Real estate salesperson course

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) requires aspiring real estate salespersons (RESs) to complete the RES examination preparatory course conducted by CEA Approved Course Providers (ACP) and obtain the Certificate of RES Course Completion before registering for the RES examination. Only course completion certificates issued by CEA ACPs will be recognised for the purpose of taking the RES examination.

The Certificate of RES Course Completion has a validity period of two years. You are eligible to take the RES examination within two years from the date of your Certificate of RES Course Completion. Beyond the two-year validity period, you must attend and complete the RES course again should you wish to take the RES examination. There will be no extension to the RES course certificate validity period.

You may not be required to take the RES course and RES examination if you possess any of the recognised qualifications listed in the table below:

Note: 

1. The Bachelor of Science (Real Estate) course and Diploma in Real Estate Business course are currently offered by NUS and NP respectively: 

   1. Students enrolled in either of these two courses on or after 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications are exempted from RES examination Paper 1 and REA examination Paper 1. They will be required to take RES examination Paper 2, and REA examination Papers 2 and 3. 

   2. To be eligible to sit for RES examination Paper 2, they must attend and complete the partial RES course for Paper 2. Course completers will be issued with the Certificate of Completion for RES Course (Paper 2).

   3. To be eligible to sit for REA examination Papers 2 and 3, they must attend and complete the partial REA course for Papers 2 and 3. Course completers will be issued with the Certificate of Completion for REA Course (Papers 2 and 3).

   4. Students enrolled in either of these two courses before 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications will continue to be exempted from the RES and REA examinations. 

2. These courses are no longer offered by NUS, NP, and SP. Graduates who possess any of these academic qualifications will continue to be exempted from the RES and REA examinations. 

Individuals who have passed all 3 examinations in General Practice by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) on or before 1 March 2023 shall be deemed to have obtained qualifications equivalent to a pass in the RES and REA examinations. Please note that this does not apply to RICS memberships, fellowships, or other RICS-accredited course qualifications.

List of CEA Approved Course Providers

Note: The ACPs are listed in alphabetical order and not in order of merit.

Course requirement for aspiring RESs 

You must have either:  

• A minimum of four GCE O-Level passes (results may be combined from a maximum of two examination sittings) or equivalent, which is one of the regulatory requirements for salespersons; or

• Attained Level 5 and above in all five components of the Workplace Literacy and Numeracy (WPLN) assessment:  Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Numeracy. Find out more about the WPLN Assessment developed by the British Council in collaboration with SkillsFuture Singapore at the British Council website.

For overseas qualifications or local private qualifications, ) you may email the academic certificates and academic transcripts, together with the completed Educational Qualification Assessment form (PDF, 209KB), to CEA at licensing@cea.gov.sg for assessment. You must attach all supporting documents when submitting your application.

Qualifications assessed to be accepted in lieu of four GCE O-Level passes for the purpose of RES course registration, RES examination registration, and salesperson registration, are valid for a period of three years from the date of CEA's notification. After this period, you will need to resubmit a fresh application for qualification assessment.