Control systems engineer (degree)
- Level
- 6
- Typical duration
- 42 months (about 3.5 years)
- Max funding band
- £27,000
- End-point assessment
- 6 months
- Route
- Engineering and manufacturing
Assuring that manufacturing runs smoothly in areas such as site maintenance.
About the role
This occupation is found in cross sectors such as aerospace, automotive, maritime defence, logistics, oil, gas and other processing Industries. Employers may be directly involved in these activities or as a service provider, original equipment manufacturer or approved solutions provider in large or small to medium organisations providing services such as systems integration, service, maintenance and repair or technical consultancy. The control systems contain software algorithms which monitor information about the activities under control, make decisions based on this information, and then instruct machines or equipment to modify their activities, ensuring that they are performed as required and in a controlled, safe and repeatable manner. Each control system is unique to a plant and typically consist of complex combinations of electrical or electronic hardware and dedicated software. They typically use mechanical, electrical and fluid power to drive physical machines (for example conveyors, lifters and part handling machines) or process equipment units (for example distillation columns and separators).
Within the product manufacturing industry, control system engineers are concerned with the control of automated production processes to manage the interaction of machines or robotics with the products being assembled or parts being utilised for assembly. The process manufacturing industry is concerned with the measurement and control of factors such as pressure, flow and level etc. of products in a process plant.
This occupation will give employers the ability to maintain, update, modify and continually improve their operational capacity and capability.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to be able to plan and lead projects and other relevant programmes of work that involves process improvement, problem solving and maintenance including complex fault finding activities in order to optimise control systems. Depending on the nature and size of organisation Control System Engineers may also be involved in the system design or the installation, testing and commissioning of any new or modified systems.
A control systems engineer is a multi-skilled role specialising in engineering systems that are used to monitor and control manufacturing or process operations, working across a range of equipment such as Programmable Logic Controllers, Human Machine Interfaces, Robots and Industrial Networks in discreet or process manufacturing environments. The use of physical tools, software tools and test or diagnostic instruments, are fundamental to carrying out tasks associated with designing, testing, building, installing, pre commissioning, commissioning and maintaining or servicing of control systems and any associated equipment.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with a multi-disciplinary team for example as a leader or member of a specialist project team, maintenance, installation or commissioning team that will work alongside other stakeholders for such as design engineers, manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, production engineers, cost engineers or procurement managers. Typically this occupation is plant based with some office work. Some sectors may require the control system engineer to work outside, such as in a processing plant.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for ensuring the optimisation of control systems, equipment integrity, reliability, availability and compliance with relevant standards and or directives. Supporting outages, shutdowns and maintenance or servicing activities and providing specialist problem solving, technical back up and support for other engineers. Monitoring of the operation of these systems can be carried out either within in-situ control rooms or in certain cases remotely such as via web based, digital, GPRS based mobile communications.
Control systems engineers will also be responsible for identifying and supporting opportunities for cost savings, efficiency and business improvement. A control systems engineer will work both autonomously and as part of a team reporting to a senior manager or director, depending on the programme of work, projects undertaken and organisation size. They will exercise considerable judgement and autonomy for the work they undertake coupled with a high-level of personal decision making and influence, setting out recommendations and potential options to the employer or customer.
How it compares
At 42 months (about 3.5 years), it is about average length for a degree-level apprenticeship (the average across all 172 Level 6+ standards is 39 months).
The funding band — the maximum an employer's levy can contribute to training costs — is £27,000, at or above the £21,500 average for degree-level standards. Apprentices never pay tuition either way.
Typical job titles
- Control System Engineer
- Controls Technical Support Engineer
- Process Control Engineer
What you come out with
- BEng Honours or BSc Honours degree accredited by an Engineering Council licensed Professional Engineering Institution (PEI). Employers may use a degree that intends to get accreditation - a PEI must be involved and consulted on content from the outset. — Level SixIntegratedDegree
- Professional recognition: Institute of Mechanical Engineers — Incorporated Engineer
- Professional recognition: Institution of Engineering Technology — Incorporated Engineer
- Professional recognition: Royal Aeronautical Society — Incorporated Engineer
What you'll learn
The official standard defines 14 core duties, 24 knowledge areas, 14 skills, 9 behaviours. This is the actual assessed content of the apprenticeship — worth reading before an interview, because competency questions are usually written straight from these lists.
Core duties 14
- Lead a safety culture in their defined work area at all times, ensuring their own safety and the safety of others.
- Ensure that the organisation’s documentation and quality control processes and procedures are adhered to.
- Ensure process control projects or programmes of work comply with any national and international regulatory or compliance requirements.
- Take responsibility for developing and maintaining of own technical knowledge.
- Work independently or as part of a team to provide specialist process control technical input, direction and leadership.
- Determine the type and level of technical data and information required to complete the project or task outcome.
- Plan, organise and manage resources, to monitor progress, identify risks and mitigation to meet project or task outcome.
- Lead and deliver control system engineering projects, project tasks or programmes of work to the agreed schedule, performance and budget.
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
- Determine the appropriate problem solving and diagnostic tools and techniques to be used and lead the problem solving activity.
- Identify and lead continuous improvement activities that impact on factors such as safety, performance or cost.
- Check all project or work programme documentation has been completed correctly and accurately to ensure it meets statutory and organisational compliance and traceability requirements such as safety, quality and environmental.
- Produce technical documentation with applicable supporting data or information as required to inform project outcomes and decision making such as drawings, feasibility studies, quality issues, maintenance or commissioning reports.
