The rules of the day

The two rules that connect the exam to your interview

You may sit the interview or the examination first, but two rules govern the gap between them. They apply to candidates who have passed the PRI and not yet passed the exam.

The three-year interview rule. Postpone the examination for three consecutive years after completing the interview and you may still sit it, but on passing, you must apply for a full PRI again.

The five-year examination rule. The examination must be passed within five years of completing the interview. Take longer and, again, a full PRI is required on passing. You may also not leave a gap of more than three years between exam attempts.

Both exist because the Engineering Council normally requires registration within three years of the PRI, so that the competence demonstrated there is still current. They are not penalties; they are a currency check.

Candidates who satisfy the academic requirement for the Associate grade are elected AIStructE CEng on passing the Chartered Member PRI, and these exam rules do not apply to them.

Building your open-book folder

Open book is not a licence to bring everything. Seven hours is not long enough to search, and a folder you cannot navigate is worse than a thin one you know.

• Condense your rules of thumb, span-to-depth ratios and simple design charts into a small, ordered set, indexed.
• Tab your codes at the clauses you use.
• Rehearse with the exact folder you intend to bring, so that finding something is muscle memory.
• Remember that during lunch you may not consult any of it.