Assessment of Professional Competence Review

The current APC guidance was introduced in June 2019, with first candidates submitting under the new guidance in February 2020. This followed extensive work on the APC process under the Routes to Membership project. It is good practice to review the current guidance now it has been in place for a couple of years to ensure it is operating as intended.

As part of the oversight and management of the APC process, the Membership team at RTPI closely monitor statistics and data around the APC, such as entry numbers and pass rates as well as regular communication with employers about ow their staff are finding the APC process. These considerations were also motivations to review the current APC process.

The work closely aligns with the Institute's requirements for initial planning education and, therefore, the work of the Education Policy Review.

The purpose of the APC Review is:

• To identify if there are any issues with the current APC process and identify problems to be solved.
• To gather evidence from the experiences and knowledge of a range of stakeholders, using surveys, focus groups, APC statistical data, and other relevant methods.
• To consider suggested changes to the APC process, guidance and assessment model.
• To present workable suggestions to improve the APC process, guidance and assessment model.

The remit of the Review is for the Working Group to consider the following points:

• The current application rates, trends over the past five years and reasons for these;
• Any concerns or issues identified by stakeholders; and
• Recommendations for further work and/or changes to the APC process

The work closely aligns with the Institute's requirements for initial planning education and, therefore, the work of the Education Policy Review.

The APC Review Working Group is made up of the following members:

• Membership and Ethics Committee representative (and Chair)
• Membership Assessment Advisory Panel representative
• Large consultancy representative
• Small consultancy representative
• Learning Partner representative
• L-APC/DA-APC Assessor representative
• All Routes Assessor representative
• Accredited planning school representative
• Local authority representative
• Recent (since January 2020) L-APC candidate
• Recent EP-APC Candidate
• Recent A-APC Candidate (also covering Associate perspective)

It is important to have a wide range of stakeholders on the Working Group from governance committee members to employers, Learning Partners, assessors and recent candidates to ensure all relevant voices are captured.

It was important to hear from a wide range of stakeholders and members. The survey was sent to:

• the Large Consultancy Group (made up of the 25 largest private consultancies)
• the Independent Consultants’ Network (in lieu of a small consultancy network), and.
• recently elected Chartered and Associate members, were defined as those who were elected since 1 January 2018.

The survey was sent to approx. 11,300 members. The survey opened on 14 April 2023 and closed on 10 May 2023. When the survey closed there were 690 replies.

Given the significance of the work and the amount of data within the survey responses, it was decided that an external agency would analysis the results and produce a report in due course.  This will now feed into Part 2 of Education for Everyone.

The results of the survey have been used to form the basis for suggested changes to the APC process. The proposed changes have been separated into the following categories:

• Complexity and simplifying the assessment process
• Cost/value for money
• Role of the employer
• Clear guidance and support materials

The advantages and disadvantages of each proposed action and change to the APC have been considered, as have steps to avoid any unintended consequences that changes might bring. No final decisions about changes to the APC has been made yet, as it needs to be carefully considered in the wider context of the Education for Everyone project.

The outcome of the APC Review will feed into the formal five-year review of the routes to membership. It is anticipated that no changes will be made to the APC process for candidates who submit before February 2025 at the earliest.