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Apply for the real estate agency examination
Find out how to apply for the real estate agency examination and its requirements.
Last updated 1 September 2025
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The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) requires individuals who wish to assume the role of the Key Executive Officer (KEO) of an estate agent (EA) to pass the real estate agency (REA) examination, or possess equivalent qualifications.
The REA examination is administered by CEA's appointed examination administrator, NTUC LearningHub, which will handle and manage all examination enquiries, including registration, deferment, results, eligibility matters, appeals, and all communication with applicants and candidates. They will respond to enquiries within five working days, or longer if the enquiry is more complex, or if the volume of enquiries is high.
To register for the REA examination, please visit NTUC LearningHub’s website.
NTUC LearningHub Pte Ltd
Website: https://rea.ntuclearninghub.com/
Main Hotline (Mon - Fri, 8:30 am to 5:30 pm): 6336-5482
E-mail: rea@ntuclearninghub.com
Address: Haw Par Centre 180 Clemenceau Avenue #01-02 Singapore 239922 (With effect from 18 Aug 2025)
REA examination requirements
1. Complete the REA Course
You must attend and complete the REA course conducted by a CEA Approved Course Provider (ACP) before registering for the REA examination. Upon completing the REA Course (a minimum of 75% attendance is required), the ACP will issue you a Certificate of REA Course Completion. Only certificates issued by CEA ACP will be recognised for the purpose of REA examination registration.
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:
Qualifications equivalent to REA examinations
Name of Qualifications | Issuing Body |
Bachelor of Science (Real Estate)1 | National University of Singapore (NUS) |
Bachelor of Science (Estate Management)2 | |
Bachelor of Real Estate (Property Management)2 | |
Bachelor of Real Estate (Valuation)2 | |
Diploma in Real Estate Business1 | Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) |
Diploma In Building Management2 | |
Diploma In Building & Real Estate Management2 | |
Diploma In Property Development & Facilities Management2 | Singapore Polytechnic (SP) |
Diploma In Building & Property Management2 |
Note:
The Bachelor of Science (Real Estate) course and Diploma in Real Estate Business course are currently offered by NUS and NP respectively:
Students enrolled in these two courses on or after 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications will be granted partial exemption from one REA examination paper (i.e. Paper 1). They will be required to take REA examination Papers 2 and 3 in 2025 and 2026. If they are taking the REA examination from 2027 onwards, they will be required to take REA examination Paper 2.
To be eligible to sit for REA examination Papers 2 and 3 in 2025 and 2026, 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).
Students enrolled in either of these two courses before 1 April 2020 and subsequently attain these qualifications will continue to be exempted from the REA examinations.
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 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 REA examinations.
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.
REA examinations in 2025 and 2026:
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.
REA examinations from 1 January 2027:
If you are sitting for REA examinations from 1 January 2027, the Certificate of REA Course Completion is not required.
For more information on the removal of the REA course requirement and the validity period of modular REA examination passes, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 186KB).
2. Submit your educational qualifications
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 developed by the British Council in collaboration with SkillsFuture Singapore: Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing, and Numeracy.
When registering for the REA examination, you must submit a copy of your qualification certificate and all supporting documents to NTUC LearningHub for verification.
Examination syllabus
The following table summarises the REA examination syllabus.
Paper | Competency unit and topics |
1 | Legal framework of real estate 1.1 Law of real property 1.2 Law of agency and regulation of estate agencies 1.3 Law of contract and contract for sale/lease of land 1.4 Law of tort |
2 | Estate agency work and relevant real estate knowledge 2.1 Real estate market and submarkets 2.2 Marketing of properties 2.3 Property transactions 2.4 Relationship with other professions and services 2.5 Additional real estate knowledge |
3 | Governance, management and operations of estate agency business 3.1 Estate Agent organisation and licensing 3.2 Ethics 3.3 Management of salespersons 3.4 Governance, management and operations 3.5 Service quality and dispute resolution 3.6 Marketing and branding |
Please refer to the REA Examination Syllabus (PDF, 383KB) for more details. The REA examinations in 2025 and 2026 will be based on the current REA examination syllabus.
Revised REA examination syllabus 2027 (from 1 January 2027)
To ensure that the areas of focus continue to remain up to date and relevant to the real estate agency industry, CEA has revised the REA examination syllabus, which will be implemented for examinations from 1 January 2027.
The scope and topics to be covered in each Paper under the revised REA examination syllabus 2027 are as follows:
Paper 1 | Legal framework of real estate. |
Paper 2 | Governance, management and operations of estate agency business and relevant real estate knowledge. |
Please refer to the revised REA Examination Syllabus 2027 (PDF, 363KB) for more details.
