The Engineering Council is pleased to have been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) as the External Quality Assurance (EQA) provider for the following engineering apprenticeship standards:

• ST0063 Building Services Design Technician
• ST0091 Civil Engineering Technician
• ST0457 Engineering Technician
• ST0315 Railway Engineering Design Technician
• ST0288 Non-destructive Testing Engineering Technician
• ST0336 Transport Planning Technician.

This activity is in line with the Engineering Council’s support for the delivery of high quality apprenticeships that meet the needs of employers and apprentices; assure the public about the competence of those who are successful and support individuals on their journey towards professional registration.

The system of EQA provides for independent monitoring of the End Point Assessment (EPA) that apprentices undertake at the end of their apprenticeship, to ensure that it is fair, consistent and robust across different apprenticeship standards and between different assessment organisations.

IfATE has a statutory responsibility to ensure the quality of EPA is evaluated through EQA. Its EQA framework sets out how this activity must be carried out, to ensure it is undertaken consistently and to a high standard. EQA providers are required to maintain high standards of integrity and professionalism.

The Engineering Council is the most appropriate body to carry out this quality assurance for engineering-related apprenticeships, because it licenses professional engineering institutions to carry out the assessment of individuals seeking registration, in accordance with required Engineering Council standards and prescribed processes. These standards apply across the profession, regardless of sector or discipline, making the Engineering Council ideally placed to assure consistency and quality of assessment.

Engineering Council CEO Alasdair Coates said “The Engineering Council’s vision is to maintain society’s confidence and trust in the engineering profession. We achieve this through working with partners across the professional engineering community and are pleased to receive approval to formally provide assurance that the assessment of engineering apprentices is carried out in a robust and consistent manner. Apprenticeships are a well-established route to professional registration and into engineering careers at all levels.”

The Engineering Council notes that the Department for Education will be launching a consultation on the delivery of EQA shortly. Stakeholders are encouraged to engage with this and share their views.

For press enquiries:

Kate Webster, Engineering Council – kwebster@eng.org.uk, 020 3206 0567

The Engineering Council holds the national Register of Engineering Technicians (EngTech), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Chartered Engineers (CEng) and Information and Communication Technology Technicians (ICTTech). It also sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of competence and ethics that govern the award and retention of these titles. By this means it is able to ensure that employers, government and wider society, both at home and overseas, can have confidence in the skills and commitment of registrants. For more information visit: www.engc.org.uk