90% of people should avoid this course. You have been warned. The course costs 15-18k no student funding is possible but this is not the biggest issue. The first 12 months learning will be held in a hotel with lunch and dinner provided. The lecturers are proficient and you will gather some core understandings. Unfortunately after this period is where all the problems start (and your monthly payments to SAVA are almost completed) (Assessment phase) as others have mentioned you are sweetened initially to believe that the industry is booming with work and supportive people but the reality is most practicing surveyors will not mentor you as they are in fear of upcoming surveyors taking their work in an often race to the bottom pricing structure for homebuyer reports especially the self employed ones . The corporate firms are also inundated with requests for their mentorship’s so you are highly unlikely to be selected unless you are very lucky. I spent months emailing a firm. I speak out of experience. The reality then begins to set in that you are on your own and SAVA then confirm this with their generic and basic support. You will be required to provide 10 homebuyer reports and 10 valuations (20 pages minimum for each report) but not just this.. each report must have a method statement report(20 pages minimum), site notes (20 pages minimum), BCIS report, and energy report. In addition to this you will need to do CPD, multiple questionnaires on various topics such as law and finally an exam and scheduled in person assessment report in Milton Keynes with an assessor. In addition to this all of the 10 properties you must find yourself and they cannot all be the same type of property. SAVA has a list of property conditions you must meet. To further improve your morale you must also buy all the required equipment that can easily cost £1000 plus. All of the groups of people that enroll in the course set up WhatsApp groups and trust me there are many people who started with great enthusiasm that are now livid or feel helpless. SAVA have structured the course extremely poorly with only profit making in mind. Look very carefully at the low star reviews as they are all honest accounts of the mess you will end up in if you have any commitments (like a job at the least). The industry is becoming more and more difficult and the corporate firms are constantly hiring due to the churn and burn nature. Review the industry average salaries on job portals and glass door website for real accounts of employees before you commit. If you still want to commit to the residential surveying profession go for a university degree or masters, or an apprenticeship with a surveying firm where you will actually be paid and not spend large amounts on poorly structured courses with big claims. Im writing this review as I wish it was present before I went down the SAVA route. Upon looking at one of the recent 1 star reviews you will see that it’s by an MRICS building surveyor. For those that don’t know this is a person who is extremely qualified and respected in the industry as MRICS status is very difficult to achieve. The fact that they have not completed the course speaks volumes and if this doesn’t alarm you unfortunately you are likely to end up like the high number of people struggling and in debt.
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Sava has more than 40 years of experience supporting the UK’s housing sector with education, software and strategic support to tackle skills challenges and meet energy and sustainability objectives.
Sava is currently the leading provider of vocational residential surveyor training, enabling career changers to enter a new and exciting profession without the needs for a degree or other prior qualifications. The Diploma in Residential Surveying and Valuation offers an accessible route into surveying that is also approved for direct entry into the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).See more
