Accreditation of Engineering Education Programmes

Scope of ECSA’s Accreditation Function

The Engineering Council of South Africa is empowered by the Engineering Profession Act, 2000 (Act 46 of 2000) (EPA), to conduct accreditation visits to educational institutions that offer engineering programmes to determine whether the engineering qualifications offered can be recognised by the Council for purposes of registration. The educational programmes considered for accreditation and the categories of registration for which each type of programme satisfies the education requirements is as follows:

While accreditation visits are required by the EPA, these visits are conducted on invitation and with the full co-operation of the higher education providers.  The visit evaluation process and decision by the accreditation committee results in a programme that meets all criteria being granted accreditation, that is its graduates are recognised as meeting the education requirements for registration in the relevant category. A programme that does not meet all the requirements may be granted accreditation for a specified period on condition that the deficiencies are remedied by the provider and the programme is re-evaluated within the specified period.

The process accredits individual programmes, not academic departments or universities.

ECSA has two accreditation process for engineering (BEng-type) and technology (BTech and National Diploma) programmes respectively. Programmes for persons working toward the Government Certificate of Competency are handled differently.

Development of the Accreditation System and Changes to the Structure of Qualifications

The accreditation process for BEng-type programmes was extensively revised in the late 1990s and outcomes based criteria were introduced in 2000. As a result of a recent review, ECSA has adopted common accreditation criteria, policy and processes based on the BEng-type process for all types of programme. While each type of programme will have appropriate standards, that is statement of outcomes to be achieved at exit level and curriculum structural requirements, criteria such as the quality of teaching and learning will have a common form for all types of programmes.  These common criteria, policies and procedures are currently applicable to the accreditation of BEng-type programmes and will be applied to to technology programmes from 2011.

The common criteria, policy and processes for accreditation will be applied to to technology programmes from 2011. For the remainder of 2011, and any programmes that require revisits as a result of accreditation decisions in 2010 and previous years will be evaluated according to the Criteria, Standards  Policy and Processes Applicable to technology programmes currently. New standards for technology programmes to be phased in for visits 2013-2014 and beyond.  ECSA will publish the relevant standards as soon as these are registered with SAQA.  Technology programmes are affected by the Higher Educational Qualifications Framework (HEQF) and the National Diploma and BTech must, in due course be replaced by new types of qualifications. See ECSA’s Position Paper on HEQF-compliant qualifications.

Accreditation of BEng or BSc(Eng)-type Engineering Programmes

See Document E-01-P for an overview of the accreditation system. Standards for BEng Programmes are defined in documents E-02-PE and E-03-P. below. The latter document contains the criteria applicable to all types of programmes while the former, E-02-PE contains the standard for the BEng-type programme, that is the exit level outcomes and requirements on the curriculum.
The Policies, procedures and reporting formats are defined in documents E-10-P to E-15-P. The appeal procedure is laid out in E-16-P.

To see the list of accredited BEng-type degrees, consult document E-20-P.

Accreditation Document Index

E-01-P:  Background to Accreditation of Engineering Education Programmes
E-02-PE: Standards for Accredited BSc(Eng)/Beng Programmes;
E-03-P:  Criteria for Accreditation of Engineering Programmes Meeting Stage 1 Requirements
E-10-P: Policy on Accreditation of Engineering Programmes Meeting Stage 1 Requirements ;
E-11-P:  Procedure for Arranging and Conducting an Accreditation visit;
E-12-P:  Documentation Requirements for Accreditation Visits;
E-13-P:  Forms for Use in Accreditation Visit Documentation ;
E-14-P:  Accreditation Team Report and Recommendation Format;
E-14-P: Annexure: Template to Visit Reports on BEng-Type Programmes
E-15-P:  Accreditation Visit Leader’s Report Format;
E-16-P:  Procedure for Appeals Against Accreditation Decisions.
E-20-PE: List of Accredited Programmes

Accreditation of National Diploma or  BTech Technology Programmes

The current standards, policies and procedures for accreditation of technology qualifications are defined in the following documents:

Section 1: Policy
Section 2: Requirements for Accreditation
Section 3: Accreditation Process
Section 4: Submission Prior to Visit
Section 5: Documentation for Use During Accrediation Visits

Accredited technology programmes are identified on the  List of Accredited National Diploma and BTech programmes

• List of Accredited National Diploma programmes
• List of Accredited BTech programmes

Agreement on Accreditation with Council on Higher Education
ECSA has a direct mandate from the EPA to conduct accreditation visits toe higher education providers offering engineering programmes. The Higher Education Act also requires the the Council on Higher Education (CHE) to quality assure programmes.  Teh CHE and ECSA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November 2006. The MoU formalises the arrangement whereby ECSA, in carrying out its acreditation programme also quality assures  engineering programmes on behalf of the CHE, for purposes of the Higher Education Act.  A provider wishing to introduce a new programme must obtain candidacy phase accreditation from the CHE.  Programmes covered by the MoU are the BEng-tpe, BTech and National Diplomas in engineering fields.

Qualifications for Certificated Engineers
The Certificated Engineers Accreditation Committee (CERTAC)  advises the Commissioner of Examiners for the Government Certificate of Competency (GCC) on qualifications for entry to the GCC examination, leading to the award of certificates of competency (CoC) issued by the Departments of Labour, Mineral Resources and Transport, for the following certificates:

Certain qualifications in Mechanical, Electrical and Mining Engineering accredited by ECSA as engineering or technology programmes are also recognised by the Commission of Examiners.

Back to Education Overview