Introducing UKSPEC

1
Introducing UK-SPEC

• United Kingdom Standard for Professional
  Engineering Competence

2
UK-SPEC

• Why it happened
• What it does
• Why its different
• How it will work

3
A little history

• SARTOR 1 - 1984
• SARTOR 2 - 1990
• SARTOR 3 1997 major changes, so
  implementation delayed until 1999
• UK-SPEC published 1 December 2003
• Progressive shift from input to output

4
Why it happened

• SARTOR 97 not much loved
• Positives obscured by negatives
• Over-emphasis on academic routes
• World has moved on
• Engineering Council UK

5
What it is 3 documents

• The standards published 1 December 2003
• Regulations for Registration Jan 2004
  www.ukspec.org.uk/Regulations/Regulations3.pdf
• Output Standards March 2004www.ukspec.org.uk/ge
  tting_a_programme_accredited.asp
• These will be in Accreditation Handbook

6
What it does

• Registration as a professional engineer or
  technician is open to all who can demonstrate
  competence and commitment SARTOR 3
• UK-SPEC strengthens that competence-based
  approach
• Registration is open to everyone who can
  demonstrate competence to perform professional
  work to necessary standards, and commitment to
  maintain that competence and work within
  professional codes (UK-SPEC)

7
Competence and Commitment

• UK-SPEC sets out generic statements for
  engineering as a whole
• Institutions will use these to formulate
  statements appropriate to their own area of
  interest
• Some large institutions will just use generic
  ones
• Statements follow SARTOR 3 framework with some
  changes
• There is a relationship between them and output
  standards

8
The competence statements

• Using knowledge and understanding to develop and
  apply technology
• Applying appropriate theoretical and practical
  methods
• Technical and commercial leadership and
  management
• Effective interpersonal skills
• Recognising obligations to society, profession
  and environment

9
Role of education

• To give underpinning knowledge and understanding
  necessary for competence
• Various ways of demonstrating this
• Exemplifying qualification is most
  straightforward

10
Exemplifying Qualifications

• CEng
• Accredited Bachelors (Honours) degree in
  Engineering or Technology plus appropriate
  further learning to Masters level
• Or an accredited MEng degree
• IEng
• - Accredited Bachelors degree in
  Engineering or Technology
• - Or HNC/HND/FD in Engineering or
  Technology, plus appropriate further learning to
  Bachelors level

11
No exemplifying qualification?

• Institution will look at whole career (not just
  education)
• May prescribe further learning
• Those with sufficient experience may write
  Technical Report

12
Accreditation

• UK-SPEC makes output standards the main criterion
• Entry standards still relevant- Entry to the
  programme and how the cohort entry extremes will
  be supported
• Generic ECUK statements for BEng (Hons), MEng and
  IEng degrees
• Institutions will make specific

13
Where did Output Standards come from?

• SARTOR 3 proto-statements
• QAA Benchmarking
• EPC Output Standard
• Compatibility Report

14
Other Masters Degrees

• Providing meet QAA descriptors
• Can be acceptable to Institutions
• To be useful must satisfy institution competence
  statements
• Institutions should be much more sympathetic

15
Accreditation and Bologna

• Continental v English model for HE
• The European Commission wishes to encourage
  accreditation of HE programmes
• UK experience in independent PSB accreditation of
  great interest
• Will help to restore emphasis to outcomes

16
Accreditation and QAA

• Subject Benchmark Statement for Engineering
  (2000)
• Compatibility Working Group (2001)
• Institutional Audit Handbook (2003)
• New Policy on Benchmarking Statements (2004)
• QAA and Europe Bergen 19/20 May

17
Richard Shearman

• rshearman_at_engc.org.uk