It has been agreed by the Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) that make up the Engineering Accreditation Board (EAB) that the Engineering Council will no longer be providing the secretariat for EAB after the 2023/24 academic year.

Joint accreditation visits are where multiple PEIs visit a university department to consider accreditation of one or more programmes in which they have a shared interest. The Engineering Council and participating PEIs are continuing to discuss what the future arrangements for this activity will look like. A recent consultation with 17 university departments confirmed that they value EAB visits and their associated services, and also that departments would be prepared to pay a fee to support any future joint visit secretariat.

EAB visits already scheduled for the 2023/24 academic year will continue as planned, and the Engineering Council will be providing the secretariat in the interim for the 2023/24 academic year. The 2024/25 academic year will be a transition year, during which PEIs will share responsibility for providing secretariat for joint accreditation visits. Arrangements to support joint accreditation visits thereafter will be confirmed in due course.

The full statement published by the Engineering Council is available to read here.