The APC case study 24 month window, worked out from your dates
The case study must be about a project or projects you were personally involved in during the two years, 24 months, before your assessment submission date. The window runs back from the submission date to the same date two years earlier. A project may have started before the window, and may not be finished, but the part you write about must fall inside it. Once your involvement has ended, all of it stays inside the window for submissions up to 24 months after it started; after that only the part from the window's opening counts, and none of it once 24 months have passed since it ended.
The rule in the guidance
The candidate guide says the case study must be on work you were personally involved in during the two years before the submission date, and that you should state the start and end dates of the project. It also says a project may have begun more than two years ago; in that case you write about your involvement in the last two years. If the project is still running, you give a prognosis of the outcome, and if you learn the outcome before the interview you can include it in your presentation.
The submissions page states the same rule as 24 months at the point of submission, and repeats a point from the guide about the preliminary review: if your case study falls outside the 24 months after a successful preliminary review, you can still use it at the next available assessment session in your market, but a later session needs an updated or new case study.
Working out your own window
- Take your planned submission date. The window ends there.
- Go back two years to the same calendar date. That is where the window opens. From 29 February, the window opens on 28 February two years earlier.
- Compare your involvement: when you started on the project and when you stopped, or the submission date if you are still involved.
- If your involvement ended before the window opened, the project cannot be your case study for that submission date.
- If it began before the window opened, write about the part from the opening date onward.
The draft workspace does this from the dates you type and tells you, for a finished involvement, two dates: the last submission date for which all of it is inside the window, and the last for which any of it is. The guidance speaks of years and months; the workspace compares calendar dates, so check any case within a few days of the edge with your counsellor or your local office.
Worked example
A candidate plans to submit on 30 November 2026. The window opens on 30 November 2024.
| Involvement | Result | What the workspace says |
|---|---|---|
| 3 March 2025 to 26 June 2026 | Inside | Your involvement falls inside the window, 30 November 2024 to 30 November 2026. All of your involvement is inside the window for submissions up to 3 March 2027 (24 months after it started). After that, only the part from the window's opening counts, until 26 June 2028 (24 months after it ended). |
| 3 June 2024 to 29 August 2025 | Partly before | Your involvement started before the window opened on 30 November 2024. A project may have started earlier, but write about your part from 30 November 2024 onward. Less of it is inside the window for each later submission date, and none of it after 29 August 2027 (24 months after it ended). |
| 9 January 2023 to 31 October 2024 | Outside | Your involvement ended on 31 October 2024, before the window opened on 30 November 2024. The case study must be about work within the 24 months before you submit. |
The first involvement has 481 days inside the window; the second has 273. A submission on 29 February 2028 would open the window on 28 February 2026.
Common mistakes
- Counting back from the date you started writing rather than from the submission date.
- Choosing a project you left early in your training, which falls out of the window before you submit.
- Writing about the whole history of a long project instead of your involvement inside the window.
- Not planning for a deferred session: a later submission date moves the window.
Count and check your own draft
The draft workspace holds your case study, your summary of experience by competency and level, your CPD and your diary days. It counts words the published way, checks the 24 month window and the 95 to 100 percent band, and shows what is still missing. Everything stays in this browser.
Frequently asked questions
Can my case study project have started more than two years ago?
Yes. The candidate guide says a project may have started over two years ago. Your involvement written about in the case study must fall within the two years before your submission date.
Can I use a project that has not finished?
Yes. The guide says that if the project is not finished when you write the case study, you should give a prognosis of the outcome, and you can include the outcome in your presentation if you learn it before the interview.
What happens if I defer my assessment?
The window runs back from the submission date, so a later date moves it. After a successful preliminary review you can use the same case study at the next available session in your market even if it has gone past 24 months, but a later session needs it updated or changed.
Sources
Last reviewed 27 September 2026 against:
- Assessment of Professional Competence, Candidate guide, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), June 2025, amended March 2026, read 2026-09-27. Used for: the two year rule, projects started earlier or unfinished, the preliminary review exception (pages 11, 12 and 15)
- APC submissions and assessment, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), published 10 August 2026, read 2026-09-27. Used for: the 24 month rule at the point of submission, the preliminary review exception restated
This guide is our own summary of the published documents, not legal advice and not a finding about your application; the regulator's assessors decide. If it disagrees with the current documents, the documents win. APC Draft is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or any other professional body.