This serves to advise all estate agents who wish to undertake the upcoming Professional Designation Examination (PDE) scheduled to take place on the 24 February 2022 that enrolment for such is now open. The enrolment is strictly via MyEAAB portal; however, an enrolment form will be made available later on if required, and in the event that estate agents wishing to enroll for the exam cannot be able to access the portal for any reason. Please inform us by emailing pde@eaab.org.za should you be unable to access the portal to complete the enrolment process on the MyEAAB portal.

ELIGIBILITY

The PDE is written by registered estate agents who are certificated against or exempted from completing the prescribed qualifications.

1. 1) For PDE 4 (this is an examination that must be written by eligible intern and non-principal estate agents). It is  only meant for those who have been certificated against or exempted from completing the Further Education and Training Certificate: Real Estate (NQF 4). Interns must have also completed the compulsory 12 month internship period and submitted a logbook which has been approved by the EAAB in order for them to be able to enroll for the examination via the MyEAAB portal.
2. 2)  For PDE 5 (this is an examination that must be written by eligible Principal estate agents). It is also meant only for those who have been certificated against or exempted from completing the National Certificate: Real Estate (NQF 5).
3. 3)  Signed-off logbooks portfolio of evidence must be scanned and emailed to logbooks@eaab.org.za
4. 4) All qualifications or exemption letters/certificates must be submitted via email to upgrades@eaab.org.za

2. VENUE-BASED EXAMINATION VERSUS ON-LINE EXAMINATION

2.1. The EAAB is happy to once again announce that all future exams will be conducted strictly via the new online exam platform. Thus, there will no longer be venue-based examinations. Venue-based examination will only be available to the exam candidates who have applied in the prescribed manner to undertake the oral examination in line with the oral examination policy for those with incapacity/disabilities as per the policy.

2.2. All prospective exam candidates are therefore urged to enroll for the forthcoming examination scheduled to take place on the 24^th February 2022 by the closing date to avoid any further delays in processing and allocating the examination seat numbers and ensuring that the candidates’ details are captured in time in the system.

2.3. In addition, all prospective exam candidates are urged to ensure that they have access to a Computer that has a functional Camera and also ensure that the Computer is installed with Chrome. Prospective exam candidates are assured that the new online exam system is compatible with all Apple and Android devices.

2.4. The prospective exam candidates who enroll and make payments on or before 04^th February 2022 will be provided with the necessary online examination information and a practice exam during February 2022 to ensure that they are thoroughly prepared to participate in the examination and well acquainted with the new system.

2.5. All exam candidates are required to update their email and mailing addresses as the EAAB system will be using email addresses on the EAAB system when uploading the details on the new online exam system.

3. A summary of important rules for examination enrolment

3.1. Unless PDE enrollment via MyEAAB Portal and payment is received prior to the examination date and strictly by the exam closing date, no examination seat number will be allocated and such an enrolment is regarded as unsuccessful. Estate agents who wish to enroll should therefore ensure that they first enroll for the examination and then make payment using the correct Unique Seven Digit Reference Number usually used for FFC payments. Exam candidates who fail to enroll in the prescribed manner and fail to make payment using the correct reference number will also not have their details  captured on the new online exam system and will not be able to undertake the examination. The correct exam reference numbers are obtainable via the 0872853222 - our Call Centre’s contact number. These are the same numbers that the estate agents are allocated and using when they make payments for the acquisition or annual renewal of Fidelity Fund Certificates (FFCs).

3.2. For confirmation of exam seat numbers, estate agents are requested to login and check through MyEAAB portal as these are issued and allocated automatically via the EAAB SAP system and populated against their system profile.

3.3. Examination results are released at least 8 weeks after the examination date and appeals must be lodged within 10 - 14 days of receiving results.  

3.4. Examination results once released can be viewed through the Online Exam System as well as via MyEAAB portal.

3.5. Examination certificates for those who have passed are issued at least 60 – 90 days after the release of exam results.

3.6. Examination candidates who are not successful are allowed to lodge their appeals against the exam results by submitting their appeal and paying the required fee within 10 - 14 days of being informed of the release of exam results via the Online Exam system and or via MyEAAB portal. The policy of the EAAB is that appeals received after the expiry of the 14 day period will not be processed.

3.7. Exam candidates must allow sufficient time for a thorough preparation for the examination.  Therefore, those wishing to undertake the exam are advised to ensure that they obtain the required study material from the EAAB prior to enrolling for the examination. 

3.8. Examination duration is 4 hours which includes the reading time. Examination will be conducted strictly via the online system.

3.9. It is an open book examination.  Tips for exam are available on the EAAB website (under Education - Professional Designation Examination).

3.10. Exam candidates are allowed to use calculators of any type, where required.

3.11. Exam candidates may use dictionaries, where necessary.

4. FUTURE EXAMINATION DATES:

5. APPEAL AGAINST EXAMINATION RESULTS

It is the policy of EAAB to allow examination candidates who wish to appeal against their examination results to do so following the appeals procedure below:

5.1. Appellants wishing to appeal against the outcome of the Professional Designation Examination shall be required to lodge a written Notice of Appeal with the EAAB within ten to fourteen (10 - 14) days after having been notified of the result of the examination and which Notice of Appeal shall be e-mailed to the EAAB at resultsappeal@eaab.org.za

5.2. The written Notice of Appeal may be lodged in person or by way of sending an email or logging an Online Query to the EAAB.

5.3. The written Notice of Appeal shall be dated and signed by the appellant and shall, in addition, contain the full names, identity number, postal address, e-mail address, telephone number and facsimile number of the appellant.

5.4. The written Notice of Appeal shall specifically indicate the grounds of appeal relied upon by the appellant as well as the reasons why the appellant believes that the outcome of the Professional Designation Examination does not truly and/or accurately reflect the efforts of the appellant.

5.5. Failure to lodge within the period in a prescribed manner and within the prescribed time lines may disqualify the candidate unless the candidate provides sufficient and valid reasons supported by evidence where necessary for lodging a late appeal.

5.6. Upon receipt of the Notice of Appeal, the appeal will be acknowledged and duly recorded and where the prescribed fee is still not paid, the appellant will be informed to make payment of the required fee including the manner in which such payment should be made to the EAAB.  Only upon receipt of the required fee, the appeal shall be processed further

5.7. Upon receipt of the required fee/the fully compliant appeal, the relevant Education and Training Officer will refer the appellant’s Notice of Appeal to the appointed Moderator for consideration.

5.8. The Moderator shall, upon receiving the Notice of Appeal, be granted access to the marked answer sheet of the appellant and model answer and proceed to review and or moderate the script within twenty (20) days of receipt thereof and communicate the appeal outcome indicating the new mark achieved in percentage (%) form which shall be communicated to the appellant by the relevant Education and Training Officer within 24 hours of being provided with the outcome.

The EAAB wishes all exam candidates the best of luck!

Issued by: Estate Agency Affairs Board - Education and Training Department

09 January 2022