STUDENTS from the Philip Morant school in Colchester spent the day yesterday (Wednesday) learning how to be an estate agent.

The would-be house-sellers of the future were invited to join staff at Boydens estate agents in Crouch Street as part of the company’s on-going commitment to careers guidance with secondary schools in the town.

The 14 and 15-year-olds spent the morning in the office, learning at first-hand about house selling, letting and surveying.

David Boyden, Managing Partner at Boydens, said: “We regularly attend schools’ careers evenings when we tell youngsters and their parents about the world of estate agency but we thought you can’t beat actually experiencing the job to discover what it is all about.

“We structured the day so that the students had the opportunity to sample as many aspects of our business as possible. They were very interested and asked lots of interesting questions which kept our staff on their toes.”

Teacher Simon Whitley, who accompanied the students, said: “Days such as this are so useful because they turn theory into practice for the students. I think they were surprised by just how much is involved when it comes to buying, selling, letting and maintaining property.”