Real Estate MSc
Subject and course type
- Business and management
- Postgraduate
Elevate your expertise in the property sector with Kingston University's Real Estate MSc. This programme, accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), offers a comprehensive blend of theoretical knowledge and practical application, preparing you for a successful career in real estate.
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Discover the future of real estate
Embark on a transformative journey into the world of real estate at Kingston University.
Our MSc in Real Estate is designed to equip you with the essential skills and knowledge required to excel in the dynamic property market.
This course is ideal if you want to work in the real estate sector, across a range of disciplines, in the UK or overseas.
Whether you're aiming to advance your current career or pivot into the real estate sector, this programme offers a robust foundation in real estate fundamentals. You’ll learn the core elements of property appraisal, valuation and development.
Looking to the future, our curriculum prioritises sustainability in real estate and regenerative placemaking. Develop research as well as technical, professional and practical skills, whilst focusing on sustainable future practices in real estate.
This is one of the few real estate courses with a world-wide focus on valuation and investment. So come and join the renowned academic community at Kingston Business School.
Why choose this course
We offer a forward-thinking Real Estate MSc designed to shape the next generation of property professionals. This programme stands out because it blends academic excellence with real-world application, ensuring you graduate ready to excel in the competitive property market.
Our Real Estate MSc is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a globally recognised body that sets the highest standards for professional practice. This prestigious accreditation assures employers that your education is aligned with industry needs and provides you with a competitive edge in the job market.
Throughout the course, you'll engage with experienced academics and leading industry practitioners who bring valuable insights from their careers into the classroom. This connection to real-world expertise ensures that you stay abreast of emerging trends and best practices in the property sector. You'll participate in guest lectures, workshops and networking events, creating opportunities to expand your professional contacts and gain invaluable market knowledge.
Your core modules are aligned with key competencies of the RICS's Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). Yet, our curriculum also encourages you to pursue your particular interests through your research project.
Kingston Business School holds a prestigious international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business). Earned by just 6% of the world’s business school, this recognition marks the high quality of our business degrees.
Our strong ties with property firms, developers, and investors mean that your learning extends beyond the lecture hall. You'll work on live case studies and undertake projects that mirror the challenges faced by real estate professionals today. This hands-on approach not only deepens your understanding, but also allows you to develop practical skills in valuation, investment analysis and property development.
Accreditation
The course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Students will study six assessed modules which have been designed to ensure alignment with the business, ethics and technical competencies of the RICS's Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).
Ready for business
At Kingston Business School, we believe that professional success is shaped by honing your personal capacity and skillset, supported by the academic framework of knowledge. Through vocationally rich, employer-engaged and research-informed courses, we work alongside our students to help them meet personal goals and career ambitions.
Kingston Business School accreditation
Kingston Business School holds the prestigious international accreditation by the AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) in recognition of the excellence of its business education. This accreditation has been earned by just 6% of the world's business schools. It recognises the high quality and standard of our business degree offerings.
Course content
This course will enable you to create key research and systematic aptitudes alongside your practical, technical and professional competencies.
You will study five modules. These have been intended to guarantee that they align with key competencies of the RICS's Assessment of Professional Competence (APC), yet at the same time enabling you to pursue your particular interests through your research project.
Full time
The full-time programme runs over one year and consists of four modules at 30 credit points each, in addition to a 60-credit research project.
Core modules
30 credits
This module examines the fundamental elements of the real estate market and the legal background against which the property market operates. It will examine the players in the market, supply and demand within the key sectors, investor and owner-occupier appetite and the effects of micro and macro-economic on the real estate market. It also examines the interaction of businesses or corporations and their need and use of buildings, the importance of the effective and efficient use of space, and how other elements such as image, design, and personnel work requirements can affect buildings. This module also provides you with a critical understanding and knowledge of the principles of administrative laws, legal methods, land law, the law of contract and obligations, and tortious liability applicable to real estate situations.
30 credits
This module develops your understanding, knowledge and critical appraisal abilities over a wide range of valuation approaches and methods, and appraisal techniques commonly used in both UK and global valuation practice. There are two distinct teaching blocks with supporting tutorials and practice scenarios exercises covering essential valuation and appraisal skills, including an introduction to Information and Communication Technology to support valuation modelling. The module also develops a critical analysis of approaches to valuations and valuation instructions in the global environment.
