Faulkner said: 'This is not a case of the RICS wanting to dominate the Polish propertymarket but a significant way of improving valuation and managementtechniques in Polish real estate allowing the Poles to make a significantcontribution to a fast developing environment.'

Until the end of communism, little over 10 years ago, the Polish propertymarket has been dogged by out-of-date practices particularly in the field ofvaluation. David Mackmin, from Sheffield Hallam university which actsjointly with the University of Warsaw in teaching post graduate entrants,said: 'When we first talked about setting up this type of scheme in 1991there was no conception of valuing buildings on merit. It was a simple caseof saying it is 10 years old and should last another 90 years, therefore weshall depreciate its value by 10%.'

Many redundant buildings were therefore grossly overvalued and it hasinvolved a lot of negotiation to get Polish academics to come round to UKmethods. Mackmin said: 'What the younger Poles do have, however, is a realzest for hard work and the marks of the first ever graduate intake wereoutstanding. Having seen the way the students have reacted to the course Iam confident that we can keep the momentum going.'