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Phase 3 · Complete your IPD

Initial Professional Development

What IPD is, the three ways of completing it, and why completing it is not the same as being ready for review.

Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Supervising Civil Engineers and Delegated Engineers ·Employers and training administrators

IPD is the period in which you develop the knowledge, understanding, skill and professional attitude needed to practise as a professional engineer. Completing it formally is what allows you to apply for a Professional Review.

The distinction that matters most is between IPD and the Professional Review. They are assessed by different people, against the same attributes, at different depths, and passing one does not decide the other. ICE says this in plain terms in both its Training Scheme and Career Appraisal guidance: completing IPD does not guarantee success at Professional Review, and you still have to show full competence at the required level on the day.

That is not a technicality. Candidates who treat IPD completion as the finishing line arrive at a review able to point at a signed form but not able to talk fluently about their own decisions.

Three ways of completing initial professional developmentA comparison of the ICE Training Agreement, mentor-supported training and the Career Appraisal. All three complete initial professional development and lead to the same Professional Review.ICE Training AgreementEmployer must be an ICE Approved EmployerA Supervising Civil Engineer is providedEvidence recorded in IPD OnlineDevelopment reviews about every threemonthsFormal appraisal at least once a yearEnds with a Training Review, registered byICEAllow up to eight weeks for registrationMentor-supported trainingFor those without an Approved EmployerRegistered through IPD Online with an ICEmentorSame attributes, same evidence disciplineCompletion form downloaded from IPD OnlineYou identify the gaps yourselfCareer AppraisalFor experience gained outside a structuredschemeA report against the attributes, withappendicesTwo-page CV and three years of CPD recordsAssessed monthly by ICE members and staffThe result letter evidences IPD completionCannot be used while on a Training AgreementWhichever route you take, the attributes are the same and the Professional Review is the same. Completing IPD lets you apply — it does not decide the result.

What IPD is for

Institution of Civil Engineers

  • IPD is the period when you develop the knowledge, understanding, skill and professional attitude required to practise as a professional.
  • Progress is recorded against the attributes for the grade you are aiming for. The attributes are generic — they can be achieved in a range of ways by anyone working as a civil or infrastructure engineer.
  • All work-based experience can be used as evidence. Experience gained by part-time students, or on work placements forming part of your education, can be included.
  • Achievement is recorded at levels: knowledge (a basic understanding), experience (achieved in different situations, working under supervision), and ability (achieved in different situations, assisting others and working without supervision). Chartered candidates have additional areas of experience within the attributes.
  • To complete IPD you must reach the ability level in all aspects of the attributes applicable to your grade.

From ICE Training Scheme & Guidance, Institution of Civil Engineers.

IPD and the Professional Review are not the same test

 Initial Professional DevelopmentProfessional Review
Assessed byYour SCE or mentor, then ICE staff — or, for a Career Appraisal, by ICE members and staff from your written submission.Two independent peer reviewers who do not know you, plus a written Communication Task.
Assessed fromEvidence built up over years in IPD Online, or a report and appendices for a Career Appraisal.A 5,000-word report, a CV, appendices, CPD records, a presentation, an interview and a written task.
What it establishesThat you have reached the required level across all the attributes and may apply.That you can demonstrate and defend that competence to strangers, under questioning.
What it does not doIt does not guarantee success at Professional Review.It does not consider your IPD record — reviewers do not see it.

Changing employers part-way through

This happens to most engineers at least once, and it is well provided for — as long as you act before you leave.

Ask your SCE to record a partial completion in IPD Online. That preserves what you have achieved and notifies ICE. You can then transfer your Training Agreement to another Approved Employer, move to mentor-supported training, or self-manage the rest and apply for a Career Appraisal when you are ready.

The mistake is leaving quietly. Updating your employer address in MyICE does not transfer a Training Agreement — that requires a separate action by you, with a transfer form or through TAGSO. And a former SCE who has moved on is much harder to get a partial completion out of six months later.

Related pages and tools

Read the official guidance