jobfacts

Quality control and planning engineers

SOC 2020 2481

Quality control and planning engineers plan production schedules, work sequences, and manufacturing and processing procedures to ensure accuracy, quality and reliability.

Also calledGarment technologistClothing technicianTextiles technicianPlanning engineerQuality assurance consultantQuality engineering managerand 27 more titles
Typical full-time pay£43,6002025 Provisional
People in the job36,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month499↑ 11%on last year · 267th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time quality control and planning engineers earn between £35,400 and £54,200 a year.

What full-time quality control and planning engineers earn, 2025
£43,600 typical£29,700lowest 10%£35,40025%£59,000top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£35,400–£54,200)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£29,700
Lowest 20% earn less than£33,200
25%£35,400
Median£43,600
75%£54,200
Top 20% earn more than£59,000
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £43,600
South East!£51,600
East of England!£48,600
London!£47,900
Scotland!£44,500
East Midlands!£43,000
North West!£42,000
West Midlands!£41,500
Wales!£40,300
Yorkshire and The Humber!£40,000
North East!£36,800
South West!£36,300
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £43,600
South East£51,600 (small sample)
East of England£48,600 (small sample)
London£47,900 (small sample)
Scotland£44,500 (small sample)
East Midlands£43,000 (small sample)
North West£42,000 (small sample)
West Midlands£41,500 (small sample)
Wales£40,300 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£40,000 (small sample)
North East£36,800 (small sample)
South West£36,300 (small sample)
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £40,000
  • 2024 £41,300
  • 2025 Provisional£43,600
↑ 9% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 499 jobs for quality control and planning engineers are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (1 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026678
Jul 2026522
Jun 2026455
May 2026496
Apr 2026460
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 2026415
Jan 2026495
Dec 2025305
Nov 2025565
Oct 2025557
Sept 2025540
Aug 2025508
Jul 2025487
Jun 2025485
May 2025601
Apr 2025391
Mar 2025534
Feb 2025552
Jan 2025466
Dec 2024263
Nov 2024383
Oct 2024387
Sept 2024404
Aug 2024432
Jul 2024423
Jun 2024472
May 2024526
Apr 2024511
Mar 2024445
Feb 2024539
Jan 2024599
Dec 2023477
Nov 2023525
Oct 2023517
Sept 2023491
Aug 2023553
Jul 2023527
Jun 2023718
May 2023719
Apr 2023599
Mar 2023702
Feb 2023764
Jan 2023773
Dec 2022667
Nov 2022843
Oct 2022827
Sept 2022772
Aug 2022906
Jul 2022878
Jun 2022937
May 20221,090
Apr 2022819
Mar 2022952
Feb 2022923
Jan 2022890
Dec 2021698
Nov 2021834
Oct 2021860
Sept 2021704
Aug 2021714
Jul 2021898
Jun 2021763
May 2021825
Apr 2021869
Mar 2021865
Feb 2021572
Jan 2021546
Dec 2020437
Nov 2020437
Oct 2020460
Sept 2020452
Aug 2020387
Jul 2020365
Jun 2020324
May 2020358
Apr 2020477
Mar 2020729
Feb 2020787
Jan 2020759
Dec 2019556
Nov 2019752
Oct 2019706
Sept 2019705
Aug 2019734
Jul 20191,023
Jun 2019980
May 2019956
Apr 2019571
Mar 2019707
Feb 2019686
Jan 2019800
Dec 2018461
Nov 2018634
Oct 2018699
Sept 2018767
Aug 2018736
Jul 2018726
Jun 2018869
May 2018758
Apr 2018700
Mar 2018800
Feb 2018748
Jan 2018853
Dec 2017601
Nov 2017848
Oct 2017799
Sept 2017752
Aug 2017777
Jul 2017742
Jun 2017882
May 2017922
Apr 2017854
Mar 2017927
Feb 2017782
Jan 2017986
Is there a shortage of quality control and planning engineers?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedWell above usual
  • Online job advertsAbove usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
28%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for business, media and public service professionals, which includes quality control and planning engineers. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London316
Manchester64
Birmingham49
Bristol, City of48
Glasgow City30
Leeds30
City of Edinburgh21
Newcastle upon Tyne19
Stevenage19
Westmorland and Furness18
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where quality control and planning engineers are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 238 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, Denmark, France, ranking it 66th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of quality control and planning engineers
n/p
32%!
28%!
26%!
11%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3432% (small sample)
35–4428% (small sample)
45–5426% (small sample)
55–6411% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent71%
Higher education below degree!8.4%
A levels or equivalent!12%
GCSEs or equivalent!11%
Other qualifications–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent71%
Higher education below degree8.4% (small sample)
A levels or equivalent12% (small sample)
GCSEs or equivalent11% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: construction of other civil engineering projects nec (5.5%), production of electricity (4.2%), machining (4%), manufacture of air and spacecraft and related machinery (3.4%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
71%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
3
from level 4
Apprenticeships take
22 months to 2½ years
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You could do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in garment technology or fashion design.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree

College

You could complete a college course before applying for a job as a garment technology assistant. Courses include:

  • fashion and textiles
  • garment technology for fashion retail
  • T Level in Craft and Design
Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

Apprenticeship

You can apply to do an apprenticeship with a design studio or manufacturing firm, such as:

  • Fashion and Textiles Product Technologist Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
  • Technical Textiles Specialist Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Work your way up

You may be able to start as a garment technology assistant after completing a qualification in fashion or textiles. You would do further training on the job to become a technologist.

Registration and professional bodies

Professional and industry bodies

You could join the UKFT for technical advice, networking opportunities and professional development training.

Further information

You can find out more about working and training in the clothing industry through UKFT Futures.

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for garment technologist. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

3 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • devises inspection, testing and evaluation methods for bought-in materials, components, semi-finished and finished products
  • ensures accuracy of machines, jigs, fixtures, gauges and other manufacturing and testing equipment
  • prepares work flow charts for individual departments and compiles detailed instructions on processes, work methods and quality and safety standards for workers
  • analyses plans, drawings, specifications and safety, quality, accuracy, reliability and contractual requirements
  • prepares plan of sequence of operations and completion dates for each phase of production or processing
  • oversees effective implementation of adopted processes, schedules and procedures

Skills

  • adjust engineering designs
  • perform scientific research
  • approve engineering design
  • analyse test data
  • use technical drawing software
  • draft design specifications
  • record test data
  • design prototypes
  • follow nuclear plant safety precautions
  • monitor nuclear power plant systems
  • perform laboratory tests
  • perform project management
  • use CAD software
  • assess financial viability

Knowledge

  • engineering principles
  • engineering processes
  • design principles
  • quality standards
  • mechanical engineering
  • physics
  • project management
  • technical drawings

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for business, media and public service professionals, a group of 32 jobs that includes quality control and planning engineers.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 26%about 670,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20352.1 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.