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Project ADEPT
Project ADEPT is a collaboration by CEA and industry stakeholders to raise the professionalism and service quality of the real estate agency industry.
Last updated 18 August 2025
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The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) launched Project ADEPT (Advancing and Enhancing Professionalism and Training) in August 2021. This initiative brings together real estate agency industry stakeholders and academics to strengthen the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) ecosystem, supporting the Jobs & Skills and Resilience pillars of the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025.
Project ADEPT aims to empower real estate salespersons (RESs) to enhance their professionalism, deliver quality service to their clients, and be future-ready.
We have accepted and will implement all eight measures from the Project ADEPT workgroup progressively from October 2025, with one key modification to Measure 1. RESs must complete 16 hours of annual CPD training for registration renewal, instead of the initially proposed 24 hours. We will review this requirement in the coming years, with plans to gradually increase it to 24 hours.
The eight Project ADEPT measures will be implemented under three key thrusts:
3 Key Thrusts and 8 Measures | ||
Raising the Professionalism of property agents and Preparing the Industry for the Future | Enhancing the Quality of CPD Training for property agents | Promoting a Continuous Mindset amongst property agents |
1. Higher CPD requirement for registration renewal | 5. New and tighter accreditation criteria and course instructional design requirements for CPD courses | |
2. Reconfigure CPD requirement to recognise more forms of CPD activities for both structured and self-directed learning | 6. New audit framework for CPD courses | |
3. Training requirement in Prescribed Essential topics for property agents | 7. Greater transparency of course participants' feedback | |
4. Differentiated learning paths to better support the industry's diverse learning needs | 8. Stackable modules and specialised courses that lead to certification | |
View the following video to find out more about the eight Project ADEPT measures.
Additional information
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is there a need to enhance the entire Continuing Professional Development (CPD) ecosystem through Project ADEPT?
CPD has been an important component to the professionalisation of the real estate agency industry since CEA introduced the CPD scheme in 2011.
Project ADEPT builds upon the work that began with the introduction of the new CPD framework in October 2019 under the Real Estate Industry Transformation Map 1.0 (RE ITM 1.0), and is part of the efforts under RE ITM 2025.
These efforts aim to continue enhancing the CPD ecosystem to better support RESs to be more professional, productive, and resilient in the future economy.
2. Is CEA implementing all the recommendations from the Project ADEPT workgroup? If so, when will the measures be implemented?
CEA has accepted all eight recommendations put up by the Project ADEPT workgroup. We will progressively implement these from October 2025, with a slight modification to the first recommendation to increase CPD training hours to 24. Instead, we will start with 16 hours.
3. I am an RES. Will my training cost increase and what training subsidies can I apply for?
CPD course fees are determined by the respective course providers. For Structured Learning courses, course participants who are NTUC members may enjoy unfunded course fee support if they attend Professional Competency courses conducted by CPD course providers that are supported under the Union Training Assistance Programme (UTAP).
NTUC members enjoy 50% unfunded course fee support, capped at $250 per calendar year. NTUC members aged 40 and above can enjoy higher funding support up to $500 each year, capped at 50% of unfunded course fees, for courses attended between 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2025.
Course providers which are not onboard UTAP yet can contact e2i at UTAP@e2i.com.sg for more information. Meanwhile, RESs who wish to find out more, can visit the UTAP website.
4. What is the difference between "CPD credits" and "CPD training hours"?
The prevailing requirement of six CPD credits is equivalent to six to nine training hours or a maximum of two credits per course. Under the current CPD framework, for example, a half-day course (assuming four training hours) that is allocated two CPD credits will be allocated four training hours under the new measure.
The shift to CPD training hours reflects the actual duration of training an RES receives.
This will also motivate course providers to develop courses of a longer duration that allows for more in-depth learning, which in turn improves the overall course quality and learning experience for course participants.
5. What is the rationale behind Measure 1 to increase the CPD requirement to 16 training hours?
Arising from the Project ADEPT study, CEA and industry stakeholders (including estate agents, industry associations, and course providers) observed that the current CPD requirement would not be adequate to provide RESs with the necessary breadth and depth of training to keep pace with changes. The operating environment and consumer expectations of the real estate agency industry have evolved over time.
Hence, it is timely to update the CPD requirement so that RESs have the necessary knowledge and competencies to meet the professional standards expected of the industry and to better serve their clients.
6. What is the difference between the current Generic Competencies and the new Self-directed Learning (SDL)?
While SDL shares similarities with the current Generic Competencies which comprises SkillsFuture Singapore's (SSG) 16 Critical Core Skills (CCSs), SDL will recognise a wider spectrum of knowledge and skills which are relevant to estate agency work.
These include applicable courses leading to a professional certificate, relevant online courses such as those offered by Coursera and edX, and conferences.
7. In what ways are the Prescribed Essentials different from the Professional Competency courses which KEOs and RESs are already required to attend?
The Prescribed Essentials are aimed at reinforcing understanding and competence in critical areas relating to ethics, and rules and regulations. These are areas where all RESs are expected to be conversant with, but which not all RESs may ordinarily opt to undertake training in.
The four training hours for Prescribed Essentials will form part of the Structured Learning (SL) training requirement. Although SL courses will comprise mainly Professional Competency courses for a start, the scope may be expanded to include other topics which CEA identifies to be critical and relevant to the real estate agency industry as the business environment evolves.
8. How would existing CPD course providers be affected by the formalisation of tighter accreditation criteria for CPD course providers?
CEA has existing criteria in place to assess Professional Competency CPD courses conducted by CPD course providers. Tightening the accreditation criteria for CPD course providers will help reshape the way CPD courses are conducted and enhance the overall learning experience of the industry. CEA will share more details on the implementation in due course.
9. My company is a CPD course provider. How would enhancing the transparency of CPD course feedback benefit me and my trainers? How do we ensure that course participants give their feedback responsibly?
The publishing of course feedback and ratings on CEA's website will allow RESs to make a more informed decision when selecting a course or course provider. This also helps course providers identify areas for improvement and provide better quality courses. CEA will work closely with industry stakeholders to operationalise this. More details will be shared in due course.