Academia. The Centre for Cement and Concrete, University of Sheffield

The Royal Armouries The Royal Armouries is the body responsible for maintaining the royal collection of weaponry, armour, and other artefacts. Its role is not only to conserve the collection, but also to extend it and maintain the appropriate expertise and knowledge to keep and exhibit it. It also has a strong educational role to develop and extend the knowledge of historical weaponry and armour. Gregson

A two-storey precast concrete framed ofice block dating from the 1960s was found to have high alumina cement (HAC) concrete beams at roof and first-floor levels. Detailed investigation showed that the first-floor beams were satisfactory but those at roof level could not be proved. In addition, problems were found with first-floor corbel details and the precast frame beam-column joints. Because the ground floor area had to remain in use during repairs and also the foundation conditions were poor; the roof was strengthened from above using ‘skyhooks’ - steel beams placed over it and preloaded to limit stresses in the HAC beams. The first-floor corbels were strengthened by drilled-in prestressed bars. A.N. Beal

This viewpoint was intended to be an attempt to reply, on behalf of the Graduate section of the Institution, as to the status of ‘model answers’ in the preparation process for our annual Part 3 examination. However, the argument has been extended to a general comment on the examination itself, and in particular, the situation in which failed candidates find themselves. R.K. Westbrook