TRAINING
WHO GOES ‘BACK TO SCHOOL’? One interesting feature of all these courses is the very diverse nature of their students. Susie Crolla says the average age of learners on Guild of Letting Management courses is 31; only thirty per cent of them are men; they have an average of six-and-a-half years in the industry before taking the course. So it’s not so much a route into lettings management, as a route up the career ladder. That’s borne out by the fact that almost all work in lettings and are paid for by their employers, who include major agencies Belvoir and Northwood, as well as housing associations and local authorities. NFOPP sees mainly people from 26 to 35, but some experienced negotiators are now taking the exam at a much later age. Ruth says the Technical Award, now the main entry to NFOPP membership, is the most popular qualification and is well supported by employers. “Some employers build it into the terms of employment, you must pass it in a year, and they’ll give you a pay rise if you do.” At Glyndwr University the mix is very
different from what you might expect, relatively few 18 year olds and an average age of 30, with several much more experienced students. “Our students are roughly equal in gender too,” says Kevin Gilliam, “which is unusual.” And they’re a cosmopolitan bunch, too; European students together with Welsh speakers give a mix of 25 per cent of students for whom English is not their first language. Very few learners use these qualifications
to enter the profession from outside, most are working with agents already. The apprenticeships offered with the Bloom Academy, too, while they focus on young people entering the profession, require them to have a placement. That reflects the fact that the demand for qualifications is coming from inside the profession. It’s agents themselves who want to be better prepared for their jobs, not some external body that has decided they need to have a diploma. That also means that most routes to qualification have been created with the active participation of employers, whose support is vital. Kate Boyes currently has two staff in her
office working towards their RICS qualifications. “Because we’re a small business and we all sit with each other,” she says, “they get the business knowledge and the practical applications of what they’re learning. When I was doing my RICS,
20 FEBRUARY 2011 PROPERTYdrum
Studying to climb the property ladder She also believes that initial training is
not enough; there needs to be a firm requirement for continuing professional development (CPD), as there is with the RICS qualification. “There’s a lot of CPD going on,” she says, “but no requirement in law, it’s a free for all. We’re lucky because our client base wants to be trained.” Kate Boyes, too, believes qualification should be made compulsory. “Frankly, it’s frightening when I look at the amount of money we’re handling every month,” she says, “and I realise we could do it without being qualified or regulated at all.”
‘We do see people progressing straight on from the Technical
Award to the Diploma, very often women returning to work who are very keen to get a qualification.’ RUTH LILLEY NFOPP
working in this business, I could see a lot more the background and that helped me get through the APC.” In a larger business, it’s trickier to get the right mix of experience and theoretical learning. Not everything can be taught or tested in a training course. Ruth Lilley says of the Technical Award that “because it’s a written exam we can’t examine whether people can actually sell, that training needs to be done in-house.” There is still no legal obligation for estate
agency staff to take any qualifications or to belong to any professional body, unlike in the US, where realtors are licensed – and must be qualified to trade. Susie Crolla says the advent of a new government has put back the cause for regulation. “The previous government was definitely pro regulation, but that’s no longer the case.”
‘In a larger business, it’s trickier to get the right mix
of experience and theoretical learning.’
KATE BOYES ALExANdRE BOYES IN TUNBRIdGE WELLS
A SINGLE UMBRELLA FOR PROPERTY? Exactly which body should handle the qualifications, though, is a trickier question. Most of the awarding bodies recognise each others’ qualifications, but it’s easy to end up with an alphabetti spaghetti that confuses rather than reassures many members of the public. Kate has an interesting string of letters after her name, BSc (Hons) FARLA FNAEA MRICS, but admits she didn’t work for all of them. “For ARLA and NAEA,” she says, “I was given the entry by default, and I didn’t have to take the exams, because of my RICS qualification.” She worries that there are simply too
many qualifications and too many professional bodies out there. “It’s a pity there’s not a single umbrella for people to study under,” she says. “I spend a fortune every year on membership fees and CPD.” Reducing the number of awarding bodies could save multiply-qualified agents as much as £1,000 a year. It would also make the qualifications much easier for the public to understand. Despite this, client recognition of
property qualifications is certainly improving, particularly in the lettings sector, where a number of scandals have led to greater awareness. Kate Boyes says, “Are you ARLA members? is the question everyone asks. It’s become the expectation that you’ll have ARLA qualification.” One client recently took that question a
little further. Kate regularly uses Google Analytics to see where visitors to the firm’s website have come from. Recently, she had a surprise, she says, “Someone had actually Googled the combination of letters after my name. It’s nice to know they care!”
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www.propertydrum.com/articles/trainingfeb
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