New survey findings published to mark Chartered Week
This week we're joining organisations across the country to celebrate Chartered Week, a national celebration of the value and impact of professional registration across all industries. As celebrations get underway, we are publishing a new report which looks at young people’s views on professional registration in engineering.
Our survey, conducted at The Big Bang Fair 2025, found that awareness of professional registration among students aged 10 to 13 is very low. 72% reported they had not heard of it, 18% were unsure and only 10% of respondents had heard of professional registration before The Fair.
Encouragingly, when professional registration was explained in an age-appropriate way, 62% of young people said it made them more interested in engineering. This was largely due to themes of trust, respect, career opportunity, and personal confidence.
However, 32% of students said learning about professional registration hadn’t made them more interested in engineering. This tended to be because they were either uncertain about their future or disengaged from engineering in general. For these students, knowing about professional registration alone was not motivating and was described as feeling a bit complicated or abstract.
Amanda Aldercotte, our Head of Evaluation and Impact, explains “We need more young people from all backgrounds to be interested in engineering and technology careers. These findings suggest that when presented in the right way, professional registration can help young people understand that engineering careers are built on trust, respect, and real opportunities for progression. By connecting professional registration to broader stories of creativity, real-world impact and role models, we can make it feel relevant and inspiring for young people.”
The report includes several recommendations for how to ensure professional registration reinforces interest and confidence, without feeling distant or intimidating.
These include:
- Inspire first, explain later
Lead with what makes engineering exciting, creative, and impactful before introducing professional registration - Make professional registration relatable
Use stories of diverse engineers, real projects, and tangible examples to help students connect with the concept - Focus on benefits, not technicalities
Emphasise trust, recognition, and career pathways rather than formal processes or requirements
These findings suggest that when presented in the right way, professional registration can help young people understand that engineering careers are built on trust, respect, and real opportunities for progression. By connecting professional registration to broader stories of creativity, real-world impact and role models, we can make it feel relevant and inspiring for young people.
— Amanda Aldercotte, Head of Evaluation and Impact at EnginneringUK
