To maintain accreditation, centres must submit an Annual Declaration form (Word 232KB) to the Accreditation Unit each year. We will email you in December outlining what information you need to send us to maintain accreditation. Annual declaration forms must be returned to the Unit by 15 February each year.
Inform us about changes
In the event of changes to provision such as a change of owner, principal or academic manager, new premises or other major changes, the Accreditation Unit must be notified immediately using the Notification of changes form (Word 57KB).
If a new school or centre is being opened, accredited centres must submit a Request for an extension of accreditation form (Word 68KB). This is to be completed by the main contact in the accredited organisation only.
Re-inspection
Accredited centres are re-inspected every four years. The Inspections Co-ordinator will write to accredited centres in the autumn of the year before the re-inspection is due and indicate the proposed month of re-inspection.
Accredited centres are responsible for submitting their re-inspection applications by the appropriate deadline (see table below) to maintain accreditation.
| Re-inspection month |
Deadline |
| July / August 2016 |
4 March 2016 |
| September / October 2016 |
3 June 2016 |
| November / December 2016 |
29 July 2016 |
| January / February / March 2017 |
4 November 2016 |
| April / May / June 2017 |
6 January 2017 |
| July / August 2017 |
3 March 2017 |
| |
|
There are various templates available to assist you in the preparation for and the provision of documentation for inspection. A full list of documents can be found on pages 47 to 50 of the Accreditation UK Handbook.
Self assessment templates
You can self assess your organisation against the inspection criteria. Use these templates to see if your centre meets the requirements.
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Management (Word 74KB)
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Resources and environment (Word 54KB)
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Teaching and learning (Word 74KB)
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Welfare and student services (Word 88KB)
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Care of under 18s (Word 55KB)
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Home tuition (Word 52KB)
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International study centres (Word 55KB)
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In company provision (Word 52KB)
Points to be addressed
Where you have 'Points to be addressed' on an inspection report, you need to submit an appropriate Action plan (Word 51KB), in preparation for the next inspection or earlier as required by the Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee (ASAC). Your plan will include a timeframe and will form part of the next inspection.
Applying for re-inspection (Stage 1)
You need to download, complete and submit the:
1. relevant application form - private sector (Word 72KB), state sector (Word 74KB), home tuition providers (Word 55KB) with home tuition teacher list (31KB) or supplementary inspection (Word 70KB).
2. Declaration of legal and regulatory compliance (Word 35KB)
Please post completed applications to Andrea Maxwell, Accreditation Unit, British Council, Bridgewater House, 58 Whitworth Street, Manchester, M1 6BB.
Please keep a copy of your application as a reference and backup.
Preparing for inspection (Stage 2)
Once your inspection date has been agreed, as part of Stage 2, you must send both inspectors inspection preparation documentation (see Handbook pages 48-49 for a complete list for Stage 2).
It is now possible for centres to provide documentation electronically for inspectors. If you are interested in this format you can get more information from the Electronic documentation guidance document (PDF 292 KB). Appendix 2 (Word 82 KB) and Appendix 3 (Word 72 KB) from this guidance document have been made available to download separately in Word format.
Template forms are provided for some of these items:
Preparing for inspection (Stage 2 - rationales)
Accredited centres must submit rationales for members of the academic staff whose qualifications do not meet Scheme requirements for their roles. These requirements are set out in criteria T1, T2 and T4 and further information is provided in section 4.2 of the Handbook.
Rationale forms are provided for:
1. A teacher who does not have a general level of education normally represented by a Level 6 qualification on the Ofqual register of Regulated Qualifications (Word 26KB).
2. A teacher who does not have the ELT/TESOL qualifications appropriate to the courses they are teaching (Word 27KB).
3. A sole academic manager (i.e. where there is only one person in charge of academic management) who is not TEFLQ and/or does not have a minimum of three years full-time relevant teaching experience (Word 40KB).
4. An academic management team leader (where there is a formally constituted team involved in academic management) who is not TEFLQ and/or does not have a minimum of three years full-time relevant teaching experience (Word 53KB).
5. A member of an academic management team who is not TEFLQ and/or does not have a minimum of three years full-time relevant teaching experience (Word 42KB).
NB Criterion T4 states that “at least one person (in an academic management team) will have....a TEFLQ qualification”. Rationales for TEFLI members of the academic management team with a Level 6 qualification and the required experience (see T4 above) will normally be accepted if they are supported by a TEFLQ member of the team and are carrying out duties appropriate to their level of qualification. The rationale is needed to clarify their qualifications, experience, and deployment.
During the inspection (Stage 3)
There are no specific forms for Stage 3, please see pages 49-50 of the Accreditation UK Handbook for the full list of documentation inspectors will want to see during the inspection. Inspectors will sample files and records to obtain evidence that criteria are met.
If you would like further information on the application stages, you can download our Pre inspection advice sheet (PDF 114KB).
Feedback on inspections
We welcome your feedback on the inspection process. Please use the Inspection evaluation form (Word 72KB) to tell us about your experience.
