Issued last week, the Engineering Council's Annual Registration Statistics for 2010 show that the growing awareness and appreciation of the benefits of professional registration, amongst the engineering profession and its key employers, has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of new registrants during 2010.

Compared to 2009, there has been an increase of 26% in the number of new Chartered Engineers (CEngs), a 64% increase in Incorporated Engineers (IEngs), and a 12% increase in Engineering Technician (EngTech) registrations.  This represents the second year of growth for both IEng and CEng and the sixth consecutive year that the number of new EngTechs has risen.

Jon Prichard, Chief Executive Officer of the Engineering Council says, "Ensuring that the UK employs sufficient highly skilled and professionally qualified engineers to meet the needs of society is vital to our future wellbeing.  Registration provides the benchmark through which the public can have confidence and trust that those holding the titles work to the highest standards and have had their competences independently and thoroughly assessed.  Without this, UK qualified engineers would not be able to maintain the high esteem that they currently hold within the global engineering profession.

"The UK has an ageing population, and with the number of registrants aged over 60 still representing 37.4% of those on the register, the inevitable loss of skills and knowledge over the coming years remains of concern.  Therefore, working to ensure an increase in new registrants, and retaining those who are professionally qualified for the full duration of their working life, is of key strategic importance to the engineering profession."

Significant effort is being made by employers, universities and professional bodies to ensure that a constant supply of professionally qualified engineers is available to take the profession forward to meet the challenges of the future.  This includes providing information for engineering students about how professional registration should provide an important milestone in their career development, an initiative which will have contributed to an increase over the last year in those achieving registered status earlier in their careers.

The newest section of the register, for Information and Communications Technology Technicians (ICTTech), which has now been open for nearly two years, and is available only through the IET at present, has seen a slow but steady take up, with almost 100 registrants having completed the registration process during 2010.