Phase 7 · Pass the examination
The energy question
The additional question option available from January 2026, and what makes energy-sector briefs different.
Who this is for:Chartered Member candidates
An additional question option in the Chartered Membership Examination, reintroduced from January 2026 — answered under exactly the same rules as any other question.
What changed, and when
Institution of Structural Engineers
- An energy question option is available in the Chartered Membership Examination from January 2026.
- It is one of the question options on the paper. You still answer one question only, under the same instructions, mark allocation and timetable as any other.
- The Institution publishes a separate appendix covering the energy question; read it alongside the general exam guidance rather than instead of it.
- Question options in the Chartered examination
- 6optionsAn energy question was reintroduced from January 2026 as a sixth option. It was added to the existing question types, not substituted for one.
- Energy question
- AvailableFor engineers working predominantly on energy-related structures — renewables, oil and gas, nuclear, including offshore. Its appendix must be read alongside the main preparation guidance.
From Energy question appendix — Chartered Membership Exam preparation guidance, Institution of Structural Engineers.
The number of options depends on when you sit
This is why the domain does not hard-code the number of question options anywhere. A candidate sitting before January 2026 and a candidate sitting after it are choosing from different papers. Where the number is shown on this site, it is resolved from the date rather than written in.
The practical consequence for you is simple: check the current paper structure with IStructE for the session you are entering, and take the energy appendix from the Institution if the option interests you.
What is different about an energy brief
The rules are unchanged, but the engineering has a distinct character, and candidates coming from buildings or bridges should not assume their usual instincts transfer.
- The loading is often dominated by things other than gravity and wind — operational loads, thermal effects, dynamic and cyclic loading, and in some structures, accidental and blast cases.
- Fatigue can govern where a structure carries cyclic machinery or environmental loading, which is unusual in building work.
- Serviceability may be driven by the equipment, not by people — vibration limits, deflection limits and tolerances set by what the structure supports.
- Access, maintenance and inspection carry more weight, because shutdowns are expensive and some structures are hard to reach.
- Decommissioning is a real design case. Many energy structures have a defined operational life, which makes end-of-life dismantling and reuse a genuine appraisal criterion rather than a nod to sustainability.
Preparing for it
If you intend to take the energy option, treat it like any other specialism you would prepare for: know the structural forms, know the loading cases that govern them, and be able to sketch stability for the typical arrangements.
If you do not work in the sector, the honest advice is that an unfamiliar structural form under exam conditions is a hard place to be. The examination rewards a complete, confident answer to an ordinary question over a partial answer to an interesting one.
What tends to differ in an energy brief
| Typical building or bridge brief | Energy-sector brief | |
|---|---|---|
| Governing loads | Gravity and wind | Operational, thermal, dynamic and cyclic loads; sometimes accidental cases |
| Fatigue | Rarely governs | Can govern where loading is cyclic |
| Serviceability driven by | People — comfort and appearance | Equipment — vibration, deflection and tolerance limits |
| Access and maintenance | A design consideration | Often decisive, because shutdowns are expensive |
| End of life | Usually distant | A defined operational life makes dismantling a real design case |
Queensferry's characterisation of the sector, offered as orientation. The requirements for the question itself come from the Institution's energy appendix.
Before choosing the energy option
Do I work in this sector, or near it?
An unfamiliar structural form under exam conditions is a hard place to be, and the paper rewards a complete answer to an ordinary question over a partial answer to an interesting one.
Can I sketch stability for the typical arrangements in this sector?
Ignoring stability is an automatic fail whichever question you answer.
Have I read the Institution's energy appendix for the session I am sitting?
It supplements the general guidance, and the number of question options depends on when you sit.
Related pages and tools
- Chartered examThe five sections, what each is worth, and what the examiners say they are looking for in each.
- The examinationsWhich paper you sit, how the three differ in length and marks, and what they all test.
- Exam rulesTimetable, identity, what you may bring, what is prohibited, and the rules that connect the exam to your interview.
- Scheme designWhat makes two schemes genuinely distinct, why viability matters as much as difference, and how to appraise them.