Engineering and manufacturing

Engineers are creative and hands on. They design, create, test and improve all sorts of products and processes. From buildings in your local community to railways and aircrafts – bring creations to life as an engineer.

The impact you could make

  • Solving the world’s upcoming problems using creative and problem solving skills. 
  • Responding to natural disasters, improving cyber security and developing clean energy sources. 
  • Designing driverless vehicles and spacecrafts for future tourists. 

The opportunities within engineering and manufacturing

There are many diverse opportunities from aerospace and pharmaceuticals to food and fast-moving consumer goods production. This industry thrives on a global scale, so you may get to travel all around the world during your career.

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Employment

There are 139,300 people currently working in engineering.*

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Job availability

Between 2022 to 2025 a further 8,200 people will be needed to fill job openings.*

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Job diversity

There are 4,821 Modern Apprentices working within engineering in Scotland.*

*Sector Skills Assessment 2022
 

The potential for an engineer is massive. You can take it wherever you want to go.

Andy

Head of Technology Development and Digitalisation at Booth Welsh

Some things you may not know about engineering and manufacturing

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Scotland designs and builds more nano satellites than anywhere else in Europe.

Scottish Engineers are leading the world in harnessing tidal power.

The Scottish Space industry is growing rapidly and will need more than 3,000 Engineers in the next 10 years as Scotland prepares for the first European space launch from home soil.

*Scottish Space Strategy 

What subjects to take

We’ve pulled together some examples of subjects that could be useful for getting into a career in engineering and manufacturing.

  • Computing
  • Physics
  • Engineering FA
  • English
  • Design & Manufacture
  • Maths

For most jobs, you might not need specific subjects. If your school does not provide all of these subjects or you're just unsure — do not worry. There are many more subjects you can explore by using the Option Choices tool or speaking to your careers adviser in your school.

What routes you can take

There are different options you can choose from after school. We’ve pulled together some of them to help you decide which is best for you.