Forum · Professional Development
Professional qualification, taken one step at a time
Most of the difficulty in qualifying is not the engineering. It is working out what the institution is actually asking for, recognising which of your own projects answers it, and writing that down so a reviewer can follow it. That is what this area is for.
Independent of the institutions
Two separate institutional routes
ICE and IStructE are different institutions with different requirements. ICE assesses a set of attributes through a written submission and a Professional Review. IStructE assesses Core Objectives through a portfolio, a Professional Review Interview and, for chartered membership, a scheme-design examination. They are kept apart here, because mixing their vocabulary is one of the commonest ways candidates waste months.
Civil engineers
ICE Professional Qualification
Practical help using your project experience as evidence, preparing the application and development report, and getting ready for Professional Review.
- 74 guidance pages and 20 interactive tools
- The full attribute library, with what each one asks for
- A private candidate workspace, held in your own browser
- 180 interview questions and 51 Communication Task practices
- Guidance for mentors, sponsors and supervising engineers
Structural engineers
IStructE Professional Qualification
Guidance on Initial Professional Development, the Core Objectives, building a portfolio, the Professional Review Interview and the membership examinations.
- 75 guidance pages and 15 interactive tools
- All ten Core Objectives, for both grades
- IPD routes, quarterly reports and progress summaries
- The seven-hour scheme-design examination, worked through
- A factual comparison with the ICE process
Straight to it
If you already know what you need
Not sure which route
ICE
How this is written
From the published guidance, and dated
Every requirement is taken from the institution’s own published guidance and cited on the page where it appears, so you can read the source yourself. A good deal of out-of-date advice is still in circulation — about the written element, the number of sponsors, the attributes — and knowing which is which saves months of wasted work.
Anything that changes between sessions — deadlines, fees, eligibility lists — is not quoted here. Those come from the institution, and the planning tools ask you for your own confirmed dates instead.