The UK Research Centre in NDE (RCNDE) runs an engineering doctorate programme. The qualification is equivalent to a PhD but with much more industry involvement, the idea being that students spend a large fraction of their time in the sponsoring company. The motivation behind the original government funding was to increase the level of NDE engineers in industry and, by not simply calling the degree a PhD, to appeal to a different intake who actively want to pursue an industrial, rather than academic, career. The programme has been running for over 10 years and over 30 students have graduated; his paper discusses experience with the degree and the benefits delivered to industry.