APC Submission

03-Jan-07

The written submission is the final stage at of the APC and is tantamount to an application for Corporate Membership. Licentiates who have completed the minimum experience requirement of two years (of which at least one year must follow successful completion of an accredited course, as a Licentiate), are eligible to submit this report for assessment by RTPI Assessors.

The written submission, which must be 5,000 words in length, is made up of three elements:

Practical Experience Statement – describing the nature of experience the Licentiate has gained.
Professional Competence Statement – reflecting on this experience and drawing out the skills, competencies, knowledge and understanding developed over this period
Conclusion – incorporating a Professional Development Plan, looking ahead to the Licentiate’s aims and objectives for the future.

The written submission must be corroborated and sponsored – full details are available in the guidance attached to the Application for Membership (APC Cover Form).

Full guidance on completing the APC submission is available in Section 7 of the Guide to the APC.

Supplementary Guidance - Comments from Assessors

Following a year of APC assessments, the following comments from Assessors are published to help Licentiates who are approaching application stage to put together a strong application. These notes in no way replace the guidance issued in the Guide to the APC, but are designed to clarify and strengthen this guidance, as well as highlighting particular issues of which Licentiates may wish to be mindful. Download the supplementary guidance (published September 07).

Submission Deadlines

Submission deadlines occur four times a year, available in the Information for Licentiates section. Licentiates must be able to demonstrate they meet the full experience requirements before the submission deadline.

Example Submissions

A range of example submissions are available. These are real examples of successful applications made by candidates, accompanied by the Assessor feedback form.

The examples are presented anonymously, so identifying data has been removed where necessary (including amending corroborators’ signatures). The RTPI would like to extend thanks to the Licentiates who have agreed to have their work presented to assist Licentiates who are applying in the future. Unless otherwise stated, Licentiates have all gained their experience in England.

These submissions are examples of how previous successful candidates have presented their experience. They should not be read:

as definitive or ‘correct’ answers
as the only way of presenting your experience
as indicating that this is the only type of experience that would be eligible towards the APC.

Licentiates should feel free to render their experience in the most appropriate way according to their own particular circumstances and within the guidance set out in Section 7 of the Guide to the APC.

Licentiate A has a year’s experience as a Trainee Planning Officer in the Development Control section of a Borough Council before completing a one year Masters course. She then completed a year as a Planning Officer, again within Development Control for a Borough Council.

Read the APC Submission

Read the Assessor Feedback Form

Licentiate B has worked for five years in a mainstream town planning consultancy. Beginning as a Planning Assistant, she pursued a one year Masters course before completing her year of post-qualifying experience as an Assistant Planner.

Read the APC Submission

Read the Assessor Feedback Form

Licentiate C began his experience as an Assistant Planner at a Regional Development Agency, who also sponsored him through a part-time Masters qualification. He continued to work for them for the first part of his post-qualifying experience, before moving to a City Council as a Planning Officer (Regeneration). Licentiate C's application was referred by Assessors pending further information on particular competencies, and was later passed based upon the additional information submitted (supplementary statement).

Read the APC Submission

Read the Assessor Feedback Form

Read the Supplementary Statement

Licentiate D initially worked as a graduate engineer before working for around three and a half years as an environmental planner for two consultancy firms. After his one-year Masters qualification he undertook his post-qualification experience as a Senior Environmental Planner at a multi-disciplinary consultancy. Licentiate D's application was referred by Assessors pending further information on particular competencies, and was later passed based upon the additional information submitted (supplementary statement).

Read the APC Submission

Read the Assessor Feedback Form

Read the Supplementary Statement