- Identify and share good practice, work collaboratively such as recording problems identified and resolution found, sharing technology solutions.
Knowledge 24
- Safety, environmental and security standards associated with control systems and the environments in which they reside such as cyber security and human factors.
- Hazardous areas and safe systems of work including how they can impact the specification of a control and safety system.
- Applications and limitations of control systems and associated instrumentation and equipment such as valves, motors and pumps, plant layout and infrastructure.
- Principles and applications of fluid power systems.
- Systems programming, cyber security, network protocols, databases and software languages of various systems such as programmable logic solvers, human-machine interfaces, data acquisition systems, Profibus, Profinet, EthanetIP and HART.
- Materials and manufacturing processes relevant to the relevant industry sector.
- Control system life-cycle stages such as establishing requirements, technical design specification, selecting suppliers, through to project execution, commissioning, operation and eventual decommissioning.
- Principles of mathematics and scientific methods including analytical techniques required to perform the control systems engineer role such as normalising and evaluating statistical data.
- Principles and applications of electrical, electronic, process control and digital engineering relevant to control systems such as analogue to digital conversion, digital communications buses, and Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) algorithms.
- Different formats for collecting, presenting and storing data such as project, technical and or financial information.
- Commercial nature of projects or programmes of work and how any changes or delays impact on the business such as quality, cost and delivery.
- Assessment and monitoring techniques used for improving the reliability and availability of process control and safety systems including instrumentation and associated equipment such as valves, pump and motors.
- Troubleshooting techniques for diagnosing faults, repairing and recovering control systems from breakdowns.
- Improvement methods and techniques, such as lean and six sigma techniques.
- Specific processes under control and how they can automated to optimise efficiency, and performance
- Quality management and assurance processes associated with control and safety systems such as validation, factory acceptance testing and compliance to international safety standards and technical directives.
- Management of change (MOC) processes of requesting, determining viability, planning, implementing and evaluating changes to a control system. Understand the importance of strict adherence to MOC, and know the limitations when providing MOC approval.
- How to support the start-up and shutdown of a process using the control and safety systems.
- Principles of offline simulation tools such as simulated production lines or high-fidelity process models including applications, limitations and benefits.
- Project management methods and principles of how to set out and record project or programmes of work outcomes and metrics and to track progress.
- How advances in technology could impact organisations in the future including the integration of automation, digital systems and manufacturing engineering systems such as Industry 4.0.
- Workload or time management techniques used to ensure that personal and team objectives are achieved.
- Different applications and limitations of computer-based software systems or packages used such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Modelling, Data Analytics and Databases and project management software tools or programmes.
- Benefits of working collaboratively with colleagues and sharing best practice to support business quality and performance measures or issues such as sharing ideas, solutions to problems previously encountered or benefits of implementing new technologies.
Skills 14
- Translate conceptual designs or technical specifications into operational process control systems.
- Select, use and apply approved problem-solving methods to solve complex problems and determine appropriate solutions such as Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, and Control (DMAIC), Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA), Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) and fishbone diagrams.
- Select the best method for collating and conveying complex information using a range of data sources and supporting documentation.
- Interpret and produce technical documentation such as schematic diagrams, project plans, fault reports or data analytics using company documentation systems and guidelines.
- Observe, record and draw accurate and auditable conclusions from data and or developmental or test evidence.
- Manage assigned projects or programmes of work, taking into account factors such as safety, quality, cost and performance criteria. Apply techniques and processes for project or programme management including escalation, audit or risk management and risk mitigation.
- Comply with statutory and organisational safety standards and requirements including supporting safety risk assessments and mitigating any risks identified within the control systems environment.
- Identify resources required to complete control system projects, project tasks or programmes of work, with consideration to factors such as cost, quality, safety, security, environmental impact as applicable to the activity.
- Create a project or work programme plan and develop activities in a logical process embedding mechanisms for adapting to changing circumstances or requirements.
- Demonstrate leadership when undertaking control system engineering activities such as system design, integration, operational simulation, installation, testing, pre commissioning, commissioning and maintenance of control systems.
- Ensure that all instrumentation has been correctly configured and calibrated before use.
- Identify areas for improvement and lead continuous improvement activities such as improving safety, quality, technology solutions, operational processes, training and development, equipment performance or cost key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Perform checks on control systems documentation to ensure it meets organisational compliance and traceability requirements. Report any non-conformances using the appropriate processes and procedures.
- Interpret key performance indicators and utilise improvement techniques or processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness such as lean or six sigma.
Behaviours 9
- Champions a healthy and safe working environment.
- Has a quality and compliance mindset.
- Uses independent judgement and takes responsibility for decisions.
- Collaborates and promotes teamwork across discipline.
- Is agile, resilient and motivated when faced with change.
- Builds relationships in a respectful, collaborative and open and honest way.
- Committed to continuous professional development.
- Committed to upholding the organisations values, ethics, goals, codes of practice, statutory requirements and standards.
- Leads by example by being an advocate for change and sustainable approaches.
Live vacancies
No live vacancies for this course as of 2026-07-24 — new adverts appear on Find an apprenticeship daily, and many degree apprenticeship employers recruit on their own careers sites instead.
Universities registered to deliver it
4 universities are on the government provider register for this standard. Registration means they can deliver it — live vacancies depend on employer partnerships each recruitment cycle.
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Official sources
- Official standard page (Skills England)
- Registered training providers (Find apprenticeship training)
Occupational summary, duties, knowledge, skills and behaviours reproduced from the ST0023 apprenticeship standard (last updated 2025-12-08) — contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Always check the official page before applying: standards get revised.