In this guide
Use this material to examine your own work. Confirm current requirements, forms and dates with ICE before applying.
Candidates often need someone to read their draft closely and give candid feedback. The difficulty may be in explaining their ability, even when they have the experience.
Useful mentor conversations
Discuss where evidence is missing and what work could develop it. Read drafts for the candidate’s own contribution and ask follow-up questions about alternatives, assumptions and outcomes.
Agree specific actions and allow enough time to gain the required experience.
A useful rhythm
- 01
Start with the gaps, not the report
Do the gap analysis separately (you grade their evidence, they grade their own) and compare. The divergence is the conversation. Mentors typically rate candidates lower on commercial and higher on leadership than candidates rate themselves.
- 02
Agree development actions with dates
Two areas, not seven. Named responsibilities, not courses. A date to review.
- 03
Read a structure before you read prose
A list of decisions and a word budget is quicker to fix than 5,000 words. Catching a structural problem at the outline stage saves weeks.
- 04
Read the full draft properly, once, early
Early enough that a rewrite is possible. A careful read two weeks before the deadline is proofreading with extra anxiety.
- 05
Run a mock interview, then another one
The first tells them what it feels like. The second is where they improve. Push on the weakest attribute, not the strongest.
- 06
Be honest about readiness
Explain any readiness concerns, the evidence behind them and what further work or clarification would help.
Giving feedback on a draft
Look for
- Mark every 'we' that should be an 'I'.
- Ask 'what did you decide here?' in the margin wherever you cannot find a decision.
- Say which attribute area you could not find evidence for.
- Tell them which paragraph you would question them on, and why.
- Check the report against the CV for consistency.
- Point out where a claim is stronger than the work supports.
Watch for
- Rewrite passages for them. It must be their own work, and ICE is explicit about that.
- Give them a previous candidate's report to model on.
- Only comment on grammar. It is the easiest feedback to give and the least useful.
- Tell them they will be fine unless you have read it.
- Confirm that an attribute is achieved. Only ICE determines that.
Official sources
Selected publisher pages were rechecked in September 2026. Other source records were last checked in July 2026. Open the latest official document before relying on a requirement.