Engineering Council

The professional title you are eligible for is dependent on the level of competence you can demonstrate. Academic and vocational qualifications contribute as they demonstrate your level of knowledge and understanding, but you must have working experience at that level.

As a an indicator, the underpinning knowledge and understanding requirements are:

EngTech

• An Advanced/Modern Apprenticeship or other work based learning programme approved by a licensed professional engineering institution
• Or a qualification, approved by a licensed professional engineering institution, in engineering or construction set at level 3 (or above) in the Qualifications and Credit Framework/National Qualifications Framework for England and Northern Ireland; or at level 6 (or above) in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework; or at level 3 (or above) in the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales
• Or equivalent qualifications approved by a licensed professional engineering institution.

IEng 

• An accredited Bachelors or honours degree in engineering or technology
• or an accredited HNC or HND in engineering or technology (for programmes started before Sept 1999)
• or an HNC or HND started after Sept 1999 (but before Sept 2010 in the case of the HNC) or a Foundation Degree in engineering or technology, plus appropriate further learning to degree level
• or an NVQ4 or SVQ4 which has been approved for the purpose by a licensed engineering institution, plus appropriate further learning to degree level*.

CEng

• An accredited Bachelors degree with honours in engineering or technology, plus either an appropriate Masters degree or Engineering Doctorate (EngD) accredited by a professional engineering institution, or appropriate further learning to Masters level
• Or an accredited integrated MEng degree.

ICTTech

• Typically, someone who has completed an ICT Advanced Apprenticeship or who has other ICT practitioner qualifications at Level 3 (SCQF 6) with appropriate working experience would be considered competent at this level.
• Individuals without formal qualifications may also apply for ICTTech registration, by demonstrating they have acquired the necessary competence through substantial working experience.  SFIA Level 3 provides descriptions of typical responsibility levels and working relationships that reflect the level of competence required for ICTTech registration. For more information visit the SFIA website.

*see the QAA website for Higher Education reference points

The Engineering Council has licensed 35 professional engineering institutions to assess candidates for registration. You should contact the most appropriate of these. Your chosen institution will be able to assess your qualifications, training and experience, and advise you if anything further is required. UK-SPEC and the ICTTech Standard also outline the competence and commitment criteria for each of the Engineering Council’s professional titles.

You may also want to look at our searchable course databases, please click here for further details.

To register with the Engineering Council as EngTech, IEng, CEng or ICTTech you first need to join one of our licensed professional engineering institutions or a Professional Affiliate with the relevant agreement. (Please note that not all institutions cover all categories). Your institution will assess your qualifications, training and experience and let you know if anything further is required. Once you meet the registration criteria and have completed the registration process they will submit a registration form to us on your behalf.

There are two types of registration fee: the initial joining fee, and the annual registration fee. Amounts vary depending on your level of registration, and may be revised annually. Current Engineering Council registration fees can be found here and are paid via the institution you are registered through. Please contact your institution for methods of payment.

Please note that you will also have to pay fees to join and retain membership of your chosen institution. A few institutions also surcharge Engineering Council fees.

The Engineering Council does not offer direct registration. Candidates for registration are required to be in membership of one of the 35 licensed institutions listed here

No. Institutions offer a variety of membership grades. Some grades enable members to apply for registration, others do not, so please make sure your chosen institution knows you wish to apply for registration. In addition, you will always need to go through the registration assessment process before being registered with the Engineering Council.

This will depend on the length of time required by your institution, so please check with them.

However, once your application has been assessed and approved by your institution, and sent to the Engineering Council, it will normally be processed within 1 to 3 weeks of receipt (with the exception of the period mid-December to mid-January when it might take a bit longer).  Once your name has been added to the register, a registration pack is despatched to the address provided by your institution.

Please check with your institution on the status of your registration application.  Once your institution has let you know that your application has been successful and passed to the Engineering Council, it normally takes up to 10 working days to be processed. (and possibly longer during the period mid-December to mid-January). Upon completion, your registration pack will be posted to you, at the address supplied to your institution.

Yes, a registration pack, including a certificate is dispatched by the Engineering Council within 10 working days of your name being added to the register.

