Apply for the real estate agency course

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) requires aspiring Key Executive Officers (KEOs) to complete the Real Estate Agency (REA) examination preparatory course conducted by CEA Approved Course Providers and obtain their Certificates of REA Course Completion before registering for the REA examination. Only the Certificate of REA Course Completion issued by CEA Approved Course Providers will be recognised for the purpose of taking the REA examination.

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

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 these two courses on or after 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications will be granted partial exemption from one RES examination paper (i.e. Paper 1) and one REA examination paper (i.e. Paper 1). They will be required to take RES examination Paper 2, and REA examination Papers 2 and 3.

   2. b. Existing students enrolled in these two courses before 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications will not be affected by the amendments to the Regulations. These students, together with past graduates, will continue to be granted full exemption from the RES and REA examinations.

2. These courses are no longer offered by NUS, NP, and SP. Past graduates who are holders of these academic qualifications will not be affected by the amendments to the Regulations. These qualifications will continue to be recognised as passes in the RES and REA examinations.

3. 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.

4. Holders of all other qualifications will be required to take and pass the RES or REA examination if they wish to become an RES or a KEO respectively.

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

List of CEA Approved Course Providers for the REA course  

Note: The Approved Course Providers are listed in alphabetical order and not in order of merit. 

Course requirement for aspiring KEOs

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 KEOs; 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 (PDF, 935KB) 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 REA course registration, REA examination registration, and KEO application, 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.