Real Estate Management

BSc single honours

Property is one of the most dynamic sectors in the UK and abroad. Real estate managers are concerned with all aspects of land and property, how land is acquired and developed, as well as how it is managed and conserved. Large amounts of money are tied up in the property sector, and it attracts major investment. It is a challenging area of work which requires a broad education and range of skills: you need to have expertise in law and economics, as well as planning and valuation.

Our course is tightly structured and aims to equip you with the skills to work in this profession at the highest level. The rewards can be great, bringing high salaries and excellent prospects. It will also open up new areas you might not have thought about, such as the preservation of historic buildings or pioneering sustainable development.

Our approach

During the first year you will be introduced to the wide range of core disciplines which underpin successful property management including management, building, planning, law, economics and information technology. We have excellent computing facilities, and the growing importance of IT in the sector is reflected in our teaching.

During your second and third years you will go on to examine real estate management in more depth by focusing on property investment, property development and property management. In both your first and second years, you will take a four week integrative module bringing to bear all the various skills you have acquired onto a practical project. For example, you may carry out your own survey of a real site, exploring the possibilities for urban regeneration or the development of a new shopping complex.

Why choose Oxford Brookes?

This vocational course will prepare you thoroughly for a professional career. We have strong links with the property industry, and complement our academic teaching with input from practising professionals. It was also rated as the second best course of its kind in the country, bettered only by Cambridge. It’s our aim to take you out of the classroom as much as possible to give you a real taste of what the profession is all about. You will be asked to research case studies, prepare reports, make presentations, and devise computer simulations.

Throughout the three-year course, you will be looking at local development sites in and around Oxford, carrying out valuation exercises and making commercial decisions based on what you have learnt in the classroom. We create mock public enquiries, set up debates over current planning issues, and give you maximum opportunity to research a topic that interests you in your final year. We also offer courses in cutting edge topics such as sustainable building. Our flexible course structure also gives you the opportunity to taking other modules from within the School, such as in planning or architecture, to further develop your own specialist interests.

Professional practice

A special feature of the course is the unique professional practice module in your third year. Students spend a week away from Oxford in a major city such as Manchester or Liverpool learning to apply what they have learned to a real life situation. This includes studying the property market in the chosen city and attending presentations by local developers. They then make their own evaluation of a particular piece of property or land.

After you graduate

You will find job opportunities when you graduate, both at home and abroad. Your skills will be sought by leading firms of chartered surveyors and property developers such as Jones Lang Lasalle, King Sturge, GVA Grimley and Knight Frank. Although most of our graduates go on to work in the property industry, the course also provides a solid foundation for careers in related areas, such as investment, housing, the public sector or management. You will also be prepared for work with a major property owner, such as a government organisation, university, hospital, or a charity such as the National Trust.

Professional recognition

Graduates on all our real estate degree programmes qualify for exemption from the educational requirements of membership of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) The majority of our graduates go into a surveying practice, and, after a minimum of two years, become eligible for membership by passing the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence, to become recognised as practising chartered surveyors.