Tom Hirst is an Apprentice Estates Manager for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council. He is currently studying on our BSc (Honours) Professional Practice in Real Estate degree apprenticeship programme.

‘I have always been motivated to work and progress my career and my apprenticeship has helped me pinpoint exactly what sector of surveying I want to go into.’

Tom currently works as an Apprentice Estates Surveyor for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council’s Estates team, responsible for council assets and management of the council’s commercial and miscellaneous portfolio.

Through the varied range of modules, Tom has developed a more profound understanding of the sector. In response, his employer has increased his scope of work to new areas allowing him the opportunity to put his knowledge into practice, gain additional experience and share his learning with colleagues.

"I chose to study a degree apprenticeship because I didn’t want to continue in full-time education and preferred the work environment to the inside of a classroom. I chose the BSc (Honours) Professional Practice in Real Estate apprenticeship because I was interested in property and didn’t want to work in an office all day.

"After I finished sixth form college, I wanted to start working and getting some money in my pocket, but I didn’t want my two years of college to go to waste. Because of this, I wanted to do a degree apprenticeship in something I was interested in - luckily my current job came up. It can be a bit of a challenge at times to balance work life and university, but overall, I feel it’s worth it as I don’t have any student debt, I’m getting a wage and I still have plenty of free time at the weekend.

"I have always been motivated to work and progress my career and my apprenticeship has helped me pinpoint exactly what sector of surveying I want to go into and has provided me with the tools needed in this sector. The fact my employer trusts and expects me to do well at university motivates me. As funders for my course, I want to do well for them as well as myself.

"Based within the Estates team, my role involves supporting regeneration activities and assisting in the management, valuation and disposal of council assets and management of the Council’s commercial and miscellaneous portfolio. The main aspect of my work is the valuation of council houses on behalf of our Housing Team for the ‘Right to Buy’ scheme, in addition to managing a small portfolio of commercial shops and over twenty plots of grazing land sites.

"During my apprenticeship, I have developed a large variety of skills that I have been able to apply to my job role. I learned how to do a variety of new valuation methods which I could then apply in my everyday job such as the comparable method, capitalisation of income and depreciated reinstatement cost. I also learned about how buildings are constructed and how to look for defects during inspections. In addition, I am also learning the legal aspects of real estate management which I will then apply when I am managing the commercial portfolio I look after.

"My development as an apprentice has meant I can assist members of my team and, in some cases, can take over responsibilities from them so they can concentrate on doing other tasks. I can also discuss any new knowledge I learn with my colleagues and sometimes refresh their memory on certain topics they haven’t looked at since they finished university themselves.

"I am now able to do council house valuations on my own due to me improving my valuation skills and having a better understanding of building construction and pathology which benefits my employer because it frees up some time for my higher qualified colleagues who can generate income with this spare time. I now help bring income into the organisation by managing some of our commercial portfolios and grazing land sites. In addition to this, when I do the council house valuations, it saves the council from having to go and outsource to a private company which can prove expensive.

"At work, my greatest personal achievement is being entrusted with managing my own portfolio and valuations. At university, this has been passing both years without needing any retakes and how I have managed to do this without it impacting my work performance.

"Once I’ve completed my degree and undertaken my APC, I plan to become a Chartered Surveyor specialising in valuations and RICS ‘HomeBuyer’ Reports within the residential side of the industry. And one day I hope to set up my own firm."