MSc Level 6 Chartered Surveyor Apprentice
Valuation Office Agency
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 4th November 2024
Details
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Salary
Job grade
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Business area
Type of role
Surveying
Valuation
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Number of jobs available
Contents
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About the job
Job summary
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are the public sector’s property valuation experts and advisers with a vision to be a world-leading provider of public sector valuations. As one of the largest employers of surveyors in the country, our work is vital to the collection of over £60 billion of revenue. This goes back into communities, touching every citizen and every business across England and Wales.
We champion the values of professionalism, integrity, respect and innovation. We are committed to providing a collaborative and supportive working environment that encourages every colleague to contribute, grow and excel together. With opportunities to drive your own development and growth, we empower our colleagues to succeed by ensuring support at every step of their career journey.
Job description
Level 6 MSc Chartered Surveyor Apprentice – Role Overview
We are looking for high-potential individuals eager to become a Chartered Surveyor via this challenging and fast-paced apprenticeship. It provides an excellent opportunity to achieve an MSc in Real Estate and MRICS status in just 3 years.
The VOA has embarked on an extensive and exciting business systems transformation programme and are reviewing the future skills our surveyors will need. This means we are keen to hear from candidates with knowledge, skills and passion for subjects such as mathematics, data and analytics. Successful candidates will have opportunities to use and develop these within the context of valuation surveying.
Successful candidates will need to have resilience, dedication and a commitment to pursuing a career in the surveying profession via a particularly demanding accelerated route.
You will undertake an integrated programme of work and learning to ensure you get the right mix and breadth of experience required to complete your apprenticeship. You will undertake a variety of roles and responsibilities as part of your apprenticeship such as advising public sector clients, surveying and valuing properties for, non-domestic rating, inheritance tax and council tax, undertaking development appraisals and much more.
If you enjoy working within a fast paced, challenging environment then this is an excellent opportunity to join our highly skilled and diverse organisation. Full details of key responsibilities, person specification and eligibility requirements are contained within the candidate pack which can be found at the bottom of the advert.
You can also click here to view dates, times and sign up to our live events taking place via Microsoft Teams prior to the closing date. These events are a great opportunity to find out more about our Graduate Programme and how to apply. Please note booking will close at 5pm the day before each event. On the day of the event, you will receive a joining link by 09:30am to access the event.
Person specification
Essential Requirements
To be eligible for this role you will need to:
- Be committed to undertake and complete the Level 6 MSc Chartered Surveyor Apprenticeship and build a career in surveying.
- You will spend 20% of your working hours on learning and development activities and you will also need to dedicate at least 10-15 hours per week of your own time to your academic studies.
- Have the potential to develop and evidence new knowledge, understanding and experience in property and valuation at a rapid pace.
- Have strong data and analytical skills to inform decision-making and provide advice to others.
- Be able to communicate complex information effectively to others, both verbally and in writing.
- Be able to adapt to different types of work and manage competing demands at one time.
- Be able work effectively with others and demonstrate leadership capability when required.
- Be willing and able to travel on a regular basis, including potential overnight stays.
- Hold a full UK / EU Driving Licence – A Provisional licence is accepted at time of application however a FULL licence must be attained and evidenced within 6 months of take up date. However, if you are considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010 and do not hold a full driving licence we will consider your application. Please contact resourcingteam@voa.gov.uk with your details to discuss this further.
Successful candidates will also need to meet the following qualification requirements by end of August 2025:
- GCSE Grade C /4 or above or an equivalent Level 2 qualification in English and Mathematics as defined by the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) in England.
- And an honours degree in a non-property related subject at 2:2 or above.
- During the recruitment process you will need to be able to provide certificates for the above. A statement of results or transcript from your university/exam board will suffice initially if you are awaiting certificates. But you will need to provide certificates when enrolling on the apprenticeship programme.
- Candidates must not already hold a qualification at the same level or above in in the same subject area as the apprenticeship.
- For the duration of the apprenticeship, candidates can not undertake another qualification at the same time (including other apprenticeships, degrees, sandwich placements and other qualifications).
Successful candidates will also need to meet certain residency requirements. These are set out in the candidate pack at the bottom of this advert.
Please note that candidates who do not meet the qualifications and residency requirements are not eligible to apply.
If you already meet the qualification and residency requirements, you may be offered a post with an earlier start date, subject to availability.
Licences
Qualifications
Please confirm that you hold the relevant qualifications and can provide copies of your certificates at the pre-employment checks stage.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Making Effective Decisions
- Working Together
- Leadership
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- These will be assessed via a combination of interview, presentation and group exercise.
Benefits
We offer a range of flexible working options, a generous leave allowance that starts at 25 days and goes up to 30 days after 5 years’ service and a Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%.
- Learning and development tailored to your role.
- An environment with flexible working options.
- Family friendly policies including 26 weeks full pay for maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
- Employee Assistance Programme offering comprehensive wellbeing support.
- To learn more about the extensive benefits we can offer you as a VOA employee please download our Benefits Booklet: pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Things you need to know
Selection process details
If you can meet our person requirements above, we are keen to hear from you.
To apply for this post, you must complete an online application with the following:
After submission of the first stage of your application you will be invited to complete a Civil Service Numerical Test. If you successfully pass the test, you will be invited to complete the final stage of the application.
Please complete the online tests as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended), the closing date for the tests is 4th November 2024 23:55. If you fail to complete the online test before the deadline your application will be withdrawn. Guidance for the test will be available when you are invited to take the test. The tests are administered online and accessed via the CS Jobs website.
A CV setting out your Job History/Full Qualifications/Previous skills and experiences.
