An Engine for Change - A Chronicle of the Engineering Council

1988-1990: THE BARLOW YEARS 69Further and Higher EducationStandards And Routes TO Registration (SARTOR)The Board for Engineers’ Registration (BER) spent much of its time in 1988 elaboratingSARTOR policies as had been promised in 1985 when the EngC document ‘Standards andRoutes to Registration’ was first introduced. The previous parochial thinking that educationbelonged exclusively to Stage 1 of the EngC Register and that training belonged only toStage 2, was modified during 1988 as it became recognised that the outcome of the totalformation of Chartered and Incorporated Engineers was a more significant factor. Thecontemporary attitude was to encourage education and training to be integrated, and alsoassess prior and experiential learning. In addition, alternative routes to EngineeringTechnician registration were considered and approved for implementation in 1989.Despite the EngC’s reservations about higher level NVQs, as we identified in Chapter 3, itco-operated with the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) during the yearon lower and mid level NVQs in engineering. The EngC clearly stated that it would “considerany relevant NVQ against the criteria required for Stage 1 (education) and Stage 2 (training)registration at IEng and EngTech Levels. The Stage 3 (experience) registration wouldcontinue to be a matter for individual assessment by the BER and the EngineeringInstitutions, as would all three Stages concerned with Chartered Engineers”. This stipulationwas imposed because NVQs of the levels then available were deemed unacceptable to theEngC for Chartered Engineers.In November 1989, however, the EngC and the NCVQ issued a joint Statement of Intentdeclaring a common interest in promoting competence-based qualifications. During the yearthe EngC had further co-operated with the NCVQ in developments to NVQ Level 4(equivalent to HNC), helping to introduce a coherent system of post-16 qualifications inwhich vocationally-based competence received comparable recognition to academic-basedcompetence. With the developments by the NCVQ and others in mind, SARTOR was reexaminedin detail and a second edition (SARTOR-2) was prepared for issue. While thegeneral standards were similar to those of the SARTOR of 1985, SARTOR-2 indicated thatthe BER would recognise NVQs at Levels 1 to 4 for potential IEng and EngTech registration,though existing qualification arrangements for CEng did not require any NCVQ involvement.Level 5 NVQs had still to be debated. SARTOR-2 also included an important new sectionoutlining guidelines on ‘Roles and Responsibilities’ for CEng, IEng and EngTechRegistrants.In January 1990 SARTOR-2 was published by the BER and distributed to all universities,polytechnics and colleges and also widely sold at £12 a copy. Registrants could buy a copyfor £9.50. In November 7,000 copies of the section on ‘Recommended Roles andResponsibilities’ were additionally printed and distributed. This tied in neatly with the call inlate 1990 from Tim Eggar, Minister of State for Education, for NVQs to be introduced intoschools. In parallel with this the EngC launched a booklet to show how BTEC courses couldlead to industry-recognised qualifications and to registration.The Integrated Engineering Degree ProgrammeThe EngC, pursuing its remit to broaden and integrate engineering studies, published as aConsultative Document in July 1988, ‘An Integrated Engineering Degree Programme© Engineering Council UK 2004