APC SESSION 2026 How to support your APC candidates in Session 2026?

Jen Lemen

Jen is a partner and co-founder of Property Elite.

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Jen gives useful advice to Councillors to support their candidates through the many hurdles of the APC process. Note – an important deadline is in July. For Counsellors and candidates, use ACES’ Terrier website to look at Jen’s regular useful articles on APC (https://www. acesterrier.org.uk/ ).

As we head further into 2026, the countdown to the Session 2 APC submission window is officially on. As a Counsellor and mentor to APC candidates, the months running into the Autumn are when my organisational skills really come to the fore.

For candidates, getting their submission right is only half of the APC challenge. Navigating the administrative requirements, key deadlines and Counsellor sign off process is where many fall short, and there is much that we can do, as part of their support network, to avoid disappointment and delay.

Whether you are supporting candidates on one of the Land and Property or Built Environment pathways, a valid, successful submission requires backward planning from today. Many candidates do not even make it to interview because they fail to comply with the basic requirements set out by RICS. This includes returning the Intent to Submit form, ensuring their Preview Submission is completed, and selecting the right competencies (based on the relevant Pathway Guide).

Below, I set out my basic roadmap for candidates submitting in Session 2 2026, combining the RICS deadlines with the realistic internal timelines that you and your candidates ideally need to follow.

Know your deadlines - the external RICS process 

The RICS timelines differ significantly depending on your candidates’ sector pathway and route. The dates discussed below relate to final submission, not candidates submitting for Preliminary Review.

Land & Property pathways:

• Eligibility Communication - RICS will email eligible candidates on 7 July 2026 to initiate the submission process

• Apprentices - must pass through Gateway by 27 July 2026

• Intent to Submit window – candidates must formally return the Intent to Submit form to RICS between 7 July and 24 July 2026. Miss this, and they will not be able to submit in Session 2

• Submission window - candidates must submit using the online RICS Assessment Platform between 10 August and 20 August 2026. This includes their Counsellor sign off and proposer and two seconder approvals. These are all carried out online - no physical signatures or approvals are required. Candidates can request their proposer and seconder approvals in advance of the deadline - we suggest doing this up to 3 months in advance

• Interview window - candidates must keep the 5-week period commencing 5 October 2026 completely free. Previously, candidates could confirm their preference of interview dates, but this has been removed by RICS, given assessor shortages. If a candidate cannot attend their given interview date, they will simply be asked to wait until the next submission window by RICS. Thus, ensure that you advise your candidates not to book any holidays or events requiring their attendance within this time period (Monday to Friday). Candidates will be given 2 weeks’ notice by email of their interview date, so this should help with planning work commitments during this 5-week period.

Built Environment pathways:

• Eligibility Communication - RICS will email eligible candidates on 11 August 2026 to initiate the submission process

• Apprentices - must pass through Gateway by 31 August 2026

• Intent to Submit window – candidates must formally return the Intent to Submit form to RICS between 11 August and 28 August 2026. Miss this, and they will not be able to submit in Session 2

• Submission window - candidates must submit using the online RICS Assessment Platform between 14 September and 24 September 2026. This includes their Counsellor sign off and proposer and two seconder approvals. These are all carried out online - no physical signatures or approvals are required. Candidates can request their proposed and seconder approvals in advance of the deadline - we suggest doing this up to 3 months in advance

• Interview window - candidates must keep the 5-week period commencing 2 November 2026 completely free. Previously, candidates could confirm their preference of interview dates, but this has been removed by RICS given assessor shortages. If a candidate cannot attend their given interview date, they will simply be asked to wait until the next submission window by RICS. Thus, ensure that you advise your candidates not to book any holidays or events requiring their attendance within this time period (Monday to Friday). Candidates will be given 2 weeks’ notice by email of their interview date, so this should help with planning work commitments during this 5-week period.

Milestone	Land & Property Pathways	Built Environment Pathways
Eligibility communication	7 July 2026	11 August 2026
Apprentice Gateway deadline	27 July 2026	31 August 2026
Intent to Submit window	7 July – 24 July 2026	11 August – 28 August 2026
Official Submission window	10 August – 20 August 2026	14 September – 24 September 2026
5-Week Interview window	Commencing 5 October 2026	Commencing 2 November 2026

Note that the intent to submit form is not just a soft expression of interest; it is a hard administrative requirement, and, if missed, a candidate cannot submit for final assessment.

Realistic timeline - the internal process

From a Counsellor’s perspective, the biggest mistake candidates make is assuming that finishing their final draft means they are ready to submit. The review, amendment and RICS Assessment Platform sign-off process always takes longer than all parties anticipate.

