Exam information

RES Exam Fees and the Real Cost of Getting Registered

Last reviewed 12 October 2026

The examination fee is the most quotable number in the process but rarely the largest one. Between the mandatory course, the examination itself, and the fees CEA charges to register you as a salesperson, the full path from enrolment to a registered salesperson card involves several separate payments to different parties. Every figure below is dated, because examination fees are set by CEA and are expressly subject to revision without prior notice.

Key points

Full sitting (both papers): $512.30 inclusive of GST, as at October 2026.
Modular sitting (one paper, for those holding a pass in the other or an exemption): $283.40 inclusive of GST.
Appeal against a failed paper: $87.20 inclusive of GST, non-refundable; deferment application: $130.80 inclusive of GST, non-refundable.
Examination fees are set by CEA and are subject to revision without prior notice.
Course fees are set by each approved course provider and vary; Ngee Ann Polytechnic publishes $1,308.00 inclusive of GST for its 66-hour course, before subsidies.
CEA salesperson registration: $60 application fee and $280 a year, GST exempt, paid by the estate agent you register through; $140 for a part year beginning after 30 June.
From 1 January 2027 the $60 application fee is payable once every three years; the $280 annual fee is unchanged.
Letting the course certificate expire before you pass means paying the full course fee again.

Examination fees

As at October 2026, the RES examination fee for a full sitting — that is, both Paper 1 and Paper 2 — is $512.30 inclusive of GST. A modular sitting, meaning one paper only, is $283.40 inclusive of GST.

The modular rate is not a general discount for taking the papers separately. It is available to candidates who already hold a pass in one paper, and to candidates sitting Paper 2 with an exemption from Paper 1. You cannot elect to spread a first attempt across two sittings at the modular rate for the convenience of it.

CEA states that examination fees are subject to revision without prior notice, so confirm the fee on CEA’s examination page before you budget. The fee is paid at Stage 2 of registration, to NTUC LearningHub, after you have been shortlisted — not when you indicate interest.

Re-sit, appeal and deferment fees

A re-sit is charged as a fresh examination, at the applicable rate. If you failed both papers you pay the full sitting fee again; if you passed one and failed the other, you pay the modular sitting fee for the paper you are repeating. There is no reduced “second attempt” rate beyond the modular fee itself.

Two administrative fees sit alongside the examination fee, both charged by NTUC LearningHub and both non-refundable (as at October 2026). An appeal against your result costs $87.20 inclusive of GST per application, and may only be made in respect of a paper you failed, within five working days of results being released. The fee covers a review of the marking and a re-check of the marks awarded; you are not shown your answer script, and the outcome is communicated in writing about 14 working days after the appeal closing date. A deferment application costs $130.80 inclusive of GST per application, and is considered only on the narrow medical, bereavement and National Service grounds set out by NTUC LearningHub.

If you fail to turn up without an approved deferment, you are marked absent and treated as having failed; the fee is not refunded. The same applies if you arrive 15 minutes or more after the paper has started, in which case you are not admitted and no refund is given.

What the RES course costs

The course fee is not set by CEA. Each approved course provider sets and publishes its own fee, and the fees differ from provider to provider and between delivery formats, so there is no single figure to quote.

One published example gives a sense of the order of magnitude. Ngee Ann Polytechnic, a CEA Approved Course Provider, lists a full course fee of $1,308.00 inclusive of GST for its 66-hour Real Estate Salesperson Course delivered by synchronous and asynchronous e-learning (as at October 2026). That page also lists the SkillsFuture and other subsidies available to eligible Singapore citizens and permanent residents, which reduce the amount payable substantially. Private providers publish their own fee schedules, and many quote both a gross fee and a net fee after subsidy.

Two practical points follow. First, compare net fees, not headline fees, and check which subsidy band you fall into — baseline SkillsFuture funding, the Mid-Career Enhanced Subsidy for Singapore citizens aged 40 and above, and employer-based support schemes are all priced differently. Second, a repeat of the course, if your certificate expires before you pass, is a repeat of the course fee. That is the real cost of letting the two-year validity run out, and it is usually larger than the examination fee you were trying to avoid paying twice.

