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Surveyors in the NHS have to be fully-qualified and chartered through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. To become a surveyor, you need either a degree in surveying, or a related subject, accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors or a degree in any subject followed by a Masters accredited by the RICS. To get onto a degree course, you need appropriate level 3 qualifications. For a Master's, you need a good honours degree. After university, to become fully qualified as a surveyor, you have to work under supervision for two or three years and pass an Assessment of Professional Competence (APC).

Most staff working in the NHS are paid on the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay system. As a surveyor, your salary will depend on your precise role and level of responsibility. You're likely to start on AfC band 6. With further training and experience, you could apply for more senior positions at band 7 and above. Surveyors in the NHS work standard hours of around 37.5 a week. They may have some evening meetings. Terms and conditions will be different for surveyors working outside of the NHS.

To work as a surveyor, you need to have an interest in buildings and property, be willing to travel, spend time working outdoors, work on several different projects at once, be able to meet deadlines work with contractors and others from the construction industry. You also need negotiating, organisational, project management and business skills.

You can gain experience by working on a range of projects and by taking on bigger projects. You could progress to become a manager, responsible for the work of a team of surveyors. You could then progress further to manage a geographical area or be responsible for particular part of the business.