Concern over title redefinition

In the eyes of the Department for Education and Skills, it is now only necessary to have completed an accredited engineering degree to be regarded as a professional engineer. The DfES argues that graduates fresh from university have earned professional status by virtue of their being able to move straight into employment following their course of study. This decidedly strange view is naturally contested by ECUK and engineering institutions, for whom the “formation” of an engineer involves a combination of academic qualifications and professional development through work experience. It makes a mockery of the regulatory framework and the painstakingly developed standards which underpin professional registration in this country. The line taken by the DfES is seemingly motivated by a desire to help engineering graduates from UK universities gain recognition – and work – in other European nations.

It stems from a change made to the European Mobility Directive, which was introduced to facilitate the movement of workers between states. This change made it possible for anyone who has undergone “regulated education and training” to be assessed under the directive. The DfES argues that individuals who have completed an accredited degree of three years or more can say they have met this requirement. While ECUK may be willing to accept that an accredited degree constitutes “regulated education”, it completely rejects the notion that it has a “training” element, which can only be acquired in the workplace.

Labelling graduates as professionals is potentially very damaging to the UK’s credibility among its European partners. ECUK has expended considerable effort convincing the rest of Europe that the generally shorter duration of engineering degree programmes on this side of the channel does not impact on the standard of those classified as professional engineers, which until the Government’s recent pronouncements had been accepted by all concerned as meaning registered Chartered or Incorporated Engineers – titles that can only be gained after several years of professional development.

ECUK is also at odds with the DfES over its illogical contention that because it is not usually necessary for a person to be registered to work as an engineer in the UK, the profession is both regulated and unregulated – i.e. if you are registered you work in the regulated sector, if unregistered in the unregulated one. In reality, such a division simply does not exist.

Though undoubtedly well intentioned, the DfES’s new interpretation of what it takes to become a professional engineer can only prove counter-productive. It threatens to undermine registration and devalue the status of the CEng and IEng titles, which have gained widespread international recognition and acceptance.

ECUK is thus intent on challenging the position taken by the DfES and will also ask for its unequivocal support of registration, which the Government has always claimed to be strongly in favour of. In this it will have the backing not only of the engineering institutions but also of other professions who find themselves similarly affected.