The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales is encouraging prospective agents to sign up for its Recognition of Prior Learning program as a way to fast track their progress in the industry.

Designed for Certification of Registration holders who wish to obtain a real estate licence, the RPL allows industry experience to be recognised in the achievement of an CPP40307 Certificate IV in Property Services (Real Estate).

With licensing reforms imminent, REINSW has shared the journeys of three people who have gone through the program.

Why did you apply for RPL?

Ben Austin, Sales Professional at Stockland Communities NSW, says he had completed the course for his real estate licence in Queensland through REIQ.

However, in moving to Sydney, he realised there were extra components he needed to complete in order to achieve the qualification for his licence in NSW.

“RPL was the simplest way to complete these extra courses quickly,” Mr Austin.

Cassie Gilmore and Anita Scott of Cardow and Partners Property, both needed to update their qualification to maintain their agency functions. 

“I needed to update my licence and, given my industry experience, RPL was the simplest option,” said Ms Gilmore, a property manager.

What attracted you to the RPL program? 

While all RPL alums agree it is the simplest way to achieving the required qualification, Ms Gilmore said the licensing reforms were a major factor in choosing to act now.

“RPL was a convenient option for our team,” she said.

“Having the one-on-one training was helpful and, in recognising our industry experience, we were able to achieve our qualification before the new licensing reforms take effect.”

Ms Scott said she researched many other RPL providers but found REINSW to be the best priced and most flexible.

“REINSW came to our office to do the training in-house,” she said.

“As we had three staff all needing to do the training, we felt this process would provide the best outcome for our office.”   

How long did it take to complete and was it a straightforward process?

Mr Austin described the process as "streamlined".

“I contacted REINSW to find out what the best option was for me to get my licence given my circumstances and it ultimately led to RPL,” he said.

“The team at REINSW was on-hand to answer my questions throughout the process.

Once I’d finished my assessment, I received my results within two weeks.”

Ms Scott said she completed the RPL program in four days.

“I completed two days of in-house training with REINSW then completed the online components,” she said.

“Having the REINSW team on-hand made the process so much easier.”

Ms Gilmore said RPL was a good way for people with industry experience to transition to their licence.

“Having our prior industry experience and learning recognised was a great start in the process of transitioning to our licences," she said.

"We didn’t have to learn about things we perform on a daily basis, which means we still had ample time to focus on our agency roles.”

Click here for more information about the RPL program.

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