Paper 2

RES Exam Paper 2: What It Covers and How to Prepare

Last reviewed 11 October 2026

Paper 2 is the working paper of the RES examination. It examines Competency Unit 3 and Competency Unit 4 — how the agency industry is regulated and how property is marketed, then the transactions, taxes and finance a salesperson handles. Twenty units sit behind it, split fairly evenly between the two.

Key points

Paper 2 examines CU3 (Regulation of Real Estate Agency Industry & Real Estate Marketing) and CU4 (Property Transactions).
Structure: 2.5 hours, 100 marks — Section A is 60 MCQs at 1 mark, Section B is 20 MCQs on one or two case studies at 2 marks.
The pass mark is 60 per paper, subject to review by CEA, and each paper is graded separately (as at October 2026).
Twenty units sit behind Paper 2 — eleven in CU3, nine in CU4 — so time is split more evenly than in Paper 1.
Units 3.1, 3.2 and 3.6 are the largest sources of questions; do the regulatory core first.
CU4’s hours should be drilling, not reading: Unit 4.9’s calculations are the prerequisite for the rest of the competency unit.
Paper 2’s case studies cross the two competency units, pairing a conduct question with a transaction question off the same facts.
Exams are held three times a year, administered by NTUC LearningHub; results are Pass or Fail only, in four to six weeks.
A revised syllabus applies from 1 January 2027; the format and duration do not change, only the content and learning outcomes.

What Paper 2 examines

Paper 2 covers the second two competency units of the syllabus: Competency Unit 3, titled Regulation of Real Estate Agency Industry & Real Estate Marketing, with eleven units, and Competency Unit 4, Property Transactions, with nine. Paper 1 takes CU1 and CU2.

CU3 begins with the Estate Agents Act regime — what the Council for Estate Agencies does, how agents are licensed and salespersons registered, what continuing professional development requires, how breaches are disciplined — and then what that regime requires of a salesperson day to day. It continues with marketing: theory, listings and the prescribed agency agreement forms, the methods of sale, the advertising rules and the four property sectors, closing with the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act.

CU4 then walks through the transactions themselves, before collecting the taxes on property and property finance. Paper 2 is not the “easier” paper: it is less conceptual than Paper 1 but far less forgiving of half-learnt material, because its questions ask whether you know a particular rule, figure or list exactly.

The structure of Paper 2

Paper 2 runs two and a half hours and carries 100 marks. Section A is 60 standalone multiple-choice questions at one mark each; Section B is 20 multiple-choice questions set with reference to one or two case studies, at two marks each. The pass mark is 60, subject to review by CEA (as at October 2026).

The structure is identical to Paper 1’s, and both papers must be passed. They are graded separately, so each must reach the pass mark on its own; a candidate who passes one and fails the other re-sits only the failed paper, as a modular sitting. The examination is held three times a year and is administered by NTUC LearningHub on CEA’s behalf, with results issued as Pass or Fail — no scores, no returned scripts — within four to six weeks (as at October 2026).

Pacing has one wrinkle Paper 1 does not: several Section A questions are computations, which take longer than a definition while still earning one mark.

CU3 in Paper 2: regulation and marketing

Units 3.1 and 3.2 are the regulatory core: the Estate Agents Act and the regulations beneath it, licensing and registration, CPD and the disciplinary route from a Letter of Censure through a Disciplinary Committee to the appeals board, and then the Code of Ethics and Professional Client Care, the prescribed agreement forms, conflicts of interest, the ban on dual representation, the rules on handling money, record keeping and commission. Unit 3.1 is the single largest source of questions in the paper.

Units 3.3 to 3.6 are generic marketing: the marketing theory vocabulary, the three types of listing and the eight prescribed forms, the four methods of sale and the moment each becomes binding, and the advertising rules. Units 3.7 to 3.10 apply all of that to the residential, commercial, industrial and special sectors in turn, and Unit 3.11 covers the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, whose examinable trick is its scope: land transactions are excluded, but residential rentals and an estate agent’s services to a client are inside it.

CU4 in Paper 2: transactions, taxes and finance

CU4’s nine units are seven transaction types plus two cross-cutting ones. Units 4.1 to 4.3 are private property: the prescribed regime for selling uncompleted units, the largely unregulated resale of a completed one, and the statutory majority and procedure for a collective sale. Units 4.4 to 4.7 are HDB resale, the leasing of private property, HDB’s own renting-out rules, and the housing of foreign employees.