A Personal Statement (maximum 500 words) please outline your suitability for the role answering the following questions
- Outline your understanding of the role of data and technology in property valuation, including methods, purpose, risks and risk management.
- Tell us why you are interested in, and well-suited to, developing a career in valuation surveying at the VOA. Please reference the job description, essential requirements, your own research and your previous studies and/or career.
Sift - 14th November 2024
We will assess you on your CV, Personal Statement and Qualifications.
Should we receive a large number of applications; it may be necessary to conduct an initial sift by increasing the pass mark for our online tests and/or sift using Personal Statement only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.
Interviews - 2nd-13th December 2024 Please note these dates are provisional and may be subject to change. These will be confirmed should you be invited to interview.
Interviews will be held at Assessment Centres across a range of dates and regions in early December 2024. More information about this will be in the candidate pack, which can be found at the bottom of the advert.
We will assess you on the Behaviours listed in the job description, Strengths and your Technical skills. These will be assessed via a combination of interview, presentation and group exercise. Your assessment will include technical elements which will align to your skills and knowledge of the role.
You will be required to conduct a 10-minute presentation where we will assess your technical and presentation skills. Information on the presentation topic will be provided to you if you are shortlisted for the next stage. Please note that, for data security reasons, no IT will be available on the day. If you would like to use slides and/or a visual aid during your presentation, please bring along paper copies for the panel.
At the interview, the panel can then probe further and ask applicants to provide further specific examples that show how they best demonstrate their skills.
Behaviours
The distinguishing Behaviours (the required skills, knowledge and behaviours) for this role are set out in the Civil Service Behaviours Framework 2018 (Success Profiles - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)) and should be referred to when making this application.
You are required, under the Behaviours approach, to describe how you have dealt with a specific situation.
You must give evidence of your knowledge, skills and behaviours and how you have applied this, such as what you did or said and how you interacted with other people.
When you are giving your examples, do not spend too many words on description and background information. Avoid using general or unspecific statements. Instead say what the situation was, what you did what your thought process was and so on.
Application Hints and Tips
For more information on Success Profiles, tips on how to write a successful application and find out more about what’s involved in the application process please visit .About the application process , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)
Further Information
This apprenticeship contract will be for 50 months with a possibility of permanency after this time.
Successful candidates must select one of the locations noted in this advert as their base office and will be expected to undertake regular travel to this location under the Agency’s hybrid working policy. Please be aware that you can be posted to any location that you put in your preferences. If you would only like to be posted to one location, please confirm one location only.
This role can be undertaken at any of our VOA offices in England. You will be asked to select up to two preferred locations as part of your application. You should only select locations that you can commit to working in long term. Details of our office locations can be found at the top of the advert. There will be a merit list per location with the 1st candidate from each list offered a role, starting with the highest scoring individual, until the number of required roles are met.
We will create separate merit lists for each location and make job offers from those lists. If successful you will be placed onto the list for your chosen locations. If you accept a role in one of the locations, you will automatically be removed from any other merit list.
Due to the way the CS Jobs system is set up, when choosing your preferred locations, you will find that the Wembley & Canary Wharf locations will not appear on the list of options.
Should you wish to choose Wembley as a location then please select Harlesden.
Should you wish to choose Canary Wharf as a location then please select Tower Hamlets.
Alternative Working Patterns. Whilst we try take personal circumstances into account wherever possible, successful candidates must be willing and able to work at least 30 hours per week to meet the requirements of the programme.
Any move to VOA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
The VOA is an office-based organisation that supports flexible working. By default, everyone in the VOA is a hybrid worker with options to work in the office, at home or out and about, depending on the work they’re doing that day and where it’s best done.
VOA employees only: If you are currently in receipt of DTA as a result of a VOA office closure/restructure and it is agreed for you to take up this role in your current location, you may continue to receive DTA for the remainder of the period you can claim for. Please check with the Vacancy Holder on preferred locations for this role before you apply.
If you would require a Certificate of Sponsorship from the VOA to undertake this role, please contact resourcingteam@voa.gov.uk before submitting your application.
Pre-employment Checks
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.
Reasonable Adjustment
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, please click here for more information:
Reasonable Adjustments , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk) and contact voarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process.
Terms & Conditions
Voluntary terms apply.
Reserve Lists
If we have more successful candidates than available vacancies, we will hold a 6 month reserve list.
During that time, we may use the list to fill the same, or similar roles with closely matching essential criteria, without further testing of merit. Any appointments from the Reserve list will be made in strict merit order.
Starting Work
The successful candidates will normally take up duty early October 2025. This will be confirmed later in the process.
If you already meet the qualification and residency requirements, you may be offered a post with an earlier start date, subject to availability.
Applying
All applications for these vacancies must be made online. There are limited exceptions to this. Paper applications will only be considered if you have a disability that will prevent you from applying online. If this is the case, please email voarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Once you have submitted your application it cannot be amended; only submit your application when you have completely finished and answered all the relevant questions.
Please note that late applications will not be accepted.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Use of AI
You may utilise artificial intelligence (AI) tools and platforms to support you during the application process however, as with any application all information submitted must be factually accurate and all examples provided must be taken directly from your own experience. All presented information will be assessed at interview. Any applications where factual inaccuracy, plagiarism or copying of examples/answers from internet sources is detected will be withdrawn from the process. Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving internal candidates.
Concerns/Complaints
The Valuation Office Agency’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, which outlines that selection for appointment is made on merit based on fair and open competition.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting the Central Recruitment Team at the following address: resourcingteam@voa.gov.uk
If you are not content with the outcome of your complaint you have the right to complain to the Civil Service Commissioners.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Development Team
- Email : developmentteam@voa.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : VOARecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
