Full-time third-level courses:

Galway-Mayo IT: diploma in property valuation and estate agency; 1999 cut-off: 330 points

Limerick IT: degree in property valuation and management (valuation surveying); 1999 cut-off: 340 points

DIT: degree in property economics (valuation surveying); 1999 cut-off: 400 points; diploma in auctioneering, valuation and estate agency; 1999 cut-off: 350 points

Some PLC colleges offering auctioneering/estate agency courses:

Ballsbridge College of Business Studies

Cork College of Commerce

Senior College, Dun Laoghaire

Check also with your local VEC or PLC college

Professional bodies:

Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI), 38 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 - phone (01) 661 1794. The IAVI approves five full-time third-level courses in Ireland: property management and valuation at Limerick IT (degree); property economics at DIT (degree); estate management at Ulster University (degree) (entry requirement is a minimum of six higher-level Bs at Leaving Cert); auctioneering, valuation and estate agency at DIT (diploma); business studies (estate management) at Galway-Mayo IT (diploma). There is also an IAVI approved full-time course in property administration at Ballsbridge College of Business Studies.

Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV), 39 Upper Fitzwilliam St, Dublin 2 - phone (01) 678 5685. IPAV's two-year certificate in auctioneering and estate agency management is offered in Senior College, Dun Laoghaire, and the College of Commerce, Cork. A diploma and a degree in property management and valuation are also available through IPAV's association with Cork College of Commerce and the University of Glamorgan in Wales.

Part-time option

It is now possible to obtain a degree in property studies on a part-time basis.

This year, for the first time, the IAVI, in association with DIT, is offering a part-time BSc in property studies. This is a four-year honours-level programme.

It is open to people who have passed all subjects in the IAVI residential and land agency course or who have a minimum of five year's relevant experience and are at least 23 years of age or those who hold a diploma exempting them from the academic requirements for full IAVI corporate membership or who have passed all subjects in the IAVI direct final examinations course (which is no longer offered; it was of national diploma standard).

The residential and land agency course is open to full-time employees (of Leaving Cert. standard) who are working in residential and land sales and valuation.