Toolkit and reference
Glossary
The abbreviations and terms used across ICE professional qualification, explained plainly.
Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Mentors ·Sponsors ·Supervising Civil Engineers and Delegated Engineers ·Employers and training administrators
ICE professional qualification runs on abbreviations. This is what each of them means, and where it matters in the process.
48 terms
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- Academic Assessment
ICE's individual assessment of a qualification that is not accredited, or is from outside the UK, against the educational requirement for a stated grade.
- Appendices
Supporting evidence from your work, within 3 sides of A3 and 12 sides of A4, hyperlinked to and from the report. Not included in the word count. CPD records sit outside the appendix limits.
- Approved Employer
An organisation approved by ICE to operate the ICE Training Scheme. Approval normally lasts five years, after which reapproval is sought.
- Attributes
ICE's standards of professional competence and commitment, set out in seven areas. They contextualise the Engineering Council's UK-SPEC. All must be met at the level applied for, and both reviewers must agree.
- Career Appraisal
A way of completing IPD from experience already gained, through a written submission assessed monthly by ICE members and staff. Cannot be used while on a Training Agreement or registered for mentor-supported training.
- CEng MICEChartered Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
A full professional registration awarded after a successful Chartered Professional Review. Passing a CPR or CIPR with ICE also carries the title Chartered Civil Engineer or Chartered Infrastructure Engineer.
- Communication Task
The invigilated written task taken after the interview, forming part of the assessment of the Interpersonal Skills and Communication attribute. 60 minutes at IEng level, 90 at CEng, closed book, with two sides of A4 reference material permitted. It replaced what was previously called the Written Exercise.
- CPRChartered Professional Review
The review leading to CEng MICE registration for civil engineering candidates. Presentation and interview together last up to 75 minutes, and the Communication Task is 90 minutes.
- CPRP and CIPRPChartered Professional Review Progressive / Chartered Infrastructure Professional Review Progressive
The route for an existing IEng MICE registering as CEng. Assessed against the additional Chartered attribute statements plus professional commitment, rather than the whole standard again.
- DAPDevelopment Action Plan
Your CPD objectives for the next twelve months. Required with a Professional Review or Career Appraisal application, and reviewed at annual appraisals under a Training Agreement.
- DEDelegated Engineer
Appointed by an SCE to carry out day-to-day mentoring and routine progress reviews, normally every three months. May not be the trainee's line manager.
- Deferral
Postponing your review. Before your date is issued, your fee carries over if you re-apply within 12 months. Afterwards you are liable for the next fee unless ICE grants an exception for medical reasons, bereavement or a local emergency.
- Educational base
The underpinning knowledge and understanding ICE requires for a grade — through an accredited qualification, an Academic Assessment, Further Learning, or the Technical Report Route.
- End Point Assessment
The assessment at the end of an apprenticeship. ICE's guidance refers to the Professional Review and End Point Assessment together throughout, and a Career Appraisal pass allows an application for either.
- Engineering Council
The UK regulatory body for the engineering profession. It licenses ICE to award IEng and CEng registration and publishes UK-SPEC.
- EngTech MICEEngineering Technician, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
A registration at technician level. EngTech applicants do not need to complete IPD formally, and do not need a Career Appraisal, although they may follow the ICE Training Scheme if it helps their development.
- Further Learning
Study that closes the gap between an accredited qualification that partially meets the Chartered requirement and the full requirement. A genuine programme of learning, not an administrative step.
- IEng MICEIncorporated Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers
A full professional registration with the Engineering Council, awarded after a successful Incorporated Professional Review. It describes an engineer who maintains and manages applications of current and developing technology and exercises independent judgement. It is not an incomplete Chartered registration.
- IIPR and CIPRIncorporated and Chartered Infrastructure Professional Review
The equivalents for infrastructure engineering candidates. Same attributes, same review format; the administration differs, including submitting by email rather than through the civil candidates' upload portal.
- Individual requirements
ICE's term covering reasonable adjustments — disabilities, specific learning difficulties, temporary conditions — and also commercial or security restrictions on what you can discuss. Stated on the application form, with evidence, at the time you apply.
- IPDInitial Professional Development
The period in which you develop the knowledge, understanding, skill and professional attitude needed to practise. Completing it formally is what allows you to apply for a Professional Review — it does not guarantee success at one.
- IPD Online
The ICE system where a trainee's progress against the attributes is recorded, reviewed and signed off. Accessed through MyICE. Your attribute record is a working document and is not part of the Professional Review application.
- IPD PanelInitial Professional Development Panel
The ICE panel that approves Approved Employers and SCEs on the recommendation of the Membership Recruitment Team, and decides on removal from the Approved Employers list.
