Most engineering degree courses in the UK are recognised internationally, as they are governed by the SARTOR standard. Standards and Routes to Registration (SARTOR) is published by the Engineering Council, the UK body which promotes and regulates the engineering profession. These standards govern not only the education of engineers in the UK, but also their professional development and have worldwide recognition.

If you do the right course i.e. one that is accredited by the Engineering Council, it is the first step to achieving professional engineer status by becoming an Incorporated Engineer or a Chartered Engineer or attaining the equivalent professional qualification in your own country.

UK engineering courses have a long history of having good links with industry. This adds value to the engineering courses by providing good opportunities for placements of students in industry during or after the course. Professors with extensive industrial experience from a range of different types of industry lecture or are invited as guest speakers to talk on specialised subjects, giving extra depth to engineering courses.

The MEng degree (Masters of Engineering) is normally a four year course. These degrees, as the title implies, contain a certain amount of work which goes beyond the normal undergraduate level. Whatever your engineering discipline, you will have the chance to acquire the necessary engineering and scientific knowledge to practise, and an understanding of mathematics as a means of communicating results, concepts and ideas. You will also undertake a range of design and project work, both individually and in groups, and your major group design project, normally done in your last year, will be particularly important. It will give you a chance to develop skills in team-working, multi-disciplinary and multi-functional activities, project management, and communication, and will have real industrial relevance and involvement.

MEng courses are intended to provide the foundation for leadership, social and business awareness, and for a wider appreciation of the role of risk, environmental, health and safety, and political issues in engineering. Some of these degrees may have straightforward titles, such as civil or chemical engineering; others may clearly have another dimension, such as "Mechanical Engineering and Management Techniques" or "Electronics Engineering and French". All these courses will have good links with the world of employment and are likely to involve attachments to companies or other organisations; some will be organised formally on a sandwich basis.
An MEng degree course is the right one for intending Chartered Engineers or if you are seeking the equivalent qualification in your own country, providing the basis for the competence required by SARTOR.

There are also many three year degree courses, generally with the title of BEng (Hons) (Bachelor of Engineering, Honours degree), which will take you part of the way towards Chartered Engineer status or the equivalent status in your own country, although they do not provide the whole educational base. They have wide international recognition, and in some countries meet the basic requirement for formal professional status. They have many of the same characteristics as the MEng, providing a strong basis in engineering science and design, and placing increasing emphasis on developing communication, teamworking, and interpersonal skills. They do not include so much project work as MEng courses, and generally have a bit less depth and breadth. If you do one of these courses and want to proceed to Chartered Engineer, you will then supplement it with a further period of learning, known as a Matching Section, which will fill the gap between this and an MEng. Matching Sections can take a variety of different forms, incorporating work-based learning, or distance learning as well as full-time study.

If you are more inclined to the practical applications of technology than to a mathematical and theoretical style, then there are other courses that will interest you. You will still be expected to acquire the appropriate knowledge and understanding of engineering science and mathematics, but this will be set very much in the context of real engineering applications. As with other engineering courses, design will provide an integrating theme throughout the course, so that students will be exposed to design requirements, manufacture and construction methods, and issues of reliability and maintainability, whether for products, systems or processes. Once again, strong emphasis is placed on communication, teamworking, and interpersonal skills. These courses often focus on particular applications, such as music technology or multimedia technology. Others may be more in the mainstream of engineering and manufacturing. All provide a thorough grounding in practical engineering skills, knowledge and understanding. Placements in industry are a common feature.

Such degree courses will provide the basis for becoming an Incorporated Engineer or the equivalent professional status in your own country.

The courses which have been accredited under SARTOR have international recognition under a variety of agreements, and provide a basis for competence to practise as an engineer before going on to further professional development.

Check whether your course is SARTOR-accredited before applying to your course in the UK. The Engineering Council's website lists all accredited courses and is regularly updated. Found at http//:www.engc.org.uk/accredited

For further information please contact Richard Shearman 020 7557 6477 rshearman@engc.org.uk

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