In 1997, the academic requirement for Chartered Engineer (CEng) status was raised to a Masters Degree or equivalent. This has increased the pressure to develop a range of different provision at this level as alternatives to full-time education. Since 2006, the Engineering Council has worked with a number of universities and professional engineering institutions (PEIs) to develop flexible MSc Professional Engineering programmes as pathways to professional qualification. The model of provision adopted integrates the work-based development of Masters level knowledge and understanding with the development of the skills and competence required for CEng status.

This paper presents the findings of the interim evaluation of the ‘Gateways to the Profession’project, initially funded by the then Department of Education and Science (DfES), and includes feedback from each stakeholder group through questionnaires and interviews. Overall, the responses have been positive and appear to confirm a high level of interest in this type of flexible pathway, as well as highlighting a number of areas that merit further investigation. Whilst the academic content and relevance of the programme is critical to all stakeholders, the quality assurance and administrative infrastructure have proved to be equally important, since the development of documentation that would be acceptable to a range of professional and academic organisations and enable professional accreditation at some point in the future is pivotal for the overall success of the programme.