Which Grade

There are 8 grades of IFE membership, depending on your experience and qualifications. These links take you to pages providing a summary of the requirements for each grade and links to the relevant fact sheets and application forms.

Fellow grade is only available to existing Members (MIFireE) of the Institution. Successful applicants will have demonstrated significant individual responsibility, sustained achievement and exceptional professionalism during his/her career.

Applicants for Member will have passed the two mandatory papers plus two of the optional examination papers from our Member examinations or have relevant academic qualifications to first degree level from a recognised university or institution of higher education plus the necessary experience required to demonstrate that they meet the competence based requirements for this grade.

Applicants for Associate will have passed the two mandatory papers plus two of the optional examination papers from our Member examinations or have relevant academic qualifications to first degree level from a recognised university or institution of higher education.

Applicants for Graduate will have passed the mandatory paper plus three of the optional examination papers from our Graduate examinations or have relevant academic qualifications to the level of HNC/HND or UK Station Officer Examinations plus three years of acceptable training and responsible experience in Fire Engineering.

Applicants for Technician will have passed our Intermediate examination papers 1 & 2 or have relevant academic qualifications to the level of NVQ3 or UK Sub Officer / Junior Officer 2 examinations; plus the necessary experience required to demonstrate that they meet the competence based requirements for this grade.

For anyone interested in the profession but not working as a fire engineer, it is possible to join IFE as an Affiliate. Affiliate membership is also available to organisations.

Applicants for Student will be engaged as a part-time student of fire engineering (which may include vocational work place based training), or are in part time or full time employment in fire engineering.

In addition to the above we also have a Mature Candidate Route which can be used for entry to Technician, Graduate and Member grades. This route is available for those persons who do not have academic qualifications required for membership of the Institution, but who are able to demonstrate that in later life, they have achieved a standard of professional competence comparable to their contemporaries who have achieved their grade of membership by the academic route. Further information about this can be found on our website at http://www.ife.org.uk/membership/maturecandidate

IFE Examinations

As you will have seen from the above, we also conduct our own examinations once a year, which can be used to further your knowledge and upgrade your membership status. Information about these can be found on our website under Examinations.

From March 2009 attaining IFE exams will also mean gaining an educational qualification. The IFE has announced the successful registration by Ofqual of its exams on the National Database of Accredited Qualifications www.ndaq.org.uk.

If you would like any further information or explanation about our exams, please contact our Qualifications Manager Mr. Richard Davis. Richard can be contacted at richard.davis@ife.org.uk or by phone 01608 812580.