2023)

Registrations are carried out via CEA's appointed examination administrator’s website.

REA Examination Fees

The REA examination fees are as follows:

Note: Modular re-sitting is only applicable for candidates who have passed at least one paper of the REA examination. Examination fees are subjected to revision and may be changed without prior notice.

REA Examination Syllabus

The REA examination will be set based on the examination syllabus.

REA Examination Results Notification

Candidates who have taken the examinations will receive an email notification from CEA's appointed examination administrator informing them of their examination results about 4-6 weeks after the examination.

Appeal for Review of REA Examination Results

We assure candidates that CEA has put in place rigorous checks and processes to ensure that your REA examination result is accurate.

Nevertheless, candidates who wish to appeal for the review of their REA examination result can submit their appeal to CEA's appointed examination administrator using the prescribed form within 5 working days after the release of the examination results. For each appeal submitted, candidates must pay a non-refundable fee of $65.40 (inclusive of GST). This fee is to cover the cost of reviewing the marking of the answer scripts and re-checking of the awarded marks. Please note that candidates will not be shown their answer scripts as part of the appeal process.

CEA’s appointed examination administrator will inform candidates in writing of the outcome of their appeal about 14 working days after the closing date for appeal, or longer if the number of appeals is high.

Validity of REA Examination Results

All REA course participants are required to pass the REA examination within 2 years from the date of issuance of the REA course completion certificate. Candidates with a partial pass in the REA examination are required to pass the remaining paper(s) within the 2-year timeframe. Should they fail to do so, the partial pass in the REA examination will not be valid and candidates will have to re-take the REA course before attempting the full REA examination again. 

Upon passing the REA examination, the candidate will be issued the REA examination certificate. If the candidate wishes to assume the role of the Key Executive Officer (KEO) or Practising Director or Practising Partner of an estate agent, he/she must submit his/her application through the estate agent within 2 years from the month of passing the examination, failing which the examination results will no longer be valid for such purposes. 

REA Examination Rules

The REA examination is administered by CEA's appointed examination administrator, NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd (“LHUB”). Candidates may refer to LHUB’s website for the full listing of examination rules and regulations. 

Below are some of the important examination rules that candidates should note: 

1. The REA examination commences at 7.00pm. Candidates are reminded to be punctual. Candidates who arrive at the examination reporting counter after the 15-minutes grace period (i.e. 7.15pm) will NOT be allowed to sit for the examination. No refund of the examination fee will be given to the candidates.


2. Candidates are required to bring their physical national registration identification card (“NRIC”), passport, driving licence or employment pass. Digital IDs are NOT allowed for identity verification. Candidates without any physical identification documents will NOT be allowed to sit for the examination.
 

3. Candidates are not allowed to carry their mobile devices during the examination. All mobile devices must be switched off (no vibration or airplane mode is allowed) and placed at the designated area in front of the classroom. Any candidate found to be in possession of their mobile devices during the examination may be disqualified from the examination and/or barred from taking future examinations.


4. All copies of the questions and examination papers are the property of CEA and must be returned to the invigilator at the end of the examination. Recording of the examination questions in any form is strictly prohibited. Any candidate who is found to have recorded the examination question and/or leaves the examination hall with the examination paper will be immediately disqualified from the examination and reported to CEA. CEA reserves the right to bar the candidate from future examinations.


5. CEA and LHUB take a serious view on cheating during the examination. CEA reserves the right to bar any candidate attempting to gain an unfair advantage in the examination (whether by breaching an examination regulation or otherwise) from future examinations.

Deferment of REA Examination

Candidates who do not turn up for the examination will be marked "absent" and considered to have failed the examination.

CEA may consider requests for deferment only under the following circumstances:

1. Hospitalisation on the day of examination
2. Bereavement of spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent or grandchild
3. National Service duties that cover the day of the examination
   

An administrative fee of $109 (inclusive of GST) will be levied on each examination deferment application. Candidates must submit the application and relevant supporting documents via LHUB’s online system, within 5 working days after the examination. Candidates approved for deferment may only attempt the next examination. No further deferment will be allowed.

For clarifications, candidates can email LHUB at rea@ntuclearninghub.com.

Website last updated: 3 April 2024