About the course

The MSc Real Estate Finance and Investment (Distance learning) concentrates on the financing and investment of property but also provides an overview of surveying and property issues. It leads to a career in surveying a well-respected profession with excellent earning potential and the opportunity to work anywhere in the world.

This course gives graduates of a non-associated degree a set of transferable skills that make you highly sought after in the job market, and provide the core technical knowledge and skills required for Chartered RICS membership. As a student on this course, you will be able to gain free student membership of both the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Investment Property Forum (IPF).

Tailored to enhance your employment opportunities

You are mainly taught online, but please note you’re required to attend a one-week block of teaching at UWE Bristol during your second year. There is a wealth of teaching support to gain an advanced understanding of concepts in real estate finance and investment, supported by an exploration of valuation, appraisal, development and management. You will also learn how to apply theory to the real world, so you can pursue and develop your career in real estate. You’ll also develop master’s level research and analysis skills and complete a dissertation in a specific area of interest.

Your Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) with RICS begins as soon as you are in relevant employment. It’s the fastest route to RICS chartered status for graduates in other disciplines you could achieve your APC within three years (or less if you have existing professional experience). The course is so well-regarded in the industry that we’re regularly approached by employers who want our graduates to come and work for them. And, as the course is developed with our partner employers, you can be sure we produce graduates of the calibre they wish to employ.

Content

With an online course you have the flexibility to fit your studies around personal and professional commitments and have access to our learning resources at any time, from anywhere in the world. Studying while you work provides valuable opportunities to apply what you have learnt directly to your role. We use the latest developments in online learning technology to make your distance learning experience as effective and rewarding as our traditionally taught courses.

You’ll have access to over 100 hours of recorded lectures from leading academics in the real estate industry. And, as UWE Bristol is the largest university in the UK for degrees related to the built environment, you’ll share in our success. This success comes from the importance we place on student contact through seminars and lectures. To replicate that experience for you as distance learning students, we’ve created an archive of lectures specifically for this degree, all accessible to you through our virtual learning platform.

Alongside these recorded lectures, you’ll be able to attend regular live online webinar workshops via our Blackboard Collaborate. This comprehensive learning platform provides all your course content, and puts you in contact with your tutor and fellow students, so you’re able to keep in constant touch with each other. If the time of the webinar isn’t convenient you can easily view them as recordings at a time that suits.

The virtual learning platform allows you to:

• Make video contact with your tutor
• Participate in discussion groups
• Access the UWE library and other resources
• Get study and technical support
• Submit coursework
• Contact other students

The course comprises 180 credits 120 taught and a further 60 for the dissertation.

• Real Estate Economics and Valuations – Develops your skills at reading property markets and understanding the related data and explores different methods of valuation.
• Strategic Estate Management – Examines the role property plays in the economy, organisations and communities; the importance of a strategic approach to managing property; aligning real estate and business strategies; and the value property and facilities management can add to an organisation.
• Real Estate Law – Covers the basic principles of real estate law, and explores in further detail the law in areas best suited to your ambitions.
• Real Estate Investment and Development – An in-depth look at the key areas of commercial real estate investment at portfolio level, and innovations in real estate investment, and the financial, fiscal, planning and other regulatory issues when creating residential and commercial property.
• Real Estate Finance and Investment – Created and delivered by industry partners leading property investment management firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and Lloyds Banking Group this module uses case studies to discuss property in terms of investment, and discusses the financial instruments you can use to meet strategic objectives.

Dissertation

This personal research project of 12,000 to 14,000 words is usually linked to an aspect of real estate that has a specific professional application or is of personal interest to you.

Assessment

We assess your work through a variety of coursework assignments, including essays, reports, surveys and presentations. We also encourage you to do ‘formative work’ to prepare for assessment. This does not count towards final marks, but the feedback you receive helps improve your performance.

For the dissertation you’ll complete a 12,000 to 14,000-word research project.

Careers / Further study

Our graduates go on to work in property and construction, with many of them employed by organisations such as JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Savills, NetworkRail, Allsops, YTL, Taylor Woodrow, GVA, Persimmon Homes, Valuation Office Agency, the Planning Inspectorate, Defence Estates, NHS Trusts, and various public landowning bodies, public sector organisations, local authorities and housing associations.

This course is supported by our consortium of partner employers who help us to develop our curriculum and contribute towards the resources we use in teaching. Find out more about our Real Estate Consortium.

Our award-winning careers service helps you develop your employment potential through career coaching, a vacancy service for internships, placements, jobs, global opportunities, volunteering and community activity plus support for entrepreneurial activity, and access to employer events.

Visit the Real Estate Finance and Investment (Distance Learning) – MSc page on the University of the West of England, Bristol website for more details!

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Entry Requirements

We normally require an honours degree of 2.2 or above.

We can consider applicants who do not meet the normal entry requirement, but who do have relevant professional experience or qualifications. In your application, you should describe in detail your professional experience and qualifications.