About the course
This Exam preparation on-demand course provides an accessible and flexible way to get ready for the CM examination. The videos and resources outline what is required from your answers in each part of the examination question.
The course contains explanations, sample answers and supporting information from Chartered Members and examination experts to help you understand exactly what you need to pass your exam.
The Chartered Membership examination is recognised globally as a rigorous assessment of competence for structural engineers. As a gateway to the profession, it is necessarily challenging, but statistics show that candidates who attend a preparation course perform better.
Course outline
This course is structured to match the structure of the examination.
Module 1 introduces the examination, providing:
Modules 2 to 6 explore the examination in detail and include:
A Test your knowledge section, designed to allow you to self-assess your understanding and gaps in your exam preparation, offers practice questions accompanied by the critiques used by the markers for those questions.
The course provides a solid foundation for your preparation through bite-size videos, audio-transcriptions, screencasts and more.
Though the core content can be covered in approximately one day, we recommend that you pace your preparation, allowing one week per module and going through the examples and practice questions.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
This course is not designed to provide you with perfect answers for the examination. This is because there are many possible answers depending on the creativity of each engineer. However, the course will outline what you should consider in order to achieve a Pass.
Intended for
Contributors
Tasha Chandler, MIStructE
Project Manager, Willmott Dixon Construction Ltd.
Tasha is a Design and Project Manager at a Tier 1 contractor, blending technical expertise with a passion for sustainable and buildable design.
Starting her career as a structural engineer, she gained diverse experience before moving to a site-based role, where her focus on efficiency and innovation grew. Tasha now leads projects that deliver sustainable yet compliant solutions, while solving complex challenges.
Tasha is also currently a Member of the Institution’s Council.
Anne Fuller
Chair, Examinations Panel
Anne Fuller has contributed to the Institution’s examinations for over 30 years, as a marking examiner, a chief examiner and as a member of the Examinations panel, which she currently chairs.
Stephen Hudson, MIStructE
Advanced Support Engineer, AVEVA
A Chartered Member since 1985, Stephen has extensive engineering experience, having worked for structural consultancies and for a steelwork fabricator.
In 1998 he moved to France, where he developed an application for concrete structures in a 3D CAD system, which was consequently adopted in the design of several nuclear power plants, including Hinkley Point.
Stephen has been involved with the Chartered Member examination for over thirty years, initially volunteering as a marking examiner, then as chief examiner and, more recently, as advisor to the examinations panel.
Kin Kei Kwan, FIStructE
Structural Engineer, HK Sanatorium and Hospital
With over 37 years of practice, including 25 years as a director at Arup (Hong Kong), Kin has a wealth of experience across diverse project types. His portfolio includes complex structural designs for hospitals, educational institutions, railway topside developments, historical buildings, and design-and-build projects. Kin retired from Arup in January 2018, transitioning to work with a medical group to further apply his expertise.
A highly respected registered structural and geotechnical engineer, Kin Kei became a member of the Institution in 1981 and was made a Fellow in 2005.
As a marking examiner for the Chartered Membership (CM) examination since 2011, Kin has contributed significantly to upholding high standards in engineering qualifications.
Sharjeel Larik, MIStructE
Associate, AECOM
Sharjeel is a structural engineer with nearly a decade of experience in engineering design, project and interface management, design coordination, site supervision, and contract administration of large-scale multi-disciplinary building and tunnel projects involving the structural design of reinforced concrete and steel structures.
He is currently working in project management, as well as leading a team of structural engineers, in Aecom’s Hong Kong office and working on the Tung Chung Line extension, which consists of cut and cover tunnels, ancillary buildings, and temporary works.
Sharjeel is the winner of 2023's Young Structural Engineering Professional Awards and has served as a member of the Judging Panel for the Structural Awards 2024.
Saravanan Sonai, MIStructE
Technical Head (Bridges), WSP India
A Chartered structural engineer, Saravanan is the Technical Head of WSP UK’s offshore team in India, where he provides leadership and technical direction to the project teams. He has over 22 years of professional experience in the design of bridges, developed whilst working on projects in India, UK, UAE and Australia.
He is the Institution’s Regional Representative for New Delhi, a Professional Review interviewer, a marking examiner and, more recently, a member of the Institution’s Academic Qualifications Panel.