Engineering Council
Information for students, apprentices, and graduates
The Engineering Council holds details of programmes that fully or partially meet the education requirements for EngTech, IEng, CEng, or ICTTech registration. Use our course search tool to find a recognised degree, HE programme, apprenticeship or qualification.
Why you should choose a recognised programme ↓
What to look for when choosing a recognised programme ↓
If your programme isn’t recognised ↓
I can’t find a degree, qualification or apprenticeship ↓
Resources and external information available to students, apprentices and graduates ↓
Why you should choose a recognised degree, qualification or apprenticeship programme
In the UK, most engineering degrees and a number of apprenticeships and qualifications are recognised by the Engineering council. These courses have been accredited or approved by professional engineering institutions on the behalf of the Engineering Council. There are several advantages to choose a recognised programme:
- Recognition confirms that a programme meets the standards set by the engineering profession
- Some employers specifically recruit from recognised programmes
- You can be sure that your degree or apprenticeship is recognised professionally
- Once you have gained the relevant work experience, the process of seeking professional registration is more straightforward
- Internationally, programmes that are recognised by the Engineering Council are more widely recognised than those that are not accredited or approved.
- Once you have gained the relevant work experience, the process of seeking professional registration is more straightforward, however, holding a recognised qualification is not the only route to professional registration.
Recognised engineering programmes provide you, your parents, advisors and employers with a mark of assurance that the degree programme meets the standards defined and set by the engineering profession. You can also be confident that on completion, you will have met some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills required for eventual professional registration.
What to look for when choosing a recognised programme
When choosing a degree or programme, it’s the accreditation or approval status when you start that matters. Recognition is recorded on the course search by intake date, except for a few older Open University programmes. Any queries about Open University accreditations should be directed to the Professional Engineering Institution that accredited the programme. The period of accreditation for each programme is typically five years, counting from the first-year student intake date. If this status is removed during your degree, you and any other students already on that programme would still graduate with a degree that’s recognised by the Engineering council. Students starting a degree or qualification part way through the programme should check the accreditation or approval status as if they had entered the first year.
If your programme isn’t recognised
Your choice of programme will, of course, depend on other aspects in addition to its accreditation or approval status. These may include the engineering discipline, the breadth of coverage, the laboratory and other facilities, the opportunity for placements in the UK or overseas, and the extent of programme-employer relationships.
Engineering programmes don't have to be accredited. A university, FE provider or employer decides whether or not it wishes to apply for accreditation or approval of its programmes.
If you hold a degree, qualification or apprenticeship that is not recognised by the Engineering Council you may also work towards becoming professionally registered. Your application will be individually assessed by your chosen professional engineering institution. Advice will be offered about any additional learning that should be followed in order to demonstrate equivalence with a recognised programme.
International recognition
Recognition under the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) Washington, Sydney and Dublin Accords apply to degrees and technician qualifications recognised by a signatory within its jurisdiction. In the case of the Engineering Council this means programmes delivered by providers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Programmes awarded by a UK provider in the jurisdiction of another Accord signatory may in some cases be accredited by both UK and overseas agencies, or by the overseas agency only. You should contact the Engineering Council for more information. For information related to any other programme studied in the jurisdiction of another Accord signatory you should contact that signatory for further information.
Check that the programme was completed in the UK and which Section the programme is recognised for. The Section will be to support Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng), Engineering Technician (EngTech) or Information and Communications Technology ICTTech registration. This is shown within the recognition information for each programme on the course search.
- A Bachelors (with or without honours) started after 2001, accredited for IEng, is recognised under the Sydney Accord.
- An MEng started after 1989, accredited for CEng, is recognised under the Washington Accord.
- A Bachelor (with or without honours) started after 1990 and accredited for CEng (full) is recognised under the Washington Accord.
- A Bachelors (honours), started in or after 1999 and accredited for CEng with further learning required, held alongside a Masters or Doctorate programme accredited as CEng further learning, is a combination of programmes recognised under the Washington Accord.
