2.11 Accreditation by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies

1. Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) set standards for, and regulate standards of entry into particular professions. The University engages with a number of PSRBs through formal accreditation of taught study schemes at undergraduate and postgraduate level. As part of its responsibility for the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Academic Board retains overall responsibility for managing all external review, validation and accreditation exercises relating to teaching activities within the University.

2. Departments retain responsibility for liaising with PSRBs for initial accreditation and for the management of accredited schemes within their subject areas. PSRB reports provide valuable external feedback on the quality and standards of schemes and departments  are expected to take them fully into account as part of the Annual Monitoring of Taught Schemes (see section 6 of the AMTS1 form).

3. Departments are required to confirm whether it is intended to seek accreditation for new schemes as part of the Scheme Approval Process. Initial accreditation of new schemes should normally take place as soon as possible after final approval, and Academic Board should be informed of the outcome of the accreditation exercise.

4. Faculties should ensure that copies of the following are submitted to the Academic Registry for consideration by Academic Board: all correspondence and documents submitted to PSRBs for accreditation exercises; correspondence and reports arising from accreditation exercises, and departmental responses or action plans. These should be sent to qaestaff@aber.ac.uk

5. All reports arising from PSRB reviews will be considered by Academic Board. This is to ensure that any weaknesses identified in university procedures can be addressed, that departments have responded to any issues identified by PSRBs, and that any good practice is disseminated more widely within the University. Academic Board will follow up and monitor action arising from PSRB reports, and may require departments to prepare internal action plans in response to PSRB reports.

6. Academic Board will maintain a register of all schemes which are accredited by PSRBs. Faculty Associate Deans will be invited to review and confirm the accuracy of the register on an annual basis. Faculties are also expected to inform Academic Board of any changes to the status of scheme accreditations.

7. Departments are responsible for publishing full details of scheme accreditations to students, and must always keep applicants and current students informed of the status of the study scheme with regards to PSRB accreditation.

If changes occur to the mode of study, or if a new collaborative arrangement for a study scheme is put in place, the relevant departments should liaise with the PSRB to check whether the amended provision falls under current accreditation arrangements. Students must be informed of the status of the new or amended provision.