The Engineering Council’s Standards can help learners, their parents, careers advisors and employers to navigate the rapidly-changing landscape of post-16 qualifications.

There are multiple routes into an engineering career, including apprenticeships, A levels and T Levels (as these develop), with currently over 200 engineering qualifications to choose from. To help potential learners select the right course for them and their future career prospects, it may be useful to seek out a programme which has been recognised (approved or accredited) by the Engineering Council.

A recognised programme is a course which has been scrutinised and assessed against these standards, as providing the required underpinning knowledge and understanding.

The Engineering Council has a publicly-searchable database to enable prospective and current students, employers, universities and the public to check whether a specific course is recognised. This is available at: www.engc.org.uk/courses

In terms of the requirements for courses to be recognised, the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP) covers university degrees while the Approval and Accreditation of Qualification and Apprenticeships (AAQA) has a wider scope, covering apprenticeships and other qualifications from Level 3 to Level 7, a wide range of delivery providers, and a diverse range of delivery methods.

Following the publication of the first edition of AAQA, our AAQA Guidance Note is now available (under 'Useful Documents').   

This guidance is intended to support implementation of AAQA by providing guidance to professional engineering institutions (PEIs) and other stakeholders with an interest in recognition (through PEI approval and accreditation) of apprenticeships and (non-degree) qualifications at all levels to support EngTech, ICTTech, IEng and CEng registration.

AAQA will be implemented by 31 December 2021, with learning outcomes implemented by 31 August 2024.

Read our full article on post-16 engineering education