For more information, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions under the REA Examination Format.
Examination format
The REA examination for 2025 and 2026 comprises three papers with eight essay questions each.
You are required to answer any five out of the eight questions for each paper.
Duration: 2.5 hours per paper.
Revised REA Examination Format from 1 January 2027
The revised REA examination format will be implemented for examinations from 1 January 2027 and will consist of two papers as follows:
Paper 1 (Duration: 2.5 hours) The examination paper consists of 8 questions which may comprise essay questions or case study questions. Answer 5 out of 8 questions. | 20 marks per question Total: 100 marks |
Paper 2 (Duration: 3 hours) The examination paper consists of 9 questions which may comprise essay questions or case study questions. Section A: Answer 1 compulsory question on Estate Agents Act 2010 and its Regulations. Section B: Answer 5 out of 8 questions. | Section A: 20 marks Section B: 80 marks (16 marks per question) Total: 100 marks |
For more information on the revised REA Examination Syllabus 2027 and the validity period of modular REA examination passes, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 186KB) (FAQs).
Examination schedule
Month | Date / Time* | Exam Paper | REA Course Completion | Registration Period* |
Apr 2025 | 23 Apr, Wed (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 1 | By 24 Mar 2025, Mon | From 25 Mar 2025, Tue to 2 Apr 2025, Wed |
24 Apr, Thu (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 2 | |||
25 Apr, Fri (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 3 | |||
Sep 2025 | 24 Sep, Wed (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 1 | By 25 Aug 2025, Mon | From 26 Aug 2025, Tue to 3 Sep 2025, Wed |
25 Sep, Thu (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 2 | |||
26 Sep, Fri (7pm - 9:30pm) | Paper 3 |
Note: *We may reschedule the REA examination dates and/ or registration period without prior notice. The changes will be updated in the table above.
Examination fees
The REA examination fees are as follow:
Examination Type | Examination Fee Rates (GST inclusive) |
Full Sitting (3 Papers) | $675.80 |
*Modular sitting - 2 Papers | $534.10 |
*Modular sitting - 1 Paper | $348.80 |
Note: A modular sitting is only applicable for candidates who have passed at least one paper of the REA examination. Examination fees are subject to revision and may be changed without prior notice.
Examination results notification
NTUC LearningHub will email the examination results to you within four to six weeks after the examination.
Appeal for review of REA examination results
If you wish to submit an appeal application for a review of your REA examination results, you shall do so on NTUC LearningHub’s website within five working days after the release of the examination results and make a payment of $87.20 (inclusive of GST).
This fee is to cover the cost of reviewing the marking of the answer scripts and for re-checking of the awarded marks. Please note that you will not be shown your answer scripts as part of the appeal process.
NTUC LearningHub will inform you in writing of your appeal outcome about 14 working days after the closing date, or longer if the number of appeals is high.
Validity of REA examination results
You must pass the REA examination within two years from the date of your Certificate of REA Course Completion. If you have received a partial pass in the REA examination, you must pass the remaining papers within the two-year timeframe.
If you are unable to pass all three papers of the REA examination within the two-year validity period, you must retake the REA course before attempting the REA examination, and retake all three papers.
After passing the REA examination, you will receive your REA examination certificate. If you wish to assume the role of KEO, you must submit your application through the EA within two years from the month of passing the REA examination. Your examination results will no longer be valid for application of this role after two years.
Examination rules
For the REA examination rules and regulations, please visit NTUC LearningHub’s website.
Deferment of REA examination
If you fail to turn up for the REA examination, you will be marked as "Absent" and considered to have failed the examination.
CEA may consider deferment of the examinations under the following circumstances:
Hospitalisation on the day of examination.
Demise of spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild which occurred up to 14 days before the day of examination.
National Service duties that cover the day of the examination.
A non-refundable fee of $130.80 (inclusive of GST) is payable for each examination deferment application. You must submit the application and relevant supporting documents via NTUC LearningHub’s website within five working days after the examination. You will be assigned to the next earliest examination upon approval of your deferment application with no further deferments allowed.
For clarifications, please email NTUC LearningHub at rea@ntuclearninghub.com.
Retaking the REA examination
If you obtain a modular pass in one or two papers of the REA examination, you may retake your failed papers in subsequent modular sittings, subject to the following:
You must pass at least one paper of the REA examination.
If you fail more than one paper, you must retake all failed papers in your next REA examination attempt.
You must pass the REA examination within two years from the date of your Certificate of REA Course Completion. If you are unable to pass all three papers of the REA examination within the two-year validity period, you must retake the REA course before attempting all three papers of the REA examination again.