RICS Ethics Test study plan

Map the five ethical standards and their sub-rules into a one-page structure you can redraw from memory

Rewrite each core obligation in your own words and tag which of the five standards it sits under

Define the key conduct terms (integrity, competence, objectivity, confidentiality, conflict of interest) precisely enough to use them in a scenario answer

List the situations where a member must decline or withdraw from an instruction, with the rule that triggers each

Work through 30 short conduct scenarios and decide, for each, which standard applies and what action is required

Identify the three most common traps (gifts and hospitality thresholds, confidentiality exceptions, competence boundaries) and write a rule for each

Draft model answer skeletons for 'what should the member do' questions using a fixed structure

Test yourself on the difference between a breach of conduct and poor professional judgement

Convert your rule map into a checklist you can apply to any scenario under time pressure

Compare how the same fact pattern is judged differently when the member is acting as an individual versus as a firm representative

Practise writing answers that cite the specific obligation rather than describing good behaviour generally

Review your week 2 errors and rewrite the five weakest answers to model standard

Distinguish professional standards from personal ethics and explain where they overlap in a scenario

Analyse conflict-of-interest cases: identify the conflict, the disclosure duty, and the appropriate management step

Explain how competence and due diligence obligations apply to advice given outside your technical area

Work through confidentiality scenarios covering third-party requests, legal compulsion, and firm-internal sharing

Build a decision framework for pressured situations: client instruction versus professional duty

Practise answering questions on gifts, hospitality, and inducements with the reasoning shown, not just the verdict

Examine whistleblowing and speaking-up scenarios from the perspective of the individual member's duty

Identify where professional standards require you to record decisions and advise in writing

Map the route a concern takes from internal escalation to external regulator, naming each stage

List the specific triggers that make reporting a mandatory rather than optional step

Explain the protections and duties that apply to a member who raises a concern in good faith

Identify the records a member must keep to demonstrate compliance if challenged later

Work through 20 reporting and regulatory scenarios, deciding whether to escalate, to whom, and when

Revisit your week 1 rule map and check every reporting duty is linked to the obligation it enforces

Practise distinguishing a regulatory breach from a conduct breach from a commercial dispute

Draft concise answers on what happens when a member is unsure whether a concern is reportable

Complete two full timed mock papers under exam conditions and score them strictly

Rework every answer that lost marks for missing the cited obligation rather than the wrong conclusion

Condense all three domains into a single revision sheet you can review in 20 minutes

Confirm you can state, from memory, the action required for the ten highest-frequency scenario types