Units 4.8 and 4.9 are the numbers. Unit 4.8 is the taxes: property tax from annual value, buyer’s stamp duty through its bands, the additional buyer’s stamp duty by buyer profile, seller’s stamp duty, lease and mortgage duty, and GST. Unit 4.9 is property finance: loan-to-value limits, the debt servicing ratios and their stress-test floors, the HDB concessionary loan, cash over valuation, and the CPF rules on what may be used and refunded.

How to split revision time within Paper 2

CEA publishes no mark weighting per competency unit, so unit count is again the only honest proxy: eleven units in CU3 against nine in CU4. Paper 2 is therefore more even than Paper 1, and roughly equal time to each is a reasonable starting point — with one adjustment. CU4’s calculations need practice sessions rather than reading time, so plan CU4’s hours as drilling and CU3’s as learning and recitation.

Within CU3, start with Units 3.1 and 3.2 together and early, because every later unit assumes the regime they describe and because they produce the most questions. Then Unit 3.6, then 3.4 and 3.3, leaving the four sector units until the regulatory core is secure.

Within CU4, do Unit 4.9 first, with a calculator, because every other unit eventually asks for a figure. Unit 4.8 follows immediately, and it overlaps directly with Unit 1.2 in Paper 1. Then Unit 4.4, revised together with Units 3.7 and 4.6, because the HDB rules interlock. Keep all volatile figures on one dated sheet refreshed in the final fortnight.

What Section B demands

Section B gives you one or two case studies and 20 questions applying the rules to them, each worth two marks. The syllabus describes the section as testing the ability to interpret and analyse questions in a practice-oriented context.

In Paper 2 the case studies are usually transactional, and they routinely cross the two competency units. A scenario about an HDB resale can generate a CU4 question on the option period or the minimum occupation period and, off the same facts, a CU3 question on whether the salesperson’s advertisement or handling of the option fee was permitted. A purchase by two buyers with different residency profiles can generate several CU4 computations in a row — the additional buyer’s stamp duty, the maximum loan, the cash required — each depending on figures in the stem.

The shared facts make a single misread expensive, so read the case study twice and note the parties, their profiles, the dates and the figures before answering. Chained computations compound errors, so carry each intermediate figure forward in writing.

The syllabus in force, and the change from 1 January 2027

Examinations held in 2025 and 2026 are set on the current syllabus. A revised RES examination syllabus applies to examinations from 1 January 2027 onwards.

The revision does not change the shape of Paper 2. CEA has confirmed that the examination format and duration are unchanged from 2027: the same two papers, two and a half hours each, with Section A of 60 one-mark questions and Section B of 20 two-mark case-study questions. What changes is the content and the learning outcomes within the competency units.

That matters more for Paper 2 than for Paper 1, because CU3 and CU4 are the parts of the syllabus most tied to current rules. If your sitting falls in 2027 or later, work from the revised syllabus document rather than older notes, and treat second-hand question banks with caution. Note too that licence and registration cycles move to a three-year basis from the same date.

Terms to know

Section A: The first part of each RES paper: 60 standalone multiple-choice questions worth one mark each.
Section B: The second part of each RES paper: 20 multiple-choice questions set on one or two case studies and worth two marks each.
Modular sitting: A re-sit of one paper only, available to a candidate who passed the other paper, at a lower fee than a full sitting.

Frequently asked questions

What does RES Paper 2 cover?

Competency Unit 3, Regulation of Real Estate Agency Industry & Real Estate Marketing, and Competency Unit 4, Property Transactions. In practice that means the Estate Agents Act regime and a salesperson’s duties, marketing theory, listings and the prescribed agency agreements, the advertising rules, the four property sectors, consumer protection, and then the transactions, taxes and finance of private and HDB property.

How many questions are in RES Paper 2?

Eighty: 60 standalone multiple-choice questions in Section A at one mark each, and 20 multiple-choice questions in Section B set on one or two case studies at two marks each, for 100 marks in total over two and a half hours.

Is Paper 2 easier than Paper 1?

It is less conceptual but not less demanding. Paper 2 rarely asks you to reason from a principle; it asks whether you know a specific rule, figure or list exactly, and it contains the examination’s calculations. CEA does not publish pass rates by paper, so there is no official comparison.

Can I bring a calculator to Paper 2?

Yes — Paper 2 contains computations in Units 4.8 and 4.9 that are not realistically done by hand. The permitted calculator models are set out in the examination rules published by NTUC LearningHub as the examination administrator, and only an approved model may be used, so check the current list before the day.

Will the 2027 syllabus change what Paper 2 covers?

It changes the content and learning outcomes within the competency units, but not the format or duration of the paper. Because CU3 and CU4 are closely tied to current regulatory and tax rules, candidates sitting from 1 January 2027 should work from the revised syllabus document and treat older notes and question banks with caution.

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