IStructE · Resources

Glossary

The terms, grades and abbreviations used in the IStructE process, defined plainly.

Who this is for:Candidates at any stage ·Mentors ·Supporters ·Employers

IStructE and ICE use different words for related things. These are IStructE's.

Grades and post-nominals

MIStructE: Chartered Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers. Requires the Professional Review Interview and the Chartered Membership Examination.
IMIStructE: Incorporated Member. A full grade in its own right, with its own interview and its own examination — not a lesser version of Chartered Membership.
AIStructE: Associate. Candidates satisfying the Associate academic requirement are elected AIStructE CEng on passing the Chartered Member interview, and the examination rules do not apply.
FIStructE: Fellow. Relevant to candidates because a supporter must be a Fellow or a Member.
CEng · IEng: Chartered Engineer and Incorporated Engineer — Engineering Council registrations, distinct from Institution membership though usually sought alongside it.

Professional Review: The whole two-stage process: the interview and the examination. Both must be satisfied before election.
PRI: Professional Review Interview. Two trained reviewers, normally remote, 60 to 90 minutes, covering all ten Core Objectives.
IPD: Initial Professional Development — the progressive development of specialist knowledge and skills, described in terms of the Core Objectives.
Core Objective: One of ten areas of competence, each set to a minimum standard of Knowledge, Experience or Ability. All ten are assessed at the interview.
Applications and Professional Review Panel: The Institution panel that reviews and approves reviewers' decisions before a result is released.
Reviewer: One of the two trained, experienced members who conduct the interview and determine whether each objective has been met.

Knowledge (K): Understanding of the subject and its principles. The standard for professional standards, and for commercial and legal matters.
Experience (E): Having performed the subject, independently or under supervision.
Ability (B): Performing the subject without supervision, and being competent to advise others. The highest of the three, and the one candidates most often under-claim.

IPD final report forms: One per Core Objective, completed once the IPD requirements are satisfied and — on the individually managed route — signed by your mentor.
Experience report: A two-page account of your roles and responsibilities across your career, submitted with the forms as a single document.
Portfolio of work: A single PDF, sub-divided by Core Objective, sent directly to your two reviewers before the interview. Maximum 300 pages.
Portfolio checklist: The Institution's form, signed and placed as the first page of the portfolio. Never reproduced on this site — download the current version.
Quarterly report forms: Records of progress against each objective on the individually managed route. Supporting documents, outside the portfolio page count.
Progress summary record: A summary of development on the individually managed route, submitted to reviewers alongside the portfolio.
Supporting documents: Quarterly reports, progress summary records or signed training records, depending on route. They go directly to the reviewers and do not count towards the 300 pages.

Section 1a: Schemes. Two distinct, viable and sustainable solutions on the Chartered and supplementary papers; one on the Incorporated paper.
Section 1b: The professional communication — amendments to the brief that reduce material usage, as a letter or an email. Not present on the supplementary paper.
Section 2c: Design calculations establishing the form, size and approximate A1–A3 carbon of the principal structural elements.
Section 2d: Drawings and critical details for estimating purposes. A minimum of three critical details is ordinarily expected.
Section 2e: The construction method statement, tailored to your own scheme. Not present on the supplementary paper.
Principal structural element: A member the candidate identifies as structurally decisive. As a guide, expect to design five to seven.
A1–A3: The product stage of an embodied carbon assessment — the stage the examination asks for. Calculated as mass × embodied carbon factor.
Embodied carbon factor (ECF): The carbon per kilogram of a material, in kgCO₂e/kg. Industry-average values are recommended; state your source.
Open book: Reference books and a folder of notes may be brought into the examination. No computer, no internet, and no access to any of it during the lunch break.

Three-year interview rule: Postponing the examination for three consecutive years after the interview means a full PRI must be applied for again on eventually passing.
Five-year examination rule: The examination must be passed within five years of the interview, with no gap longer than three years between attempts.
Partial re-interview: Where three or fewer objectives are failed, the re-interview covers only those objectives. Four or more means a full re-interview.
Supporter: A Fellow or Member who confirms you are a fit and proper person to become a Member — not that you are competent. That is the reviewers' judgement.
Mentor: On the individually managed route, the person who reviews your progress against the objectives and signs your IPD final report forms. They attest to your development, not to the outcome.
Automatic fail: An unsafe structure, or a scheme where stability is ignored, fails the examination regardless of how the rest of the paper is answered.