Property Courses : Diploma in Commercial Property Agency : Further Info

NFOPP Level 5 Award: Diploma in Commercial Property Agency (DipCPA)

The National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) now provides a Diploma in Commercial Property Agency (DipCPA). The programme is designed mainly for people currently working within commercial property agency and having some experience of negotiating and listing, or at branch manager level. It is also suitable for those with existing non-cognate or semi-cognate qualifications who wish to have a career in commercial property agency and want to take a course prior to seeking suitable employment.

Structure

The DipCPA is awarded by the NFOPP to candidates who successfully complete their examinations in each of the following four units

  • Unit 1: Legal Aspects of Commercial Agency
  • Unit 2: Commercial Agency Practice
  • Unit 3: Commercial Property Inspection and Valuation
  • Unit 4: Business Promotion and Organisation
  • Project: Residential Estate Agency related topic*

The award is aimed at people already working within commercial property agency at negotiator, senior negotiator or branch manager level, or for those with a non-cognate or semi-cognate qualification who want to obtain a qualification prior to seeking employment in commercial property agency. The programme was developed by commercial property agents for commercial property agents.

If you chose to complete the Certificate of Practice in Estate Agency (CPEA) before the award changed to a Diploma, or if you have qualified for the Certificate within the past three years, you will be able to upgrade to the Diploma by completing the project topic.

As a guide, it is expected that each unit would take around 65 hours of study and the project will take around 90 hours of work.

*The project topic will be selected by the student with tutor support.

Materials

The materials for the DipCPA are written for use by distance learning students and cover all four units as well as provide support for the project. To find out more about the course units please refer to the structure information using the link above.

You will be able to study at your own pace, within the time constraints of the MOL support period, working through the units in the order that they are presented, to get the most out of the course materials.

Support

Tutor support is an integral part of the DipCPA award. If you take full advantage of it, it will considerably improve your chances of successfully completing the NFOPP examinations. Tutor support is both proactive and reactive.

After your enrolment on the MOL programme, you will be contacted by a tutor. All tutors are professionally qualified practitioners with teaching expertise. All have experience with distance learning students and can help you fit study into a busy working and home life.

MOL offers you ongoing support. At any time during the programme you can contact a tutor, either by telephone, email or fax, and you are actively encouraged to do so. Support will continue for up to three years from when you enrol on the programme. This is two years for successful completion of the four examination papers and twelve months for the project, usually taken by most students towards the end of their period of study for the examinations.

Whether you choose to contact a tutor a lot or a little, they will contact you periodically. This offers you the perfect opportunity to assess and discuss your progress and highlight any problems you may encounter. When you reach the end of your programme with MOL, a tutor will be able to advise on your readiness for the NFOPP examination.

Exam Preparation

The key to the programme is the support from a tutor and the preparation for the examination available to you. Rather then just working on your own, you will have tutor support. This will include checking and giving feedback on attempts you make at answering examination-type questions which will prepare you for the real thing. The feedback you receive from a tutor will indicate when you are ready to take the examination. The support mechanism on offer can be adapted to your needs, whether you prefer to take each unit examination separately or all together.

In this way the programme will ensure that you are encouraged to complete the programme up to examination stage and that you do not waste your time, money and confidence by entering at the wrong time and failing.

The DipCPA examination will consist of four, three-hour written papers, one for each unit, assessed by examiners appointed by the NFOPP, plus the project which will be assessed by a tutor after completion and verified by an external examiner appointed by the NFOPP.

While MOL's support period is three years from the date of enrolment, the NFOPP expects you to pass all four papers and the project within a three year period of registering for the first examination. It is your responsibility to register for the examinations with the NFOPP.

Examinations are held twice each year in April and September. The last date for registration is approximately six weeks before the examination, ie the end of February for the April examinations and end of July for the September examinations.

Project

The project is additional to the four examinations in each of the units studied. The project title will be chosen by the student in consultation with a tutor and, it is hoped, will cover elements from the units studied.

Support material for the project is available. Tutor support will be available for up to twelve months from registration for the project. It is anticipated that most students will take the project towards the end of their period of study for the examinations.

Arrangements are being made for those students who have passed the Certificate of Practice in Estate Agency (CPEA) within the last three years to upgrade to the Diploma by completing the project.

Syllabus

The syllabus for this course can either be viewed as a web page by clicking here or as a PDF by clicking on this link.