- If you have completed a programme accredited as further learning but do not have a Bachelors degree accredited in the CEng Section, your combination of qualifications is not recognised under any of the Accords.
- The Dublin Accordapplies to programmes recognised for Engineering Technician (EngTech) or Information and Communications Technology Technician (ICTTech) for 2002 and later intakes.
EUR-ACE labels are a European quality label verifying that Bachelors and Masters programmes meet an independent European standard.
Can’t find a degree, qualification or apprenticeship
Various types of degrees, apprenticeships, qualifications and work-based programmes are listed on course search.
In 1992 many UK higher education providers previously referred to as polytechnics and other institutions gained the title of university, so many providers of accredited degrees have changed their name. Degrees are listed against the current name of the provider, but the advanced search will find a degree if you search by a former name.
Where provider or programme name has changed we have sought to indicate in a pop-up when the change took place. Due to gaps in historical information we cannot be confident that this information is always correct, especially for changes prior to the 2020 launch of this database.
Programmes may be approved without specification of a provider. If you cannot find a qualification or apprenticeship and have included a provider in search criteria it may be useful to widen the search by not specifying the provider.
If you are interested in a programme that is not listed here, you are advised to:
Contact the provider to confirm if they have sought accreditation or approval of the programme by one or more professional engineering institution. Then check this with the relevant professional engineering institution(s).
If a degree was achieved some time ago it may be listed on the older course search. This means it is deemed to be equivalent to an accredited degree and fully satisfies the education requirement for IEng/CEng as noted in the individual course record. The older course search can be accessed via useful links.
Information about older Higher National Certificates and Higher National Diplomas which predate the 2020 launch of this database can be found under the useful document at the bottom of this page, titled 'Accredited Higher National Certificates and Diplomas’ and ‘Higher Nationals’.
A number of work based degrees in Professional Engineering, have been designed for working engineers who aspire to IEng or CEng registration. These programmes use individual workplace learning contracts to plan learning that leads to the achievement of a qualification that delivers the knowledge, understanding and skills for professional registration and supports development of competence required for professional registration (UK-SPEC). The bespoke nature of the learning means that these programmes are not typically suitable for accreditation.
Work-based degrees
Flexible work-based MSc and Bachelors programmes in Professional Engineering are available at a range of universities.
Individually tailored programmes integrate learning in the workplace with supervised work-based professional development. They enable working engineers to gain the necessary academic qualifications, whilst developing the required competence for professional registration, without leaving employment. All programmes are based on the UK-SPEC requirements for professional registration as an Incorporated Engineer (Bachelors) or Chartered Engineer (MSc).
There may be potential to complete one of these programmes as part of a degree apprenticeship, which may in turn enable employer access to levy funding to help with the cost of university fees.
The framework for this route was developed as part of a government-funded initiative 'Gateways to the Professions'. The Engineering Council led the work in partnership with universities, professional engineering institutions and employer representatives.
If you are interested in enrolling on one of the programmes, you should contact one of the participating universities listed below.
Each learner should also speak to their professional engineering institution at the beginning of the process, noting that some professional engineering institutions may not yet be engaged with the scheme, and others may have documentation that they require individuals to complete to plan and document their learning.
These programmes all adhere to the general model, but with their own particular variations. When contacting universities ask about Professional Engineering degrees as this is the title applied to each of the degrees developed as part of the Engineering Gateways programme. Participating universities include:
University of South Wales – MSc
Please note that other universities also offer engineering degrees through work-based or other study modes such as part time or distance learning. Completing a recognised work-based programmes makes the process of seeking professional registration more straightforward, however, there are many routes professional registration.
Resources and external information available to students, apprentices and graduates
- Tomorrow's Engineers website for Information and guidance to support improved practice in the engineering field.
- Engineers without borders (EWB-UK) for engineering initiatives and projects that focus on sustainability
Contact us
If you have any queries related to programmes listed on the course search please email edskills@engc.org.uk.
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