regulating the engineering profession accrediting engineering degrees: practice and challenges...

regulating the engineering profession

Accrediting Engineering Degrees:Practice and Challenges

Richard Shearman

Director of Formation


2© 2008 ECUK all rights reserved

The UK engineering profession

• 36 professional bodies – vary in size and history• Own requirements for membership• Common framework provided by UK-SPEC and ECUK

register of CEng, IEng and EngTech• 21 accredit HE programmes• Not compulsory to join or register with ECUK to work as

engineer – but c. 5k new registrants p.a.



Engineering Council (UK)

• National Registration Body for Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians

• Sets standards for professional qualification and registration (UK-SPEC)

• Sets criteria for accreditation of HE programmes • Licenses professional bodies to accredit programmes and

assess and register individuals• QA function linked to licensing• Maintains database of accredited programmes• Signatory to international accords



The value of accreditation

• Establishes a standard• Constructive engagement between profession and HE• Share good practice• Aid development and innovation• Kitemark and third party validation for HEI• Helps graduate/professional mobility• Simplifies qualification process


Accreditation - History

• Began in 1960s and 1970s• A different HE scene • Predates national QA arrangements for universities• Steady shift from input to output• Can the accreditation process remain adaptable?




Accreditation: key current features

• ECUK sets and maintains standards• Outcomes-based accreditation• Distributed system of accreditation• Distinct from the UK’s HE quality assurance system• Uses qualifications framework and descriptors as

reference points• International recognition



Current accreditation arrangements

• Peer review by volunteers• Written submission and visit • Scrutiny of student work, exam papers etc • Meet with students and staff• The programme not the institution• Rigour and demands are balanced



Requirements for accreditation

• Focus on outcomes, not curriculum• All graduates achieve all learning outcomes• Clear programme aims, outcomes, assessment• Evidence of industrial liaison• Sufficient content at B or M level• Adequately resourced



What about input measures?

• A number are considered including:

- Learning and teaching processes

- Department/School/Faculty organisation

- Human and material resources

- Cohort entry profile

- Staff experience and professional status• These are indicators, not metrics or showstoppers



The output standards

• Four general learning outcomes

- Knowledge & Understanding, Intellectual Abilities, Practical Skills, General Transferable Skills

• Five Specific Learning Outcomes

- Underpinning Science and Maths, Engineering Analysis, Design, Economic, Social and Environmental Context, Engineering Practice

• More detailed statements describe each of these• Now adopted by QAA as subject benchmark



International Context

• Washington & Sydney Accords allow mutual recognition of accreditation decisions

• Graduate Attributes framework developed but several signatories are process-orientated

• Washington Accord verification visit to UK revealed differences in approach

• In Europe, EURACE framework for engineering accreditation

• More countries showing interest in accreditation (China, Russia)


Sharing good practice

• Between professional bodies and between universities• EAB is key to former – forum for discussion, organises

joint visits, common documentation etc• Websites, annual reports etc can highlight university good

practice• Engineering Subject Centre, EPC also have vital role




The changing landscape

• UK demographics: less homogeneous cohorts• Development of higher level skills• Changing employer demands• New forms of provision • Increasing number of multidisciplinary programmes



Some challenges for accreditation

• Giving due recognition to work-based elements• Who is responsible for assessment?• Assuring level and standards in new forms of provision• More individually tailored programmes – resourcing• Longer completion periods • Encouraging cultural shift - accreditors and others • Monitoring programme change

• Spreading innovation and improvement



Distance Learning

• Achieving learning outcomes that are normally demonstrated in a laboratory

• Module choice resulting in individually tailored and/or limited programme scope

• Robustness of student support systems• Open-ended nature and long completion periods• The engineering employer’s role?



The way ahead?

• Changes tend to be in inputs rather than in outcomes• Current accreditation processes are applicable• Mechanisms to bring employers more fully into the

process• Dialogue between all: universities, professional bodies

and employers

regulating the engineering profession accrediting engineering degrees: practice and challenges...

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