FdSc Residential Estate Agency

UCAS Code

N328

Location

RAU Swindon

Duration

2 Years (Full-time) or 4 years (Part-time)

Academic Year

29 September 2025 to 22 May 2026

This programme will give you the foundation needed for a career in residential estate agency. It will provide you with excellent development in all the skills and knowledge required for a successful career in this industry. The course is ideal for those currently working as, or considering becoming, an estate agent.

Course overview

The role of an estate agent requires a diverse set of skills and attributes, from acting as a sales person to showing clients available properties, helping private buyers/investors buy and sell homes/investment properties, marketing properties for sale and assisting clients find that perfect home to rent or buy. Your role as a professional estate agent is to help buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords.

This programme will provide you with a broad and innovative introduction to key principles and practices in property services, which examine property valuation, property law, finance, sales and marketing, people management and business strategy so that you become familiar with the core issues concerning the residential property sales sector. Embedded into the programme through the teaching will be an introduction to the relevance of technology to residential estate agency. This will include reference to property portals, online agency, social media, client relationship management systems and software packages to help with compliance.

Supported by interactions with, and input from, industry professionals, the course content is tailored to develop your understanding of contemporary issues in practice.

This new Residential Estate Agency course is designed to meet your evolving needs and aspirations both academically and vocationally. It will also:

  1. Ensure that you have a clear understanding of ethics relating to the public interest, and also to contemporary professional and business standards relating to estate agency
  2. Assist you in the pursuit of excellence, equip you with a property services background and the analytical and conceptual skills, knowledge, commercial awareness and understanding of property services business administration and agency processes required to respond to, and address, the problems of a complex, fast-changing sector
  3. Help you to develop transferable intellectual, vocational and interpersonal skills appropriate to such careers, including self-awareness and critical, but constructive, attitudes towards sustainability, innovation and change
  4. Offer a stimulating programme that investigates the challenges for estate agents, taking into account market conditions and the technologies that exist to help estate agents offer an excellent and professional service and to serve a clients’ best interests

Work placement

You will complete a 10-week period of work experience, usually during the summer between your first and second year, to gain further training and experience in residential estate agency. Not only could you find yourself working for prestigious companies, develop your confidence and gain industry contacts for when you graduate.

This experience helps our graduates develop key employability skills and gain invaluable industry contacts.

Course content

Residential Estate Agency has become an increasingly complex area of business with modern and traditional approaches adding to the competitive nature of the work. The home remains the main asset for most private owners, who can afford them and the returns on capital remains the priority for investors. This course, therefore, sets out to provide practitioners, and those about to enter the world of residential property, with the foundation required to approach this significant area of the economy with a professional and ethical approach to their work.

Right from your first year, you will gain grounding in work-related situations as well as academic study before developing a deeper understanding of the key issues in your second year. You will be assessed through field reports, research projects, examinations, case studies, portfolios, presentations and practical skills.

Timetables

The teaching sessions will take place in Swindon and are timetabled on Mondays and Tuesdays. This allows you to fulfil other commitments you may have, such as work, family and interests. Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and societies activities.

Modules

Each module is worth a specified number of credits. Each credit equates to 10 hours of total study time. Total study time includes scheduled teaching, independent study and assessment activity.

Full-time students normally take modules worth 60 credits per 15 week semester but this can vary depending on your elective choice. Part-time students taking proportionally fewer credits per semester. All students take a total of 120 credits per level and 240 credits for the foundation degree as a whole. The overall grade for your foundation degree is based on marks obtained for modules taken at level 4 and level 5 (weighted 30:70) accordingly.

The modules available for this degree are shown below. They may change for your year of study as we regularly review our module offerings to ensure they’re informed by the latest research and teaching methods.

Year one

  • 1550 Valuation 1: Explain the factors which underpin value in the property market
  • 1551 Principles of Marketing: Explore the theories which underpin marketing and learn how to put these into practice
  • 1553 Property Markets Transactions and Analysis: Analyse property markets to review trends and performance
  • 1554 Land and Property Economics: Develop an understanding of basic macro and micro economic concepts in land and property markets
  • 1555 Law for Estate Agency: Understand, identify and apply how the English legal system is organised and administered in the context of estate agency work.
  • 1556 Business Informatics: Learn how to apply key business concepts in practice to improve management processes
  • 1557 People and Organisations: Discover the theories behind organisational behaviour
  • 1558 Academic and Practical Skills: Learn and try out a range of practical skills used in the land and farming sectors

