Toolkit and reference

What has changed, and how this is kept current

Requirements that have changed, historic details still circulating, and the process for keeping this domain accurate.

Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Mentors ·Sponsors

A good deal of out-of-date advice about ICE professional qualification is still in circulation — in books, on forums, and from sponsors who qualified some years ago. This is what has actually changed.

Historic details you may still encounter

The left column is advice still circulating in books, forum threads and older preparation packs. The right column is what ICE's current guidance says.
You may be told	The current position
There is a Written Exercise at the review.	The written element is the Communication Task, with its own current guidance covering timing, question choice, reference material, invigilation, upload and marking.
There are nine attributes.	ICE's standards are set out in seven areas of professional competence and commitment.
You need three sponsors.	You need two, one of whom is nominated as lead sponsor.
Sponsors complete a questionnaire.	Sponsors complete a statement of support, uploaded to the sponsors portal.
The application is emailed to ICE.	Civil engineering candidates use the Professional Reviews upload portal; infrastructure engineering candidates submit by email to ICE's infrastructure address.
The file limit is 10 MB (or some other figure).	A single PDF of no more than 15 MB.
Reviews happen in fixed seasons with a submission week.	Application deadlines and review sessions are published on ICE's key dates page and should be read there.
Remote reviews are a temporary arrangement.	ICE runs both online and in-person reviews as standard. Online is the default unless you are allocated an in-person review.
Your reference material for the written element is whatever you can carry.	Two sides of A4 only, optional, with no copying and pasting from it, and no other notes.

The left column is advice still circulating in books, forum threads and older preparation packs. The right column is what ICE's current guidance says.

Why this matters more than it looks

The obvious risk is preparing for the wrong assessment. The less obvious one is being advised wrongly. A lead sponsor has a duty to mentor you through the application and should be familiar with the current process — but a sponsor who qualified some years ago and has not read the current guidance may confidently tell you about three sponsors and a Written Exercise.

So the rule of thumb is simple. If you are sponsoring someone, download the current Professional Review Guidance and read it before you advise them. If you are a candidate being advised, check anything procedural against the guidance rather than against somebody's experience — including anything on this site.

The things most worth checking yourself, every time, are the ones that move between sessions: application deadlines, fees, and the eligibility list on the sponsor's statement of support.

Fictional example

The same advice, six years apart

Fictional example — a well-meaning sponsor

Weaker

"You'll need three sponsors, and there's a Written Exercise on the day — about an hour, they give you a few topics. Get your submission in during the submission week and you'll be fine."

Stronger

"You need two sponsors, and I'll be your lead one — which means I have to review your report properly and arrange practice interviews, so give me the draft by March. The written element is the Communication Task now: it's after the interview, it's invigilated, and you can take two sides of A4 in with you. Check the deadline on ICE's key dates page, because it moves."

Why — Both are offered in good faith. The first is a sponsor describing the process they went through years ago; the second has read the current guidance. If you are being advised, ask which one you are hearing — and if you are sponsoring, read the guidance before you advise.

Checking that your advice is current

I have downloaded the Professional Review Guidance from the ICE website, not from a shared drive.
I have read the current Communication Task guidance, and I know it is not called the Written Exercise.
I have downloaded the current sponsor's statement of support and read the eligibility list on it.
I have read the current key dates rather than assuming last year's pattern.
My lead sponsor has confirmed they have read the current guidance too.
Where a colleague's advice conflicts with the guidance, I have followed the guidance.

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Questions to ask yourself

When did the person advising me last read the current guidance?
A lead sponsor has a duty to mentor you and should be familiar with the current process. Someone who qualified years ago may be describing an assessment that no longer exists.
Am I relying on a copy of a guidance document, or on the current one?
Copies circulate in employers' shared drives for years, and requirements have changed. Take it from ICE.