CEA registration fees after you pass

Registration as a salesperson carries its own fees, payable to CEA and exempt from GST (as at October 2026). There is an application fee of $60, and an annual registration fee of $280.

The annual fee covers a full calendar year, or a part year that begins on or before 30 June and ends on 31 December. Where a registration begins after 30 June, the fee for that part year is pro-rated to $140. Both fees are paid by the licensed estate agent through which you register, not directly by you — though whether the agency absorbs them or passes them on to you is a matter for your arrangement with the agency, and worth asking about before you sign. Fees paid are non-refundable.

One change is coming. CEA announced on 28 July 2026 that from 1 January 2027 licence and registration validity periods are extended from one year to three, with the first cycle running from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029. The $60 application fee becomes payable once every three years instead of once every two, and the $280 annual registration fee is unchanged.

The other costs of starting out

Beyond the course, the examination and CEA’s fees, a newly registered salesperson meets several further costs that are easy to overlook when budgeting.

Professional indemnity insurance is a registration requirement: you must be covered by a policy valid for at least one year from the commencement date of your registration. In practice the cover is usually arranged through the estate agency under a group policy, and the cost to the individual salesperson depends on the agency’s arrangement. Your MediSave contributions must also be up to date before CEA will process the application, either fully paid or under an active GIRO plan — for a career switcher moving to self-employed income, that can mean settling an outstanding balance at the point of registration.

Continuing professional development begins once you are registered. The CPD framework requires 16 training hours per calendar-year cycle, of which at least 12 hours must be structured learning and 4 hours self-directed. New salespersons are exempt in their first CPD cycle, so the cost of CPD courses does not land in your first year, but it is a recurring annual cost thereafter and the price of courses varies by provider.

There is no official figure for the remaining start-up costs of practice — name cards, marketing, portal subscriptions, agency administrative charges — because they are commercial arrangements between a salesperson and an agency rather than regulated fees. Ask the agency you intend to join for its own written schedule of charges before you register through it.

Terms to know

Full sitting: Registration for both Paper 1 and Paper 2 at the same examination, charged at the full examination fee.
Modular sitting: Registration for one paper only, available to candidates holding a pass in the other paper or an exemption from it, charged at the lower modular fee.
Professional indemnity insurance (PII): Insurance against claims arising from professional negligence; a salesperson must be covered by a policy valid for at least one year from the start of registration.
Continuing professional development (CPD): The 16 training hours per calendar-year cycle required of registered salespersons, with new salespersons exempt in their first cycle.

Frequently asked questions

How much does the RES exam cost?

As at October 2026, a full sitting of both papers is $512.30 inclusive of GST and a modular sitting of one paper is $283.40 inclusive of GST. CEA states that the fees are subject to revision without prior notice, so check its examination page before budgeting.

Is a re-sit cheaper than a first attempt?

Only in the sense that a modular sitting costs less than a full sitting. If you passed one paper you pay the modular fee for the paper you are repeating; if you failed both, you pay the full sitting fee again. There is no separate reduced rate for repeat candidates.

What does the RES course cost?

There is no single fee, because each CEA Approved Course Provider sets its own. As a published example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic lists $1,308.00 inclusive of GST for its 66-hour course before subsidies, as at October 2026. SkillsFuture and other subsidies reduce the amount payable for eligible candidates, so compare net fees across providers.

What does CEA charge to register me as a salesperson?

A $60 application fee and a $280 annual registration fee, both GST exempt as at October 2026. A part year beginning after 30 June is pro-rated to $140. Both are paid to CEA by the licensed estate agent you register through.

Do I get a refund if I cannot attend the exam?

No. Candidates who do not turn up are marked absent and treated as having failed, and no refund is given. The same applies if you arrive 15 minutes or more after the paper has started. A deferment, if approved on the narrow grounds allowed, moves you to the next examination rather than refunding the fee, and the deferment application itself carries a non-refundable fee.

Official sources

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