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The route into chemical engineer

Assembled backwards from the job: the degrees that lead there, the subjects those degrees require, the exams and when they are sat, and what the whole thing costs in years. Print it.

1. Subjects, chosen at fifteen or sixteen

Aggregated across every degree that leads here. Anything marked required closes the door if you skip it.

Saudi curriculum track

مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة— Computer Science and Engineering · مسار الصحة والحياةor مسار علوم الحاسب والهندسة

A-Level

  • Mathematicsrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Chemistryrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Physicsrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Further Mathematicshelpsfor Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Biologyhelpsfor Chemistry
  • Design and Technologyhelpsfor Mechanical Engineering
  • Geographyhelpsfor Petroleum Engineering

IB Diploma

  • Physics HLrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HLrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • Chemistry HLrequiredfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Petroleum Engineering
  • Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches HL or SLhelpsfor Chemistry
  • Biology HLhelpsfor Chemistry
  • Chemistryhelpsfor Mechanical Engineering
  • Design Technologyhelpsfor Mechanical Engineering
  • Geographyhelpsfor Petroleum Engineering

Advanced Placement

  • AP Chemistryhelpsfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • AP Calculus BChelpsfor Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • AP Physics C: Mechanicshelpsfor Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering
  • AP Physics 1helpsfor Chemical Engineering, Chemistry
  • AP Calculus AB or BChelpsfor Chemistry
  • AP Biologyhelpsfor Chemistry
  • AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetismhelpsfor Mechanical Engineering
  • AP Environmental Sciencehelpsfor Petroleum Engineering

2. The degree

More than one route usually exists. They are not equivalent.

  • Chemical Engineering

    The direct destination — process design, plant operations and production.

    Four to five years, with a preparatory year common in the Kingdom and industrial placements widely available.

  • Chemistry

    Reachable with a conversion master's, and the two disciplines work side by side in industry.

    Three to four years, with four-year integrated master's routes standard for research-bound students in the UK.

  • Mechanical Engineering

    Process plant work, where the two disciplines overlap heavily in practice.

    Four to five years, often including a preparatory or foundation year in the Kingdom and an industrial placement year elsewhere.

  • Petroleum Engineering

    Downstream processing and refining, a common lateral move within the same employers.

    Four to five years, with a preparatory year common and industrial placement standard.

3. Exams, and when to sit them

Registration deadlines fall weeks or months before the exam. That is what people miss, not the exam.

  • ESATOctober

    Cambridge and Imperial require it for chemical engineering; most universities do not.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • Qudurat and TahsiliGrade 11 and 12

    The Saudi composite; the Tahsili chemistry component is weighted heavily here.

    • Several periods across the yearQudurat (General Aptitude Test), open from Grade 11. Computer-based and paper sittings both run.
    • Final months of the school yearTahsili (Scholastic Achievement Test), sat near the end of Grade 12 once the syllabus is covered.
    • Spring and summer of Grade 12University applications through the unified admission portals and each university's own portal.
  • IELTS, TOEFL or STEPBefore enrolment

    Decides whether an English preparatory year is required at the engineering colleges.

    • Weekly, year-roundIELTS and TOEFL both run frequently at centres across the Kingdom; Duolingo and PTE can be sat at very short notice.
    • 3 to 13 days after the testResults, depending on the test. IELTS computer-delivered is among the fastest; paper-based is slower.
    • Autumn of Grade 12 at the latestWhen to have sat it by, leaving room for one repeat before offers are decided.
  • ESAT or TMUAOctober of the application year

    Required by Cambridge and Imperial for engineering; most other universities require nothing.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.
  • PATOctober

    Oxford's engineering, physics and materials test.

    • July to SeptemberUCAT testing window, sat at a test centre.
    • September to JanuaryLNAT testing window for most law courses.
    • OctoberMost Oxford and Cambridge subject tests — TMUA, ESAT, PAT, TSA.
    • JuneSTEP, sat alongside A-Levels as a condition of a Cambridge or Warwick offer rather than for shortlisting.

4. After the degree

Training, licensing and the years between graduating and practising independently.

Saudi Arabia

  1. schoolSecondary school, science track (علمي)3 yr
  2. undergraduateBSc Chemical Engineering4–5 yrs
  3. trainingGraduate development programme with an industrial employer1–2 yrs
  4. licensingSaudi Council of Engineers registration0–1 yrs
  5. practiceProcess engineer0 yr

LicensingSaudi Council of Engineers registration is mandatory to practise.

United Kingdom

  1. schoolA-levels including maths and chemistry2 yr
  2. undergraduateBEng or MEng Chemical Engineering3–4 yrs
  3. trainingGraduate development toward chartership3–5 yrs
  4. licensingChartered Engineer status0–1 yrs
  5. practiceChartered chemical engineer0 yr

LicensingChartership is the professional standard and is closely tied to seniority and pay.

United States

  1. schoolHigh school with maths, chemistry and physics4 yr
  2. undergraduateBachelor's in chemical engineering4 yr
  3. licensingProfessional Engineer licence, where required0–4 yrs
  4. practiceChemical engineer0 yr

LicensingMost chemical engineers in industry never license; it matters for consulting and public sign-off.

5. What the route costs

Not tuition — time. The years spent training are years not spent earning, and that is the largest cost of a long route by a wide margin.

Saudi Arabia

School-leaving to independent practice: 5–7 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is air traffic controller at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 3 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of SAR 140,000–220,000, that is roughly SAR 420,000–660,000 of earnings deferred.

United Kingdom

School-leaving to independent practice: 7–9 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is management consultant at 3 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 6 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of £27,000–35,000, that is roughly £162,000–210,000 of earnings deferred.

United States

School-leaving to independent practice: 4–8 years.

The shortest route needing no degree written up on this site is aircraft maintenance engineer at 4 years. Someone taking that route has been earning for 4 years by the time this one starts. At their entry pay of $48,780–62,630, that is roughly $195,120–250,520 of earnings deferred.

How that figure was reached, and what it leaves out

It is arithmetic on the sourced figures elsewhere on this site — training years multiplied by the shortest route’s entry pay — not a measurement of anything. It ignores what trainees earn while training, which in medicine and several other routes is a real salary. It ignores the pay you reach afterwards, which for long routes is usually higher and can overtake the gap entirely. And it excludes tuition, deliberately: Saudi public universities charge nationals no tuition, and fees abroad vary so widely by country and university that any single figure would be misleading. Treat it as a sense of scale for the years, not as a calculation of whether a career is worth it.

Everything on this page is assembled from the career page, the majors that lead to it and the exams those majors require, so it cannot say something they do not. Entry requirements change every year — confirm on the course page for the year you apply.