IStructE exam 2

[novembertango88]

Hello

Is anybody out there preparing for the IStructE exam?
I'm planning to take it later in the year and am looking for a study buddy to talk through practice exams and general preparation.

Thanks

 

[Trenno]

I took the exam in 2019. Good luck!

Sign up to the forums on this website - I found them helpful.

My binder was 50 pages long, you really don’t have time to be flicking through endless pages of textbooks or guides.

The day after the exam I wrote down some thoughts. Hope the following helps you out.

- There were 3 questions over 5 stories - which was interesting. I went with the 9st hotel.

- I wasn't very happy with my first 45 mins. This time is absolutely crucial to how the rest of your day pans out. I was on the backfoot and up against time pressure all day, which then of course leads to silly mistakes that just cost you more time. However, I ended up finishing the exam (got 4 plans, 1 building section and 4 hand drawn details).

- Mock exams are good, but nothing compares to the extreme pressure you face in the actual exam. I started compiling some reflection notes today - hopefully the list below might help someone (including me if I need to take it again in July).

- Only had 2x very small desks 400mm x 800mm wide. You can only really fit one book/folder on the other desk. Very difficult to have multiple books on the floor or stacked up on the desk.

- A4 Paper comes with little string through top left corner. This made it very annoying to constantly flip pages back & forth. I think it would be best to untangle the pages and make a little booklet from some small clips. That was you will be able to write on each side of the paper easier too.

- Paper was slightly glossy and friction pens weren’t the best as there was minimal grip between the paper and the pen. Made it hard to write neatly.

- Perhaps wrap pen in strapping tape to improve grip when your hands get sweaty and fatigued.

- First 30 mins of the exam is absolutely crucial. Taking too much time to find 2 distinct solutions can put you on the backfoot for the whole day.

- It’s very easy to fall behind in terms of timing, which increases pressure and therefore increases the chance of silly mistakes.

- If you are making a contentious decision in regards to a client brief requirement, I think it’s best to openly discuss it and explain the reasons for what you’ve done. It’s probably better than doing it anyway and leaving no commentary.

- Find a scale rule with 1:40, my 60m x 35m building just didn’t fit with a scale of 1:250 on A3. It looked quite small at 1:500 and therefore 1:400 would have been a good middle ground.

- Need to explore tips/tricks to get a column layout faster and more efficient. Perhaps do up numerous sample example floor plates with various framing systems (flat plate vs composite steel beams).

- Before writing your letter, write down 3x design and 3x construction issues. This will will hopefully give your letter a better flow rather than just freestyling it as you go.

- Remember to add elevations (xx.x m) to each floor, grids and dimensions to all drawings.

- Practice drawing details to scale, but using freehand only. I think everyone has almost no time to do the details with a ruler.

- Write out a list of details that apply to most questions to prompt you. I did for a typical flat plate core hotel: slab-core pull out bar box connection, pile cap detail, glazing RHS to concrete detail, roof upstand beam cross section.

 

[novembertango88]

Thanks for the advice Trenno much appreciated

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

Hi,

Find yourself a local (well... probably online I guess now..) exam prep course. I wouldn’t tackle the exam without this!

The istructe have a download available which includes past exam papers and exemplar solutions which you may have already seen?

I won’t reiterate the above good advice - but time keeping is the key to this exam!

 

[Trenno]

'Do the exam' before the exam, to reduce the amount of thinking you need to do on the day.

Know exactly how you are you to structure your paper and what you're going to write. Have proforma calculation that all you have to do on the day is fill in the blanks.

 

[kostast88]

Hi novembertango88,

I am taking the IStructE exam in April 2021 - I'm in the UK. Was supposed to take it in January but was postponed due to the COVID lockdown here.

If you need anything let me know, but the advice above is generally spot on.

1. Choose the question in advance: There are 3 types of questions: Q1/2 - building Q3 - bridge and Q4 - something else. Most people go for Q1/2 and most people fail, mostly due to lack of preparation or getting the scope/assumptions wrong(=lack of preparation). I am preparing for Q1/2 + Q3 as I worked in both fields. Bridges are a bit easier in concept + design and the drawings are not that many (multiple floor plans like in Q1). Choose what you feel you know best and go for that.

2. Find past papers, make a SMALL folder with content that you know and can use in the exam. Read all the questions and compare with solutions by Examiner's report - this will help you reading the question properly. You can find them at IStructE website. Extra material can be found in SCI website (Eg: Link)

3. Practice sketching as much as possible and prepare drawings - they don't have to be under scale but they have to be proportionally accurate. Use colors, make it clear.

4. Go through the past papers and try to do mock tests on your own and find someone to check your work afterwards. This is the most efficient thing you can do. Start doing it now at your own time, and in the process see what you need to build your (SMALL) folder. After 10 or so you should have it ready. Do the rest in exam conditions using only that folder and keeping track of time.

Preparing for the exam is all about efficiency. Making the most out of your time.

 

[novembertango88]

Thanks for your advice everyone and good luck kostast88!

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

Also be aware of the marking process. If the examiners find a fundamental issue or instability they just stop correcting and it’s an automatic fail.

Find out where you can get the most marks and concentrate on that.

 

[Trenno]

I've also got first advice from an experienced exam marker that they usually turn straight to the drawings to give them an indication for the standard of the rest of the paper.

 

[MIStructE_IRE]

You’re right there Trenno.. There’s the naughty and nice piles based on drawings/neatness before they start marking.

 

[Dave_simmo]

I'm always trying to help fellow engineers (normally have at least one mentor in a pre-covid world...) and I'm looking to set up a free regular zoom/teams (or other platform) where chartwrship candidates can call in to discuss past papers, share resources and generally help each other develop.

I was lucky to go on a course but they are no longer running due to covid. By far the best bit of the course was working in small groups to get a solution to part 1, bouncing ideas off each other.

I've got a thread running in Reddit and if looks like at least 5 people are interested. Let me know if you want to join us.

 

[novembertango88]

Definitely Dave! That's exactly what I'm looking for. I'll respond to your reddit thread

For anyone else who is interested here's the link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/StructuralEngineering/comments/lmjex2/chartership_study_group/

 

[Dave_simmo]

If you've still interested ive set up a bit of a sign up sheet to find a suitable time for the first session.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeQf7b3q-tJX8FzZ9NsvWoPEc7G_55GzAy6_UsajZL5Zuvs9A/viewform

 

[novembertango88]

Thanks Dave, I've responded