This will be on your registration certificate.  If you do not have this please email a request to registration@engc.org.uk and provide the following information: full name, date-of-birth and institution membership number.

The order in which these should be listed is based on the order of precedence and category. This is dictated by standard practice, although it often varies by region. 

The UK the Ministry of Justice recommends the following order:

1. Orders and Decorations conferred by the Crown, i.e. CBE, OBE etc.
2. University degrees (where more than one, listed in the order of the foundation of the faculty from which they were earned.  First degrees should be omitted if a higher degree is shown in the same faculty. However, when the awarding institutions are listed and the degrees are from different universities, lower degrees are included, e.g. Jo Smith, BA Wales MA London)
3. Registrations as practitioners (e.g. EngTech, IEng, CEng, ICTTech)
4. Fellowship or membership of learned societies, academies or professional institutions (for example MInst) (if the individual belongs to more than one, these should be listed in the order of the establishment of the organisation)
5. Membership of the Armed Forces

So an example would be:  Lieutenant A N Other MBE BEng CEng FREng RN

Certificates are not usually shown but Diplomas may be (inserted after degrees but before practitioner registrations).

Further information can be found here

Please contact the membership department of your institution.  They will assess your training, qualifications and experience against UK-SPEC and advise if you need to do anything further to become eligible.

In order to remain on our register you need to be a member of one of the appropriate institutions. 

Therefore, if you would like to cancel your membership with your current institution you will need to transfer your Engineering Council registration to another institution first to avoid being removed from the national Register and losing your title. 

If you choose to transfer your registration you are advised to do the following:

1. Join the new institution
2. Request to pay your registration fee via the new institution
3. Once payment has been transferred, resign from your original institution.

Please contact your institution for further information on how to reinstate your registration. The process for reinstatement will depend on how long it has been since the last payment of registration fees, but if the lapse has been longer than three years, the individual will be required to undertake a Professional Review.

Holding more than one professional registration at the same time, for example EngTech and IEng or IEng and CEng, is known as dual registration.

Dual registrations exist where a registrant has been awarded more than one of the Engineering Council’s titles and each of these has been awarded by a different institution. The Engineering Council issues dual registrants with a certificate for each title. 

Please note that dual registration is different from upgraded registration. Registration is upgraded when a registrant progresses from one title to another (e.g. IEng to CEng) via the same institution. Although registrants who progress to a new title will receive a new certificate, they will not remain on the register under their former title (e.g. they would only be registered as a CEng, and would lose their IEng status). 

Dual registration is therefore only possible for those registered with separate titles, via separate institutions, paying separate registration fees for each title.

If you are a member of more than one institution, this is known as an additional membership.

Additional memberships exist where the registrant has been awarded their title by two separate institutions. The Engineering Council only issues one certificate on initial registration. However, secondary certificates can be purchased using the certificate order form.

No, please contact a Notary Public or Solicitor. However, we can provide confirmation of your registered status in the form of a letter or email if required. You can contact us using our contact us form.

If you require an additional or replacement certificate, an order form can be found here.

The Engineering Council no longer issues registration cards, but many institutions do, so please check with yours. However, there are other products available, such as registrant ties, lapel pins and professional stamps. Please click here for more information.

Please email your request to registration@engc.org.uk and provide the following information:
full name, date-of-birth, institution membership number and Engineering Council registration number.

Engineers do not require a licence to practise in the UK.  However, professional registration would be of great benefit and shows that you meet certain professional standards.  You can read more about the value of registration here.

Please contact UK-NARIC, the national agency responsible for providing information and advice about how qualifications and skills from overseas compare to the UK's national qualification frameworks. They can compare your qualifications and provide you with simple and officially recognised documents which explain the level of your qualification:

• a letter of comparability; providing information on the comparable level of your qualifications to UK standards
• a career path report; an in-depth report describing one of your qualifications and the education system in which you studied.

UK-NARIC letters of comparability are useful when applying for jobs in the UK as they provide clear indicators of your education level in UK terms. These letters do not, however, provide exemption from elements of the registration process, although some institutions do use them as part of their assessment.

UK-NARIC can be contacted via their website, by telephone at +44 (0)871 330 7033) or by email