This study examines how engineering education in a HEI in Ireland, shaped by professional accreditation, prepares graduates to meet the emerging challenges of Industry 5.0. Building on prior research, it introduces a new model for Engineering Education 5.0, which comprises seven core features: technical competency, sustainability, ethics and social impact, collaboration, educational approach, global and cultural awareness, and holistic and human-centric values. The study applies Ball’s (1993) policy cycle to trace how priorities are formed across contexts of influence, text production and practice. Data include interviews with Engineers Ireland accreditation board members, Engineers Ireland’s 2021 Accreditation Criteria, and programme self-assessment reports. Analysis indicates strong alignment with engineering fundamentals, endorsement of lifelong learning, and increasing attention to ethical responsibility. Significant gaps nevertheless emerge. Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are referenced unevenly, with limited attention to responsible use. Sustainability is often operationalised as technical compliance rather than systems thinking and design foresight. Collaboration is commonly framed as teamwork, with weaker emphasis on transdisciplinary problem solving. Human-centricity is present in discourse but constrained by limited explicit commitments to inclusion and accessibility, and by the accreditation body’s restricted remit over pedagogy. Integrating these findings, the thesis refines the original seven-feature model into a nine-feature Engineering Education 5.0 framework: technical competency; AI literacy and technical responsibility; sustainability; ethics and social impact; transdisciplinary collaboration; educational approach; global and cultural perspectives; holistic and human-centricity; and human capabilities. The thesis demonstrates the model’s diagnostic value and shows how accreditation both stabilises traditional competencies and selectively translates emerging expectations. It concludes that Industry 5.0 readiness cannot be achieved through accreditation alone, and calls for coordinated action by professional bodies, educators, institutions and industry to embed responsible AI, inclusive practice and sustainability across curricula and assessment.