Phase 7 · Pass the examination

The Incorporated-Membership Examination

One scheme rather than two, and a different balance of marks across calculations and drawings.

Who this is for:Incorporated-Member candidates

The same day and the same rules as the Chartered paper, but one scheme instead of two — and proportionally more of the marks in the calculations and drawings.

Calculations and drawings carry sixty of the hundred marks — which should change how the day is planned.

The five sections

Institution of Structural Engineers

Section 1a — prepare a viable and sustainable solution for the proposed structure, then justify it using sustainability as a key criterion.
Section 1b — suggest amendments to the brief to reduce material usage, as a letter or email.
Section 2c — design calculations establishing the form, size and approximate A1–A3 carbon footprints of all principal structural elements including foundations.
Section 2d — drawings and predefined critical details for estimating purposes.
Section 2e — a construction method statement.

Section 1a — one scheme, justified: 20marksOne viable and sustainable solution, not two.
Section 1b — professional communication: 10marks
Section 2c — design calculations and carbon: 30marks
Section 2d — drawings and critical details: 30marks
Section 2e — construction method statement: 10marks

From Exam Guidance and Instructions — Incorporated-Membership Examination, Institution of Structural Engineers.

Where the emphasis sits

The obvious difference is that section 1a asks for one scheme. The less obvious — and more important for planning your day — is where the marks go instead.

On the Incorporated paper, the calculations and the drawings carry sixty of the hundred marks between them. On the Chartered paper the same two sections carry forty-two, with the difference sitting in the two-scheme appraisal.

So the Incorporated paper rewards a candidate who can produce a complete, well-organised set of scheme calculations and a clear, dimensioned drawing set. Time spent agonising over scheme choice is time taken from where the marks actually are.

What section 1a still expects

For a building, the chosen scheme should cover the functional framing, the basic grid layout, load paths, foundations and stability provision. For a bridge, the structure with its proposed spans, abutments, load paths to the foundations, and the foundations themselves.

Sketches may be used alongside text and may be freehand — they need not be to scale, but they must clearly convey the design principles. Detailed calculations are not required in this part; principal members may be sized by engineering judgement or rule of thumb, such as a span-to-depth ratio.

Stability remains a gate: an unsafe structure, or one where stability is ignored, is an automatic fail.

Section 2d is worth thirty marks here

That is half as much again as on the Chartered paper, and it changes how the afternoon should be spent. Drawings should be in proportion and dimensioned, covering plans and sections including foundations, with elevations where needed. For bridges, cross sections and longitudinal sections convey the most design information, and plan views matter for skew bridges.

Members that you have not treated as principal structural elements may be sized for estimating purposes using judgement, span/depth ratios, or established design guides. That is a legitimate shortcut and it is worth using deliberately rather than running out of time.

Where the Incorporated paper differs from the Chartered one

Both papers are marked out of 100 over the same seven-hour day. The balance is what differs, and it should change how you plan.
	Incorporated	Chartered
Schemes in 1a	One	Two, plus a recommendation
Marks for 1a	20	40
Marks for calculations	30	22
Marks for drawings	30	20
Marks for the method statement	10	8
Where the day should go	Into calculations and drawings	Into schemes and appraisal

Both papers are marked out of 100 over the same seven-hour day. The balance is what differs, and it should change how you plan.