Two juniors a year apart should not get two different versions of the basics.
The Surveying Academy was created specifically for building surveying SMEs that want to train graduates and apprentices well, without relying on busy senior surveyors to teach the same basics from scratch every time. It gives early-career surveyors a structured, practical foundation in the repeatable parts of the job, so your senior team can spend more of their time teaching judgement, context and experience.
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Written by a practising building surveyor and APC assessor.
Senior surveyors carry the cost
Nobody plans for new starters to learn the basics unevenly. It happens because the teaching sits with whoever is free, in the gaps between chargeable work.
Training depends on who has time
In a busy practice, a new starter often learns in fragments from whichever senior has capacity. Good surveyors can still teach the same task differently, so standards vary without anyone intending them to.
The cost lands on fee-earners
The explaining is done by the people whose time is chargeable, and it happens at whatever moment the junior gets stuck rather than when the senior has room for it.
The standard varies by intake
What a starter is taught depends on who trained them and how busy that person was, so two juniors a year apart can end up working to noticeably different standards.
"I've found that the Surveying Academy is very helpful and useful, and provides an expansive collection of knowledge to improve the office skills and site work of early-career surveyors."
What this actually looks like
Three things that happen in practice, again and again, set against what good looks like. The Surveying Academy gives graduates and apprentices the tools to get from one to the other quicker.
Emails to clients
Afternoon,
I atended site this morning to look at the leak. There appears to be water coming through around the roof and there were a few areas that looked quite wet.
I think it might be the flashing, although the gutters were also quite full. I've attached some photos form site.
Let me know what you would like us to do next.
Thanks,
Sam
Hi Sarah,
I'm writing to confirm the findings of this morning's inspection of the roof leak at 14 Elm Road.
Water is entering at the rear valley gutter above bedroom 2. The gutter is blocked with debris and overflowing during rainfall. Photos 1 to 4 are attached.
We recommend clearing the valley gutter and re-inspecting after the next period of heavy rain. Please confirm by Friday whether you'd like us to arrange this.
Kind regards,
Sam
Site visit photos
Taking initiative
The way you work, and the work itself
Two strands of courses, and a library that keeps growing. Anything added during a learner's 12 months is included.
The Way You Work
The professional habits a new starter is otherwise left to pick up by osmosis: how to conduct yourself, how to take ownership, how to look after a client, and where the APC is heading.
The Work Itself
The tasks juniors are actually given, and what a good version of each one looks like. Learners take the course that matches what they have just been handed.
This is not APC coaching, and it does not replace your training, supervision or professional judgement. It gives every starter the same practical foundation underneath both.
What early-career surveyors report after using it
Scores have remained consistently high as the evaluation dataset has grown.
Per learner, for 12 months. Illustratively about £75 a month, or roughly £3.75 a working day.
At a £100/hour senior rate, the annual licence costs the equivalent of 45 minutes of senior time a month.
30 free placesThe first 30 free places have now been claimed
We're opening 30 free places to UK building surveying firms. One six-month place per eligible firm, for one graduate or apprentice. No payment, no card and no automatic renewal.