- IPRIncorporated Professional Review
The review leading to IEng MICE registration for civil engineering candidates. Presentation and interview together last up to 60 minutes, and the Communication Task is 60 minutes.
- JBMJoint Board of Moderators
The body through which ICE and other institutions accredit civil engineering degree programmes. Accreditation attaches to a specific course, institution and year.
- Lead sponsor
One of your two sponsors, nominated as lead. Must be an ICE Member or Fellow and Engineering Council registered at your grade or higher, and has a duty to act as your mentor through the application — reviewing your report, advising on the presentation and arranging practice interviews.
- Mentor-supported training
The structured IPD route for engineers whose employer is not an ICE Approved Employer. Registered through IPD Online with an ICE mentor; the completion form is downloaded from IPD Online.
- MRTMembership Recruitment Team
ICE staff who give guidance on professional qualification, support and monitor Approved Employers, recommend SCEs for approval, and verify and register Training Agreement completions.
- Mutual Recognition Agreement
An agreement under which ICE recognises a professional qualification awarded by another body. Which agreements are in force changes — ICE's guidance names erp@ice.org.uk for advice.
- MyICE
Your ICE account. Where you find your membership or non-member number, update your work details, and access IPD Online.
- Partial completion
The record an SCE makes in IPD Online when a trainee leaves before completing a Training Agreement. It preserves what has been achieved and notifies ICE. Ask for it before you leave.
- PDRPersonal Development Record
Your record of completed CPD. A minimum of one year for applicants with formal ICE IPD completion, three years for everyone else, and it must include current formal health, safety and welfare training.
- Plagiarism and collusion
Presenting others' work as your own, and any agreement to conceal someone else's contribution. Samples of reports and Communication Task responses are put through detection software. Consequences include a ban on applying for membership, or expulsion for existing members.
- Pre-assessment
Your reviewers read and assess your report before the review. If they agree it is not of a satisfactory standard, the review is deferred until you address their comments.
- Professional Review report
Up to 5,000 words of body text, with a signed cover page carrying a recent photo. A narrative from your role activities rather than a march through the attributes.
- Reviewers
The two peer reviewers who assess your Professional Review. Both must be satisfied, on the day, that you have met every attribute. A third may attend where specialist knowledge is needed, and an observer may be present but takes no part.
- SCESupervising Civil Engineer
Approved by ICE and provided by an Approved Employer to mentor trainees. Personally and professionally accountable to ICE, and — ICE states — primarily responsible to the profession rather than to the employer who nominated them. Should not have more than six trainees, or ten with Delegated Engineers.
- Second sponsor
Your other sponsor. Must be professionally qualified at your grade or higher with one of the organisations listed on the statement of support — and does not have to be an ICE member.
- Sponsors portal
Where your sponsors upload their statements of support, by the published deadline and before you upload your own application.
- Statement of support
The form each sponsor completes and uploads to the sponsors portal before you submit your application. It also carries the eligibility criteria, including the list of organisations acceptable for a second sponsor.
- TAGSOTraining Agreements Online
The system Approved Employers use to administer Training Agreements, with automated payment. It is not linked to IPD Online.
- Technical Report Route
The route for engineers with the experience but no academic qualifications, demonstrating the educational base through a technical report. ICE directs those holding no academic qualifications here rather than to a Career Appraisal.
- TPATraining Provider Administrator
A nominated person at an apprenticeship training provider who can see high-level attribute progress for apprentices on their courses, but not the underlying evidence.
- Training Agreement
A formal agreement between a trainee and an ICE Approved Employer setting out the commitments of each. Registered with ICE, with a one-off non-refundable fee, and completed through a Training Review.
- Training Review
The final appraisal covering the whole training period, carried out by the SCE in IPD Online once all attributes are signed off. ICE must then register the completion — allow up to eight weeks — or a Professional Review application will be rejected.
- TSAICE Training Scheme Administrator
Runs the day-to-day administration of the Training Scheme within an Approved Employer. Can view trainee records but cannot edit evidence or sign off attribute levels.
- UK-SPECUK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence and Commitment
The Engineering Council standard that ICE's seven attribute areas contextualise. For an ICE application, ICE's own wording is what governs.
- Written Exercise
A historic name for the written element of the review. It is not the current assessment — the current one is the Communication Task, with its own current rules. If someone is advising you about a Written Exercise, check what else in their advice is out of date.
Related pages and tools
- How it worksThe four things ICE assesses, in the order they happen, and what each one actually asks of you.
- Route finderAnswer a few questions about your education, your registration and how you are gaining experience, and see which routes are worth investigating.
- ICE documentsEverything ICE publishes that you will need, grouped by when it becomes relevant — plus every published limit in one place.