Engineering Council

Recognised programmes listed on the course search have been either accredited or approved by a professional engineering institution on behalf of the Engineering Council.

Recognition confirms that a programme:

• meets the standards set by the engineering profession
• fully or partially delivers the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills and/or some of the competence required for professional registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng), Engineering Technician (EngTech) or Information and Communications Technology Technician (ICTTech).

Holding a recognised degree, qualification or apprenticeship demonstrates achievement of some of the requirements for professional registration. However it is not the only route, and registration requires demonstration of competence and commitment through a professional review. Engineers without recognised qualifications may still be able to apply for registration via a professional engineering institution.

Recognition offers a mark of assurance that the programme meets the standards defined and set by the engineering profession. It also provides confidence that some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for eventual registration with a licensed institution have been met.

Recognition is recorded on the course search by intake date, with the exception of a few older Open University programmes. Any queries about Open University accreditations should be directed to the Professional Engineering Institution that accredited the programme.

Where individuals were given exemption from one or more years of a programme, their intake year is the year they would have started, if they had joined at the beginning of the programme. Eg a person who was admitted to a programme in 2000 with direct entry to the second year, their start year would be 1999 for the purposes of determining recognition status of the programme.

There are three programme types on the course search:

• Degrees are Higher Education programmes delivered by UK or non-UK providers, usually universities or HE colleges.
• Apprenticeships are nationally recognised work-based programmes, which may or may not contain qualifications.
• Qualification is a general term that covers all other types of programme. Many are ‘vocational’ qualifications, but there are other types.

Only degrees, apprenticeships or qualifications accredited or approved by a licensed institution in line with the Engineering Council’s requirements can be listed on the course search.
Approved professional development schemes are not listed on the course search.

The engineering degrees listed on this course search have been accredited by one or more of the licensed  institutions. The period of accreditation is normally five years and, except where otherwise stated, the dates apply to the intake year. Accredited status is subject to periodic review normally every five years.  

Accredited programme status indicated on this course search only applies to programmes delivered at the main campus of a listed university, unless otherwise stated.  Graduates of the same programme at a different location will hold a non-accredited degree for the purposes of registration, unless it is explicitly stated in the note below the programme record, or on a separate record related to their location of study, that it is accredited.

A programme recognised as further learning or requiring further learning does not on its own deliver all the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for registration.

The qualifications and apprenticeships listed on this course search have been accredited or approved by one or more of the licensed institutions. The period of accreditation or approval is normally five years and, except where otherwise stated, the dates apply to the intake year.  Accredited status is subject to periodic review normally every five years.  

Accreditation covers delivery in a specific location (or in some cases by a specific education provider or employer). Approval covers national or international programmes where licensed institutions have determined that external quality assurance provides confidence that the delivery, facilities and assessment meet the required standards in all delivery locations.

Accredited and approved programmes have equivalent status in terms of providing evidence of meeting some or all of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for eventual registration with a licensed institution.

Accredited programme status indicated on this course search only applies to programmes delivered at the specified location, unless otherwise stated.  

A programme recognised as further learning or requiring further learning does not on its own deliver all the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills for registration or international recognition. 

You can check the recognition (accreditation or approval) status of any UK engineering degree, qualification or apprenticeship on the course search. Occasionally information published elsewhere, for example on UCAS, Unistats or a university website, does not reflect the information on the database. This may happen if accreditation or approval has expired, a decision has not yet been made, or if there has been an error. If the programme you are interested in is promoted as being accredited or approved but is not listed on the course search for your relevant intake year, check the accreditation or approval status with the licensed institution shown as the accrediting or approving body in the promotional material.

Some entries on the course search include specific requirements in the public note section.  Employers and agencies with specific requirements, for example about which modules are studied, may also wish to ask for an individual’s degree, qualification or apprenticeship transcript to check such details.

Where a programme partially delivers the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills and/or some of the competence required for a professional title it is described as either:

• Requiring further learning OR
• Is further learning

For an individual to be formally recognised as having completed a programme or combination of programmes that demonstrate the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills and/or competence for a professional title, they must have either:

• Completed a programme that is recognised in full
• Completed a programme that is recognised as requiring further learning PLUS a programme recognised as further learning, for the same registration title

In 1999 the Engineering Council established a precedent that Bachelors programmes accredited as partially meeting CEng learning outcomes could be assessed for IEng registration in the same way as an applicant holding a degree accredited for IEng.

From 2009 this precedent was replaced by a policy whereby all honours degrees accredited from intake year 1999 were deemed to automatically have ‘dual accreditation’ for IEng.

This policy was reviewed during 2021 when it was decided to revoke the policy of automatic dual accreditation and revert to a precedent that allows for someone applying for IEng with a degree accredited for CEng to be assessed for IEng registration in the same way as a candidate who holds an IEng accredited degree.

Where individuals were given exemption from one or more years of a programme, their intake year is the year they would have started, if they had joined at the beginning of the programme. Eg a person who was admitted to a programme in 2000 with direct entry to the second year, their start year would be 1999 for the purposes of determining recognition status of the programme.

Integrated Masters (e.g. MEng) degrees accredited for CEng registration include the outcomes of accredited Bachelors (Honours) degrees and go beyond to provide a greater range and depth of specialist knowledge, within a research and industrial environment, as well as a broader and more general academic base.

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 Accord applies 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.

Degree apprenticeships are listed within the apprenticeships section of the course search.

Foundation degrees are listed in the qualifications section of the 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.

If you have any queries related to programmes listed on the course search please email edskills@engc.org.uk.