Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
Accreditation Panels are convened by the Secretary, Sue Frost, Academic Office, upon
notification of a proposal to consider either:
a) an External Accreditation:
An education and training programme of any length, delivered by and belonging to an
external provider. The external accreditation process measures what already
exists/what is proposed and recognises its equivalence to a defined volume and level
of Anglia Ruskin general credit. Participants on the programme are NOT registered
as Anglia Ruskin students so cannot use the University resources and are not
entered on SITS. Assessments do not go to the University Assessment Panels, but
are monitored by the Link Lecturer who submits an annual report on the accreditation
to the Faculty Board. The external company will produce a certificate for students
who complete the Accreditation, which may include the words ‘Anglia Ruskin
University recognises this course to be equivalent to X credits at X level’.
OR
b) a Faculty Short Course Accreditation of more than 15 credits
A short course delivered by and belonging to Anglia Ruskin University.
An External Examiner is required to be appointed for all Anglia Ruskin short courses
at NQF/QCF level 5 or above.
All assessment results are considered by the relevant Faculty DAP.
NB: Proposals for accrediting Faculty Short Courses up to and including 15
credits are considered by the respective Faculty Quality and Standards Committee.
1.
Meetings
1.1
Meetings will normally be arranged approximately 20 working days following
notification of a proposal, but will not normally be scheduled in August.
1.2
Meetings will normally be scheduled to take place at the Chelmsford campus;
however time and location may be varied depending on the number of Accreditations
to be considered, and ease of accessibility for participants.
1.3
A standard agenda is available as a template at
J:\Services\Academic Office\Public\Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)\EXTERNAL
ACCREDITATIONS\Agenda - Ext Acc Panel.doc
1.4
All documentation for the Accreditation Panel must be submitted electronically to Sue
Frost, Academic Office, at least 12 working days prior to the meeting date.
2.
Constitution
2.1
The constitution of the Accreditation Panel is as follows:



A member of the Quality and Standards Committee Chair
Two Academic Staff Members of the Quality and Standards Committee or its
Subcommittees
Director of the Academic Office (or nominee)
One representative from Corporate Marketing, International and Development
Services
One representative from Learning Development Services

Secretary (not a member): from the Academic Office


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Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
2.2
Quoracy is based on the availability of a total of three Academic Staff Members.
3.
Schedules
External Accreditations
3.1
The following schedules are required to be submitted to Sue Frost, Academic Office,
for each External Accreditation:





3.2
Accreditation Proposal Form,
Quality Assurance Checklist,
CVs
Student handbook or equivalent
Report from Faculty AP(E)L Adviser/HoD
The Accreditation Proposal and QA Checklist should be completed by the external
institution. The Checklist will provide additional guidance for development of the
Proposal Document. Both forms are available on the curriculum website at:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/curriculum/accreditation_prior_learning.phtml
and on the J-Drive at:
J:\Services\Academic Office\Public\Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)\EXTERNAL
ACCREDITATIONS\Proposal Form and QA Checklist
An example completed Proposal form and Checklist can also be found on the J-Drive
using the link above.
3.3
CVs for those who will be regularly involved in delivering the modules/programme,
and a copy of any Student Handbook or equivalent should be provided by the
external institution to accompany the proposal.
3.4
A signed report from the relevant Faculty AP(E)L Adviser and Head of Department
containing comments on the proposal MUST also be submitted with the proposal.
3.5
A Credit Recognition Agreement must be completed following successful approval
of an External Accreditation to finalise the approval.




The Faculty is responsible for completing a Draft Agreement and ensuring that all
areas to be filled in are completed, and proof read for spelling and typographical
errors. The Draft Agreement should then be sent to Emma Harwood to check the
legal content of the Agreement before the Faculty send the Agreement to the
External institution for approval and signature.
On return from the external institution two copies of the Agreement are to be sent
to the Vice Chancellor’s Office for signature by Stephen Bennett the Secretary &
Clerk or his nominee from the VC’s Office Lesley Dobree, Deputy Vice Chancellor
(Academic).
The original copy of the Agreement will be filed by Tuuli Boateng and kept in the
Office of the Secretary & Clerk (please contact Tuuli Boateng if copies are
required). A Copy should be retained by the Faculty and copy also sent to Sue
Frost, Academic Office.
On expiry of the 5 year Duration of the Agreement, the Faculty will instigate a
renewed Agreement being created and signed, subject to agreement by the
Faculty Board following annual monitoring. If amendments are required to the
external course, the Accreditation Panel would first need to approve course
changes before a renewed Agreement is created.
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Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
The Credit Recognition Agreement is available on the Secretary’s website, or on the
following link:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/curriculum/accreditation_prior_learning.phtml
Faculty Short Course Accreditations
3.6
The following schedules are required to be submitted to Sue Frost, Academic Office,
for each Faculty Short Course Accreditation:



