ADEPTing to Change

June 2023 - 8 min read

It was 17 months and numerous consultations and engagement sessions in the making.

And on 19 May 2023, Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Second Minister for Finance and National Development, announced at the Singapore Estate Agents Conference 2023 that the real estate agency industry would receive a vital boost to their Continuing Professionalism Development (CPD) ecosystem in the form of eight enhancement measures.

Based on recommendations by the 14-member Project ADEPT (Advancing and Enhancing Professionalism and Training) workgroup, the enhancement measures aim to address three key thrusts:

1. Raising the professionalism of real estate salespersons (RESs) and prepare the real estate agency industry for the future;

2. Enhance the quality of CPD training for RESs; and

3. Promote a continuous learning mindset amongst RESs.

The following eight enhancement measures will be implemented progressively by 2025.

Enhancement Measure 1 – Higher CPD requirement for registration renewal

RESs who renew their registration in 2026 will have to fulfil 16 training hours a year, which will be the new CPD requirements from October 2025. With the latest knowledge and competencies, RESs can stay relevant and resilient.

Enhancement Measure 2 – Reconfiguration of CPD requirements

The CPD requirement will be reconfigured with two components – Structured Learning (SL) and Self-directed Learning (SDL) – to further expand the scope and depth of learning activities.

Enhancement measure 3 – New requirement in Prescribed Essential topics

There will be a new training requirement in Prescribed Essential topics to help reinforce RESs’ understanding and competence in critical areas such as ethics, CEA and other government agencies’ rules and regulations for property transactions, among others.

There will be 4 training hours on Prescribed Essential topics, which will form part of the 12 training hours under the SL component.

Enhancement measure 4 – Differentiated learning paths

There will be differentiated learning paths to better support the industry’s diverse learning needs, drawn up based on knowledge and competency mapping of job role (i.e. KEO, team leader, RES), specialisation of estate agency work (e.g. residential, commercial, etc), and experience level.

Enhancement measure 5 – Tighter accreditation criteria and course design requirements

CPD course providers will be subjected to new and tighter accreditation criteria and course instructional design requirements for CPD courses.

They will have to submit a course design plan and include compulsory assessment as part of the course content. CEA will also tighten the eligibility criteria of CPD trainers to ensure quality training for RESs.

Enhancement measure 6 – More stringent audit framework for CPD courses

A new and more stringent audit framework for CPD courses will ensure that CPD course providers and trainers meet the required standard in their course design and content to facilitate effective learning by RESs.

CPD course providers will have to take RESs’ feedback into consideration to improve and enhance their course offerings.

Enhancement measure 7 – Reviews and feedback on SL courses to be publicly available

RESs can submit their reviews and feedback on the SL courses directly to CEA, and CEA will publish them on the CEA website.

This greater transparency will help RESs make informed decisions about learning choices and also allow course providers to factor in the feedback to improve their courses.

Enhancement 8 – Collaborations to introduce more courses

To promote continuous learning and upgrading by RESs, CEA will collaborate with the Institutes of Higher Learning and the industry associations to identify and/ or introduce more advanced and structured courses to enable RESs to progressively work towards attaining certification in specific training areas.

Find out more about the Project ADEPT study and workgroup’s recommendations here.

Information accurate as at 30 June 2023