We are delighted to welcome you and excited for the year ahead. This will be a transformative period during which you will strengthen your existing capabilities, develop new skills, and build lasting connections.
Induction Week
Your journey begins with a two-week Induction starting on 15 September, designed to introduce you to the School, your course, and the wide range of resources available to support your studies. The Induction programme will help you settle in, meet your classmates, socialise, and prepare for the academic year ahead. It will also provide an excellent opportunity to meet your Course Director (CD) and begin planning your year.
Your first day will begin with a Welcome Session featuring talks from the Dean of the School, the Associate Dean of the MSc Programmes, your Course Director, and your Course Officer.
Throughout the two weeks, you will take part in a variety of sessions covering all of these areas. Academic sessions will provide essential prerequisite knowledge, introduce core principles, and deliver skill-building classes designed to support your academic success. Further details are provided below.
Careers and Study Resources
The Careers Service will host a Careers Kickstart event, where you will learn how the careers team can support your job search, attend a networking workshop, and meet recent alumni from the Real Estate Investment and Real Estate programmes. This is a great opportunity to ask questions about their experiences at Bayes and their career paths since graduating. You will also have the chance to attend the Annual Careers Fair, featuring over 60 employers, including many firms from the real estate profession.
You will receive an introduction to the School’s library resources, including major online databases, guidance on how to access and use them effectively in your studies, and information about the training available. The School offers a wide range of professional resources that will support both your academic work and the development of your professional skills.
Induction Academic Content
During the Induction fortnight, you will participate in fourteen hours of class sessions and online computer labs, all led by our real estate faculty.
These sessions provide an essential foundation, offering an overview of the real estate market and the key subjects you will study throughout the programme. They introduce fundamental concepts in valuation, real estate investment, and data analysis.
The Induction is designed to ensure all students reach a common baseline of understanding in the real estate market and investment environment, while also developing core skills in financial mathematics and Excel.
You will attend introductory sessions on the following topics:
- The Real Estate Market
- Appraisals and Valuation
- Real Estate Investments
- Fundamental Financial & Statistical Analysis for Real Estate Investment
- Excel – covering spreadsheet basics, data input, formula building, data analysis, and financial mathematics
Pre-Sessional Training
Quantitative and financial analysis is a cornerstone of real estate investment. These skills are essential for careers in investment and finance. The growing demand for analytical expertise is driven by factors such as increased data availability and a more complex investment landscape, as outlined by Tsolacos and Andrew (2021) in Section 1.1.
To help you prepare for the course, pre-sessional material will be made available from mid-July. This material serves as a refresher on key concepts in real estate investment , financial mathematics and statistics, offering a gradual introduction to the course’s technical content and its emphasis on data analysis. The resources include a slide deck covering major topics in real estate investment, supported by detailed examples using relevant real estate data. An accompanying Excel file will enable you to practice the calculations demonstrated in the slides. Further guidance will be provided when the materials are released.
You will also be given access to a number of online pre-study modules offered by the Faculty of Finance to students across all MSc programmes within the Faculty.
Excel Practice
You will gain hands-on Excel experience during the Induction sessions. In preparation for these sessions and the pre-course financial analysis work, we recommend reviewing your Excel skills using several high-quality, free online resources. These are suitable for both beginners and those looking to refresh or enhance their skills. Such resources include:
Additionally, please review the Excel guides linked below:
Pre-Course Reading
Real estate is a multidisciplinary field, and as such, there is no single textbook that comprehensively covers all aspects taught in this programme. However, several key textbooks provide a starting point for the in-depth reading required in each module.
Recommended readings include:
- Introduction to Real Estate and Real Estate Economics:
E. Jowsey, Real Estate Concepts – A Handbook (2015), Chapter 5
- Appraisals and Valuation:
P. Wyatt, Property Valuation (3rd edition, 2022), Chapters 6 & 7
For background on real estate pricing, also refer to Sections 1.3, 2.3, 2.3.4, and Chapter 3
- Data Analysis and Statistics Applied to Real Estate Investment:
S. Tsolacos & M. Andrew, Applied Quantitative Analysis for Real Estate (2021), Chapters 1–3
- Real Estate Investments:
A. Baum, Real Estate Investment – A Strategic Approach (2023) 4th edition, Chapters 1-6.
It is essential that you familiarise yourself early on with the nature, definitions, and terminology of real estate data. Chapter 2 of Applied Quantitative Analysis for Real Estate by Tsolacos and Andrew offers a valuable primer on key data sources, the concepts behind their construction, and their intended measures.
You are also encouraged to contact the Course Director to discuss any additional preparatory reading or specific support needs you may have.
The academic content of the programme is further enriched by an analysis of current industry trends. The following websites offer useful insights, including market news, analytical reports, and commentary from industry practitioners:
- Real Estate:UK (realestateuk.org)
Professional Memberships and Networking
Finally, we will introduce you to professional memberships and the benefits of joining key London-based organisations, including Real Estate:UK, Society of Property Researchers (SPR), and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). As part of the Induction programme, RICS will deliver a presentation on how to make the most of your engagement with the organisation throughout your studies.
We strongly encourage you to attend all Induction sessions, as they provide a valuable introduction to our teaching approach, academic expectations, and the many aspects that will shape your studies and contribute to a memorable year ahead.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the student experience on the programme, please feel free to contact this year’s class representatives:
- Hendrik Mueller (Hendrik.Mueller@citystgeorges.ac.uk)
- Danial.Mohammadi (Danial.Mohammadi@citystgeorges.ac.uk)
You are also very welcome to contact Prof Sotiris Tsolacos, the Course Director, at Sotiris.Tsolacos.1@citystgeorges.ac.uk.
Timetables
You should use the MyTimetable system to view your timetables. You can access the MyTimetable system later this summer. Important: To help you generate an accurate timetable please read this quick guide on how to use the system first.