• Question: What qualifications will I need to obtain in university in order to be a qualified engineer?

    Asked by JJ Bear to Ashwanth, Jeni, Mark, Natalie, Stephen on 14 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Mark Gowan

      Mark Gowan answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Hi JJ Bear
      To become a Chartered Engineer, you need to study for a Masters Degree from an approved University. These courses are approved by the Engineering Council.

    • Photo: Jeni Spragg

      Jeni Spragg answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Like Mark said, if you want to go on and become chartered (which isn’t compulsory), usually it is a masters degree (MEng) from a degree course that is accredited by the right professional body (for chemical engineering, for example, that’s the IChemE). Most university courses are accredited by the right people, although you can check in university prospectuses or online to be sure.

      You can also get a Bachelors degree in engineering (a BEng), but you might find many of the big companies ask for an MEng. You can usually change your mind during the course though, so if you get onto a BEng course and change your mind, or vice-versa, you can make the switch.

      The good thing about doing an MEng is that it’s often an integrated masters, meaning you do it all as an undergraduate. You get a Masters degree without having to re-apply for a specific Masters course or pay extra postgraduate fees.

    • Photo: Stephen Richardson

      Stephen Richardson answered on 14 Jun 2016:

      Not much to add to what Mark and Jeni have said.
      Although you can also get your chartership in other ways. For example if you have an HND or lots of relevant work experience then most of the engineering insitutions offer a way for you to demonstrate that you have the same level of skill as you would if you’d done an accredited masters. This usually involves writing some sort of technical report which can be based on a project you’ve been involved in.
      So if you like school and fancy going to Uni then stick with Physics and Maths for GCSE and A-Level (and chemistry if you want to do chemical engineering) and apply for a BEng or MEng degree.
      Or if you’d rather learn ‘on the job’ then you could do an apprenticeship – but you will have to do some studying at some point to get your HNC and HND.

      If you are interested in finding out more then you can look at the websites of the different institutions to see what they say about how to become a member and get chartered. Here are some of the main institutions you can look at:
      IMechE (Mechanical Engineering)
      IStructE (Structural Engineering)
      ICE (Civil Engineering)
      IET (Electrical engineering)
      IChemE (Chemical Engineering)
      CIBSE (Building services engineering)
      Google any of those and you’ll find their websites

      Hope that helps

    • Photo: Natalie Wride

      Natalie Wride answered on 15 Jun 2016:

      Hi JJ Bear 🙂

      I think this is pretty much been answered by everyone else. I went a slightly different route to the four year MEng degree and ended up with two degrees instead! I did a Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) for 3 years and then spent 1 year doing a Master of Science degree (MSc) because I wanted to focus more in a special area of Civil Engineering. Most people who do this route want to specialise in something – it’s usually something you study a small part of in your first degree but it could be completely different too! Now I’m working towards getting chartered so I’ll be a professional Engineer 🙂

      When I did my first degree I had a scholarship with the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) called a QUEST scholarship which gave me some funding for studying and allowed me to get some work experience, working for a company in my summer holidays. This was great experience and really helped me when I started working. Other institutions Stephen listed do similar 🙂

      Hope this helps!!

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