CPD & RES Courses for
Real Estate Professionals

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is the annual training that CEA-registered Real Estate Salespersons (RES) and Key Executive Officers (KEOs) must complete to keep their skills, market knowledge and regulatory understanding current. Completing your CPD each year is required to renew your CEA registration.

CPD keeps property professionals sharp and trusted. It helps you protect consumers through better advice and fewer compliance mistakes, stay current as real estate rules, risks and market practices keep changing, and strengthen professionalism through a structured yearly framework that sets a consistent baseline standard across the industry.

From the 2026 cycle, every RES must complete a minimum of 16 CPD hours per year — 12 hours of Structured Learning (SL) plus 4 hours of Self-Directed Learning (SDL).

From 2026 the cycle runs on a calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. You must complete all requirements within the same calendar year to renew your registration.

Structured Learning (12 hours) is CEA-accredited training, counted by contact hours (excluding breaks) and rounded down to the nearest hour. Self-Directed Learning (4 hours) covers broader professional skills that your KEO verifies and awards.

Think of the 16 hours as three buckets to fill every year: Prescribed Essential (PE, minimum 4 hours), Professional Competencies (PC, minimum 8 hours), and Self-Directed Learning / Generic Competencies Plus (minimum 4 hours). Complete all three buckets every year to meet the annual CPD requirement.

For the 2026 cycle the Prescribed Essential topic is the Prevention of Money Laundering, Proliferation Financing and Terrorism Financing (PMLPFTF). CEA sets the PE topic each year — it is Law, Regulations & Ethics for 2027, with the 2028 topic to be announced.

Professional Competencies (minimum 8 hours) are CEA-accredited courses on real estate practice, grouped into three areas:

• Laws and Regulations: Estate Agents Act and regulatory compliance; professional and ethical conduct; landlord and tenant regulatory compliance; sale and purchase regulatory compliance; real estate documentation.
• Property Markets: real estate financing guidance; real estate market analysis; sustainable real estate guidance; complaints and dispute management; data management.
• Other Real Estate Knowledge: specialisation; residential, commercial, industrial and foreign properties guidance.

Self-Directed Learning (minimum 4 hours) builds Generic Competencies Plus — broader professional skills that your KEO verifies and awards, across three groups:

• Think Critically: creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, sense making, transdisciplinary thinking.
• Interacting with Others: building inclusivity, collaboration, communication, customer orientation, developing people, influence.
• Staying Relevant: adaptability, digital fluency, global perspective, learning agility, self management.

No — excess CPD hours cannot be carried forward to the next cycle. Plan to complete each bucket within the same calendar year.

New RESs are exempted in their first CPD cycle and must comply from their second cycle onwards.

Martin Koh runs CEA-accredited CPD courses covering both the Prescribed Essential (including the 2026 PMLPFTF topic) and Professional Competencies. Enquire about upcoming course dates to reserve a place.