Mapping RICS quantity surveying competencies to curricula of RICS accredited programmes

Abstract

The education and training of graduate Quantity Surveyors are highly influenced by academic institutions which produce the graduates and professional body such as Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) which sets competencies that guide both academic and industrial learning. The RICS competency documents set the requirements for candidates ready to sit the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) but do not state the level of competency expected of a graduate. As such, it is a matter of interpretation open for dispute and debate. This research therefore examines the extent of coverage of RICS QS competencies in the programmes accredited by the RICS. A detailed case study exercise was carried out based upon 4 RICS accredited quantity surveying programmes offered by 4 leading universities in the UK to map the RICS QS competencies to the individual module specifications of the respective QS programmes. In effect, a scoring system and competency mapping matrix was devised to carry out a systematic numerical evaluation of the extent of competency mapping to curricula. The study revealed that different universities aim to achieve competencies at different levels based on their interpretations as there is no threshold standard or benchmark for level of competencies to be achieved by QS graduates completing a RICS accredited programme. It is thus recommended that a clearly defined Graduate Competency Threshold Benchmark (GCTB) should be created by the RICS who regulates the QS profession. In addition, a competency mapping framework that describes the process of the mapping of competencies to QS programme curricula should be developed to form the basis of identifying whether a programme seeking accreditation will have the necessary mapping levels to produce a graduate that will achieve this threshold benchmark