Master plan

Deterred by the prospect of incurring further debt, many BEng (Hons) graduates opt not to continue their studies to Master's level. Consequently, their academic qualifications fall short of what is normally required for registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng). Indeed, it is estimated that thousands more such graduates might have achieved chartered status had gaining an MSc or other form of Master's been more affordable. Student concern over costs has had a similar effect on the numbers qualifying for the Incorporated Engineer (IEng) award.

Affordability is at the heart of an innovative collaborative venture between ECUK, professional engineering institutions, industry and higher education.  Being coordinated by ECUK, in partnership with Kingston University and the University of Northumbria, the government-backed project will develop and pilot routes to registration that integrate education and supervised work-based professional development. It will take as its starting point Kingston's existing work-based MSc and its Foundation Degree with Honours top-up, which is relevant to IEng candidates. The programmes developed from these could potentially satisfy all the requirements for registration. The project has funding from the DfES under its Gateways to the Professions initiative.

The project's overall aim is to create a flexible, work-based learning 'escalator' that enables pre-technician entrants to progress to IEng or CEng registration, maximising their employment and earnings prospects but without them having to incur large debts. This should prove a particular incentive to those groups who are currently under-represented in engineering, including women and ethnic minorities, as well as those wishing to return to the sector. The initiative's ultimate objective is to tackle shortages of professional engineers and technicians by encouraging more people both to enter and stay in the profession.

During an initial 18-month phase Kingston and Northumbria Universities will work with ECUK and three of its licensed institutions (IET, IMechE and RAeS) to develop, validate and launch the IEng/CEng work-based programmes. These will be rolled out nationwide during a second, 3-year phase, when it is intended that the majority of licensed engineering institutions and at least ten HEIs will adopt them. The project will benefit from the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships and other links that already exist between universities and industry; Kingston for instance has links with BA, KLM, Eurostar and Laing O'Rourke.

It is envisaged that in five years time over 20,000 engineers will be following the work-based route to IEng or CEng status, which would make it one of the main pathways to professional registration.