60 credits
This module provides you with a sound grounding in research principles and methodologies that are commonly applied within the built environment.
You will develop an original research project related to your own real estate interests that integrates both theory and practice. It may take the form of a dissertation, a practice project, design, or experiment-based project.
30 credits
This module is an essential ingredient in the study of land use, spatial planning and its associated decision-making processes for development to proceed in the UK. An appraisal of land tenure and land use development will allow a critical appraisal as to how historic, current and emerging planning and sustainability policies and principles shape placemaking. The emphasis will be on the planning laws applicable in England. Land, property and planning are closely linked so the module enables understanding of the development process from the developers' viewpoint to facilitate schemes effectively. A key range of inputs and outputs are investigated as part of development appraisal modelling.
30 credits
In this module you will develop skills in carrying out property investment analysis gaining a critical understanding of discounted cash flow variables and performance measures including investment tactics. It introduces the analysis of risk within property and within a multi-asset portfolio and the utilisation of structured finance. You will also study indirect real estate vehicles and instruments, their origins and their current utilisation.
Part time
The part-time programme consists of four modules at 30 credit points each, in addition to a 60-credit research project. You will take two modules in Year 1 and three in Year 2.
Year 1
30 credits
This module examines the fundamental elements of the real estate market and the legal background against which the property market operates. It will examine the players in the market, supply and demand within the key sectors, investor and owner-occupier appetite and the effects of micro and macro-economic on the real estate market. It also examines the interaction of businesses or corporations and their need and use of buildings, the importance of the effective and efficient use of space, and how other elements such as image, design, and personnel work requirements can affect buildings. This module also provides you with a critical understanding and knowledge of the principles of administrative laws, legal methods, land law, the law of contract and obligations, and tortious liability applicable to real estate situations.
30 credits
This module develops your understanding, knowledge and critical appraisal abilities over a wide range of valuation approaches and methods, and appraisal techniques commonly used in both UK and global valuation practice. There are two distinct teaching blocks with supporting tutorials and practice scenarios exercises covering essential valuation and appraisal skills, including an introduction to Information and Communication Technology to support valuation modelling. The module also develops a critical analysis of approaches to valuations and valuation instructions in the global environment.
Year 2
30 credits
This module is an essential ingredient in the study of land use, spatial planning and its associated decision-making processes for development to proceed in the UK. An appraisal of land tenure and land use development will allow a critical appraisal as to how historic, current and emerging planning and sustainability policies and principles shape placemaking. The emphasis will be on the planning laws applicable in England. Land, property and planning are closely linked so the module enables understanding of the development process from the developers' viewpoint to facilitate schemes effectively. A key range of inputs and outputs are investigated as part of development appraisal modelling.
60 credits
This module provides you with a sound grounding in research principles and methodologies that are commonly applied within the built environment.
You will develop an original research project related to your own real estate interests that integrates both theory and practice. It may take the form of a dissertation, a practice project, design, or experiment-based project.
30 credits
In this module you will develop skills in carrying out property investment analysis gaining a critical understanding of discounted cash flow variables and performance measures including investment tactics. It introduces the analysis of risk within property and within a multi-asset portfolio and the utilisation of structured finance. You will also study indirect real estate vehicles and instruments, their origins and their current utilisation.
Optional placement year
The professional placement year is optional. It takes place after the full-time year. It allows students to do a 12-month work placement as part of their course. The work placement is an assessed part of the course and is therefore covered by a Student Route visa. Find out more about the postgraduate work placement scheme.
Modules
120 credits
The Professional Placement module is a core module for those students following a masters programme that incorporates an extended professional placement that follows completion of the first 180 credits of taught modules and project or dissertation. It provides students with the opportunity to apply their knowledge and skills in an appropriate working environment, and to develop and enhance key employability skills and subject specific skills in their chosen subject.
