The Certificate is held twice a year - in March and October. The next exam day is Saturday 7 October 2023
Modules B to D are held once a year - in October. The next exam day is Saturday 7 October 2023
For October 2023 exams the costs are:
There are no discounts
If you want to sit the Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals (Module A), then no, you do not need to be a member of the IRSE, however you do need to be registered on the IRSE website (if you are having problems, please do not re-register, please contact membership@irse.org who will help you).
If you want to sit any of the other Modules B, C and/or D, yes, you must be a fully paid-up member of the IRSE at any grade. Note that study materials for the Advanced modules are only available to IRSE members
You are encouraged to join the IRSE as soon as possible to gain benefit by accessing the study guides, reduced prices on text book and advanced information of technical papers and visits.
We cannot guarantee that if you have applied for your membership by mid February that your application will not be processed in sufficient time to enable you to apply to sit the October exam in that calendar year.
Do remember that you will need to pay your subscription fees before being able to book for the October exam(s). Please note that only IRSE members have access to study materials for the Advanced modules (Modules B, C and D).
To sit modules B, C and/or D:
a) You must be a member of the IRSE at any grade and to have fully paid all your membership subscriptions, etc AND b) You must have passed a previous exam module
Please check which module(s) you need to sit by entering which modules you have already passed into our exam checker tool at irse.info/exam.
For 2023, no candidate needs to have a Sponsor. However all candidates are encouraged to gain the support of their manager / colleagues whose experience and knowledge will help them prepare for the exam
Yes, members of any grade can sit any of the exam modules
For the March exams, you can only sit the Certificate (module A)
For the October exams, you can only sit the Certificate (module A) OR between one and three of the other modules (modules B, C and/or D) - subject to the other rulesets
Candidates for 2023 exams will choose their timeslot at time of booking from across a wide range of times.
Please note that all times quoted by IRSE's exam team are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) and it is the candidates' responsibility to calculate their local time from the UTC time.
In 2023, all exam modules will be sat remotely.
Candidates will need a computer or laptop with a webcam and reliable internet connection which can access the exam website and software.
Full details will be given in the exam candidate guides, see the main exam webpage.
Yes you do need a webcam, either built-in or external.
All exam candidates will be remotely invigilated so your webcam needs to be on while you are sitting your module(s). More details about the remote invigilation software will be given to all exam candidates closer to exam day.
You will need a computer with access to the internet, webcam and paper and pen.
Additionally, in October, those candidates sitting modules B, C and/or D will need access to a scanner / camera to upload any handwritten / hand drawn answers.
Full details of all computer, internet and other requirements will be in the exam candidate guides, see the main exam webpage.
Yes. Any candidate who has a diagnosed SEND condition is eligible for reasonable adjustments. To discuss this with the exam team, please email them at exam@irse.org.
Please note that candidates must do this each time they sit an exam, even if this information has been passed to the exam team in previous years.
No. Additional time is only allowed for those candidates who declare they have a specific need for this.
Questions for the Certificate in Railway Control Engineering Fundamentals (Module A) are multiple choice / similar requiring very little typing.
Questions for modules B, C and D are mainly essay-type questions which can be typed or hand written, although candidates are encouraged to type answers directly into the exam software, if they can, to make use of the grammar / spell checkers and to ensure that examiners can read their answers. You may also wish to hand draw sketches to supplement your answer. Time will be allocated for uploading these handwritten / hand drawn sheets
No. All modules are set in English and require answers in English.
The exam software for modules B, C and D has inbuilt grammar and spell checkers which will help you if you type your answers directly into the exam software.
Yes. The IRSE is an international organisation and the exam reflects this in its questions.
Candidates for the Certificate (Module A) are encouraged to read and fully understand all the documents in the reading list, some of which are UK-biased.
Candidates for modules B, C and D are advised to state which principles they are referring to in their answers to ensure that the examiners mark with these in mind
Please keep an eye on the main IRSE Professional Exam webpage and our social media posts for more information about when bookings are available for the exams.
For the October 2023 exam, bookings close on 31 July.
For March exam, bookings will open in January, closing date to be arranged and for October exam are expected to open in May and close in July.
Yes, candidates can re-sit modules multiple times. There are no discounts or free places for resits.
For the Advanced Diploma modules (Modules B, C and D), you need to remain a member of the IRSE and continue pay your membership subscription fees.
We will endeavour to send out the results as soon as possible by email to every candidate and this will be confirmed to the candidates at time of booking.
Note that whilst marking for the Certificate (Module A) is primarily computer-marked, moderation and reviewing the remote invigilation software outcomes need to be is done so results will not be issued immediately on completion of the exam.
Note that marking for modules B, C and D will take longer as they are essay-type answers marked, checked and moderated by volunteers and the remote invigilation and anti-plagiarism software outcomes require review. The announcement of results is dependent on the numbers of candidates and the quality of their work each year.
Successful candidates will be informed when the certificates are due to be sent out. All certificates are sent by Royal Mail to the postal address which you have nominated as your preferred address in your records. Please check this by logging into the IRSE website, go to "My Account" (top right) and then it will open on your details page.
Successful Certificate (Module A) candidates are those who have achieved a pass, that is they have "pass", "credit" or "distinction" grades.
Successful Advanced Diploma candidates are those who have achieved a pass ("pass", "credit" or "distinction" grades) in all four compulsory modules, or an agreed combination of modules B, C and/or D and previously available modules (please see irse.info/exam for further details).
No. Education & Professional Development Committee have agreed that only candidates who pass one or more of modules A to D are eligible for the Advanced Diploma.
The Thorrowgood Scholarship is awarded to candidate(s), subject to satisfactory interview, who have excelled in all their exam modules, normally within 1 year, but examiners may look back further if candidates have not taken modules B, C and D in the same year.
The IRSE-Signet Award is awarded to the candidate who has achieved the highest mark in one of modules B, C or D.
Nominations for these awards are put to IRSE Council by Examination Committee. If it is considered that there are no candidates who meet the Thorrowgood Scholarship criteria, then the scholarship will not be awarded that year.
If you have any further questions, please see the exam webpages and the associated documents and then if you are still unsure, contact the exam team at exam@irse.org.