In 1999 the Engineering Council established a precedent that Bachelors programmes accredited as partially meeting Chartered Engineer (CEng) learning outcomes could be assessed for Incorporated Engineer (IEng) registration in the same way as an applicant holding a degree accredited for IEng. In 2009 this precedent was replaced by a policy where all honours degrees accredited from intake year 1999 were deemed to automatically have ‘dual accreditation’ for IEng and be eligible for recognition under the Sydney Accord.

This policy was reviewed during 2021 and revised to more clearly differentiate between IEng and CEng accredited degrees. It was decided to revoke automatic dual accreditation, reverting to the 1999 precedent. This change to policy protects the international standing of CEng accredited UK honours degrees. (Internationally qualifications recognised under the Sydney Accord are referred to as qualifications for ‘technologists’ rather than ‘engineers’.)

A person applying for IEng professional registration, with a degree accredited for CEng, can be assessed for IEng registration in the same way as a candidate who holds an IEng accredited degree. This assessment would be done by a UK professional engineering institution (PEI), as are all the Engineering Council’s professional registration titles. For more information, including implementation periods, please see the policy statement on Dual Accreditation (under ‘Useful Documents’ on the page Information for Higher Education Providers).