Current environmental, economic, and social problems challenge engineers to perform adequate measurements, manage uncertainty, and interpret solutions. Modelling acts as an interface between mathematics and engineering problem-solving. Metacognition significantly influences how engineering students approach, understand, and make sense of real-life problems. This research analyses the metacognitive strategies employed by engineering students during group-based mathematical modelling processes. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the construct validity for our framework of metacognitive strategies in mathematical modelling processes. The framework consists of three components: ‘planning’, ‘monitoring and if necessary regulation’, and ‘evaluation’. The findings extend the theoretical framework of metacognitive strategies for engineering students.