As a Counsellor, you should be regularly meeting with your candidates throughout their APC journey. This means every 3 months as a minimum, in line with the RICS Candidate and Counsellor Guides, or, ideally, more regularly. You are likely to need to meet with your candidates more frequently as their submission window comes closer.

I always recommend setting out a clear plan with your candidates towards submission, including key review deadlines and internal sign off targets. The worst thing possible is a candidate who does not engage and then asks for your sign off at the last minute. This simply should not happen as being a Counsellor is a process, not just a tick box exercise. An engaged candidate is usually a joy to work with and when sign off time comes, it’s a simple process as you have seen their work develop over a long period of time.

To ensure that you and your candidates do not leave the final sign off until the last minute, here are my suggested internal timeframes to work to:

• Meet with your candidate at least every 3 months, if not more frequently. Every two weeks for a shorter meeting can work well. Between these, your candidate could write up a couple of levels for various competencies, or work on a skeleton draft for their Case Study. You can also discuss their structured training diary and their CPD record. Each Counsellor session should have an agenda, set by the candidate, beforehand and a set of minutes and action points afterwards. You can use AI to help with this; I particularly like Fireflies.AI which produces meeting transcripts, summaries and action plans and circulates them automatically to all parties after the meeting ends. You still need to do the hard work though and agree the action plan during the session!

• If you can review a working draft during the 6-9 months prior to submission, then by 3 months prior you should have fully reviewed your candidate’s work. Alternatively, you may wish to set them a 3-month prior deadline to send you the full final draft. I recommend working away from the RICS Assessment Platform and using a Word document for this, giving feedback via track changes and comment boxes. Only when the submission is complete should it be uploaded to the Platform - for me, this makes the review process a lot smoother

• Remind your candidates that the use of generative AI is not permitted by RICS [Ed – see Jen’s article in 2026 Spring Terrier]. I have had candidates ignore this and send me submissions which have included the use of AI. Sometimes it is easy to spot, such as the use of certain grammar or language which is out of sync with the candidate’s usual style; others it is not - and you may need to use an AI checker to identify it (as RICS will when the candidate submits for final assessment)

• If you set your candidates a deadline to submit their work to you, commit to a defined turnaround period. 7 working days is usually sufficient as it gives you time to review, provide feedback and then reflect on their work. If you need longer, let them know - it can be very disheartening as a candidate to put hard work into a piece of work and then not receive any feedback on it. Similarly, if you do not have time to act as a Counsellor then do not commit to it - successful candidates have committed, motivated Counsellors to support them

• Once your candidate has finalised their submission, then you can convert the Summary of Experience and Case Study into a PDF and upload them to the RICS Assessment Platform. The CPD Record and diary are inputted directly online. They can then submit them through the Platform to you for approval and final sign off. Ensure that you read the Platform User Guide so you understand how the sign off process works, as it is not necessarily straightforward. Give yourself sufficient time to sign off your candidates before the submission window closes. If you have multiple candidates where you are acting as Counsellor, give them a deadline for approval well in advance of the actual RICS submission window. Remind your candidates that they also need their proposer and two seconder approvals provided before they can submit. As Counsellor, you are also free to provide one of these additional approvals

• Ensure that you check that the candidate has met the basic RICS requirements to submit; a filled in Preview Submission (employment history, academic qualifications, etc), sufficient CPD record (total hours and % formal), sufficient diary days (400 for 24 months’ structured training, or 200 for 12 months’ structured training), word counts within the stated RICS (absolute!) requirements, and compliant competency choices (check their pathway guide, levels required, and any ‘or’ lists for mandatory competencies taken to a higher level as a technical competency)

• Tell your candidates to put the Intent to Submit and final submission deadlines in their calendar and give them a polite nudge, if needed, to make sure they submit on time. The RICS windows generally close on a Thursday at 1600 (UK time) so ensure that all approvals are completed in time. A candidate cannot submit until they have all of the Assessment Platform requirements completed.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the role of a Counsellor or mentor is to provide consistent support during a high-pressure period for your candidates. By enforcing internal milestones and reminding candidates of the absolute RICS deadlines, you can protect your candidates from avoidable disappointment or delay.

By establishing a structured timeline during your candidates’ structured training period, you can ensure that your candidates walk into their final assessment interview ready to demonstrate their professional competence. This means no panic over timeframes, last minute sign offs, or miscommunications over deadlines!

Wishing you and your candidates the very best of luck for the Session 2 2026 assessment window!