Year two

  • 2500 Professional Sales Practice: Examine the role of the salesperson and the skills required for effective sales activity
  • 2501 Financial Management: Explore how business finance affects the corporate planning process
  • 2502 Valuation 2: Identify and use the appropriate method of valuation to meet a range of client requirements and different property types
  • 2503 Residential Property Management:  Examine the role of the managing agent in protecting and enhancing the value of a client’s property
  • 2504 Surveying, Inspection and Measurement: Undertake a building inspection report,  including advising on the condition of properties and the identification of common building defects
  • 2505 Work Based Learning Project: Gain practical experience via a work placement to prepare for professional practice
  • 2506 Property Agency and Marketing: Advise on a marketing strategy for a property and how an agency will enable it
  • 2507 Business Strategy: Examine how organisations analyse their competitive environment, formulate objectives, determine their competitive strengths and weaknesses, generate and select appropriate strategies, determine the necessary organisational structures, and implement their corporate plan

Disclaimer information

The University has established various rules and regulations that you must agree to and follow if you accept an offer to study with us. View our full disclaimer notice.

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Careers and graduate destinations

The Royal Agricultural University has a strong reputation for developing highly-skilled, sought-after, employable graduates from a diverse range of backgrounds. Whilst this is not a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) accredited course, this course will provide the foundation for students to progress towards this professional qualification if so desired.

We pride ourselves on being able to help our students acquire the skills they need to foster their initiative and creativity as responsible global citizens. Our graduates have gone on to pursue careers within companies worldwide and within the following roles:

  • Estate Agent
  • Letting Agent
  • Account Manager
  • Sales Manager
  • Property Project Manager
  • Property Management

We have links with a wide range of businesses, through our professional contacts, local Growth Hub, Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise partnership and 175 years of successful Alumni.

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Entry requirements

Typical offers

Required: GCSE minimum five GCSEs at Grade C/4 including English Language and Mathematics (or Maths Numeracy for Welsh applicants) plus satisfactory level 3 qualifications:

  • A-Level: (example grades CD) – minimum of 56 UCAS tariff points (points to include at least one full A-Level or equivalent qualifications)
  • C&G Advanced Technical/BTEC - Level 3 Extended Diploma (1080) at Merit-Pass-Pass
  • International Baccalaureate: 24 points
  • Access to Higher Education: 45 credits at level 3 of which minimum of 15 must be awarded at Merit or higher. (Pass in Functional Skills level 2 are accepted in lieu of GCSE English & Mathematics)

Other level 3 qualifications will be considered.

Visit the UCAS website to calculate your UCAS Tariff points from the qualifications and grades achieved.

Flexible entry

The University welcomes interest from applicants who may not have the standard entry requirements. A wide range of qualifications and experience are accepted in order to join University degree programmes. The University always considers evidence of personal, professional (APL) and educational experience, (APEL), which show an ability to meet the demands of their intended programme of study.

Further information

Alternative entry routes are available for a range of other qualifications. Prior experience is also considered, subject to approval by the programme manager and admissions staff.

Read more general information about our entry requirements.

International students will also need to achieve IELTS Academic or equivalent at the appropriate level for your programme of study. English language requirements for international students.

For any further help, please contact our admissions team:  

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Fees

Tuition fees cover the cost of a student’s academic studies. This usually includes teaching costs, registration and examination fees (not repeat or trailing modules, re-sit fees or coursework resubmission). Any costs associated with work placements will be the student's responsibility.

2024-25 Applicants

For the academic year 2024-25 the tuition fees for this course are: 

  UK International
Full-time £9,250 per year £15,300 per year

For part-time study, please contact admissions@rau.ac.uk for further information.

Please also refer to the funding your time at university page.

Tuition fees may be subject to an inflationary increase each year as set out in our Access and Participation Plan 2019/20.

If you are an Irish national you can check if you meet the requirements for Home Fees. Please visit the UKCISA website and consult the pdf guide “England HE – who pays Home Fees”. First check category ‘3 years in Republic of Ireland/UK/Islands, settled in UK’ or ‘Brexit temporary offer for courses starting before 2028: Irish citizens with residence in Europe or overseas territories’. You will possibly need to be fee assessed when you submit an application for study to the RAU.

Scholarships

The University offers a wide range of generous fee waivers and bursaries. To find out more about the these, please visit the bursaries, awards and scholarships page.

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Ready to take the plunge? Apply now

Applications to study at the Royal Agricultural University must be made through the UCAS system. This applies to all undergraduate courses.

Applications should be made by the UCAS deadline to ensure we are able to offer you a place on your first choice course. However, if you have missed the deadline please contact Admissions@rau.ac.uk as there are usually places available.

If you would like to apply during UCAS Extra or Clearing, please check that we have places available.

Applicants wishing to study on a course on a part-time basis will need to apply directly to the RAU.

Please contact admissions@rau.ac.uk to discuss your requirements and obtain an application form.