It is the responsibility of individual students to locate and secure a suitable placement opportunity; this will normally involve one placement which must be completed over a minimum period of 10 months and within a maximum of 12 months. The placement must be approved by the module leader prior to commencement to ensure its suitability.
Career opportunities
Graduates of our Real Estate MSc programme are well-equipped to pursue careers in: property development, investment, management, and consultancy.
The skills and knowledge gained from this course are highly sought after in the real estate sector, both in the UK and internationally.
Graduate destinations include working in diverse areas such as investment, agency, valuation, asset management, development, property finance and taxation.
Graduates have gone on to work for firms including CBRE, Cluttons, Cushman & Wakefield, Knight Frank, Jones Lang LaSalle, Land Securities, Knight Frank, Valuation Office Agency, KPMG, Deloitte AS, Asda Stores Ltd, Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas Real Estate.
Teaching and assessment
When not attending timetabled sessions, you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. This typically will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. Your independent learning is supported by a range of excellent facilities including online resources, the library and CANVAS, the online virtual learning platform.
As a student at Kingston University, we will make sure you have access to appropriate advice regarding your academic development. You will also be able to use the University's support services.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 180 credits across a year (typical for a postgraduate course) would equate to 1,800 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- 16% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Assessment typically comprises exams (e.g. test or exam), practical (e.g. presentations, performance) and coursework (e.g. essays, reports, self-assessment, portfolios, dissertation).
- Full time: coursework: 97%; practical: 3%
- Professional placement year: coursework: 100%
- Part time - year 1: coursework: 100%
- Part time - year 2: coursework: 95%; practical: 5%
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Each student receives a personalised timetable. This is usually available after you have completed your online enrolment, which is typically accessible one month before the start of your course.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £13,600 |
| Part Time | £7,480 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £22,900 |
| Part Time | £12,595 |
| Fee category | Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | |
| Full Time | £13,500 |
| Part Time | £7,425 |
| International | |
| Full Time | £19,700 |
| Part Time | £10,835 |
Fees for future course years
Part time
If you start your second year straight after Year 1, you will pay the same fee for both years.
If you take a break before starting your second year, or if you repeat modules from Year 1 in Year 2, the fee for your second year may increase.
Funding support for postgraduate students
If you are a UK student living in England and under 60, you can apply for a loan to study for a postgraduate degree. Find out more through the government's website.
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying Real Estate MSc at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support:
This scholarship offers a 40% reduction in fees across a range of taught postgraduate courses. Learn more about eligibility criteria for Inspire the Future applicants.
If you are an international student, find out more about scholarships and bursaries.
We also offer discounts for Kingston University alumni.
There are Progression Scholarships available for certain postgraduate courses. Review our range of funding opportunities for masters-level study.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip. There may be an optional international trip which would cost approximately £300 to £500.
There may be optional field trips or site visits, usually within Kingston or London. These will incur a travel cost of approximately £20 to £40 per year.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
Courses involving placements or direct work with vulnerable groups may require a DBS check or other security checks.
Specific courses may require uniforms, specialty clothing, or specific equipment like lab coats and safety shoes.
If you choose to do a placement year, travel costs will vary depending on your location. These costs could be up to £2,000.
Some courses may require professional memberships.
How to apply
Before you apply
Please read the entry criteria carefully to make sure you meet all requirements before applying.
How to apply online
Use the course selector drop-down at the top of this page to choose your preferred course, start date and mode, then click 'Apply now'. You will be taken to our Online Student Information System (OSIS) where you will complete your application.
If you’re starting a new application, you’ll need to select ‘new user’ and set up a username and password. This will allow you to save and return to your application.
Application deadlines
We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. Applications will close when the course is full.
Information required to confirm your place
If English is not your first language, we will require proof of your proficiency to allow us to confirm your place on the course. This will generally be either an IELTS or TOEFL test certificate, which can be forwarded to us after you have submitted your application. If you do not hold a formal English language qualification, please indicate how you have acquired your proficiency in written and spoken English.
After you have applied
For courses that select on application alone, applicants should normally receive an initial decision or a request for more information within four to six weeks of receipt of their application. Our admissions team will notify you of the decision by email.
Learn more about the postgraduate application process in detail.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Find out more about course changes
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
