Engineering Council

Operating under a Royal Charter, the Engineering Council is the regulator of the engineering profession in the UK. It is responsible for setting the standards of competence and commitment that individuals must demonstrate in order to become registered as professional engineers and technicians.

These standards are detailed in the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC) and the Information and Communications Technology Technician (ICTTech) Standard. Society can have confidence that registered engineers and technicians will uphold these standards and exercise their responsibilities in an ethical manner. A public consultation on our Standards is currently in progress, for which the deadline is 2 August 2019.

It also publishes the criteria, known as learning outcomes. Those that must be met by degree programmes for the award of Engineering Council accredited status can be found in the Accreditation of Higher Education Programmes (AHEP) handbook. The learning outcomes that must met by qualifications and Apprenticeships for the award of Engineering Council approved status can be found in the Approval of Qualifications and Apprenticeships (AQAH) handbook.

The Engineering Council’s standards are internationally recognised and periodically reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant. They have been developed collaboratively with a range of individuals and organisations representing the breadth of the profession. This includes industry and academia, from the many different engineering disciplines.

Guidance materials that complement the standards are also available to support professional engineers and technicians in their practice.