3.7
Accredited Faculty Short Course Proposal Form
Any Course Handbook or equivalent for students
CVs
The Accredited Faculty Short Course Proposal Form is available on the curriculum
website:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/curriculum/accreditation_prior_learning.phtml
and the J-Drive
J:\Services\Academic Office\Public\Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)\SHORT
COURSE Accreditations\Faculty Short Course - Accreditation Proposal Form v3.doc
3.8
CVs for those who will be regularly involved in delivering the short course, and a copy
of any Student Handbook or equivalent should be provided by the Faculty to
accompany the Proposal.
4.
Consideration of Proposals
4.1
Prior to each Accreditation Panel meeting a planning meeting will be held (normally
for External Accreditations only). This will normally take place approximately ten
working days in advance of the meeting. The Chair, the Secretary of the
Accreditation Panel and the relevant Faculty AP(E)L Adviser or Accreditation
representative will attend the planning meeting. At the planning meeting the
documentation submitted will be considered in terms of its completeness and factual
accuracy (where appropriate). At this stage, a decision will be made by the Chair as
to whether to proceed with consideration of the proposal at the next meeting, based
on whether the documentation provided meets the requirements (see Section 3
above). The Chair may also identify any further documentation or information
required in relation to the proposal to be addressed either prior to or at the meeting.
4.2
The relevant Faculty representative will provide feedback from the planning meeting
to the proposal team and the relevant Anglia Ruskin University Head of Department.
4.3
Minor revisions (constituting no more than 20% of the total) to the proposal
documentation may be permitted at this stage so long as these are clearly indicated
and are received by the Secretary to the Accreditation Panel no later than five
working days in advance of the Accreditation Panel meeting.
4.4
During the Accreditation Panel meeting there will be the opportunity to discuss
various aspects of the proposal with members of the proposal team. Topics for
discussion will be based on the headings contained within the proposal document
template and will be indicated in broad terms on the Agenda for each meeting.
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Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
4.5
Following consideration of each proposal the Chair of the Accreditation Panel will
provide verbal feedback to the proposal team, having consulted with members of the
Panel. This feedback will include an indication of whether the proposal is approved,
any conditions related to the approval, timescales for responding to the conditions
and the duration of the approval term (e.g. five years or to the next relevant course
group review).
5.
Following the Meeting
5.1
The minutes of the meeting in the form of a report for each proposal under
consideration shall be drafted by the Secretary and forwarded to the Chair for
approval. Any comments provided by the Chair should be incorporated into each
report prior to circulation to attendees.
5.2
The responses of those proposing the Accreditation to any conditions set should be
submitted to the Secretary of the Accreditation Panel. The Chair of the Accreditation
Panel will normally consider the responses and be responsible for confirming if the
conditions of approval have been satisfactorily met. Upon successful approval, the
Secretary of the Accreditation Panel will confirm the Chair’s decision by email to all
participants of the Accreditation. The Faculty may then proceed with drafting the
Credit Recognition Agreement to finalise the Accreditation (External Accreditations
only).
5.3
The list of current External Accreditations or Faculty Short Course Accreditations
should be updated accordingly to show the status of the proposal, i.e. approved, or
approved with conditions. The External Accreditation approval list can be found on
the J-Drive at:
J:\Services\Academic Office\Public\Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)\EXTERNAL
ACCREDITATIONS\List of Ext Accreditatioins.xls
And the ARU Accredited Short Course Approvals List can be found at:
J:\Services\Academic Office\Public\Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)\SHORT
COURSE Accreditations\Accredited Short Course Approvals List.xls
5.4
A hard copy of schedules from each External Accreditation or Faculty Short Course
Accreditation shall be held by the Secretary to the Accreditation Panel in the
Academic Office.
6.
The Role of the Link Lecturer
6.1
A link lecturer shall be appointed to each approved External Accreditation, nominated
by the respective Faculty Head of Department.
6.2
The role of the link lecturer will be to:


Externally examine/moderate assignments/assessments for the accredited
course.
Write an Annual Monitoring Report on the external accreditation for review at the
Faculty Board to monitor the learning and teaching environment and determine
the continuation of the external accreditation.
The link lecturer may also be available to sit on the course committee at the external
institution to review student progress and experience on the course and advise on
course enhancements.
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Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
7.
Subsequent Course Tariffs
7.1
A course having been successfully approved as an Anglia Ruskin external
accreditation may be recognised on a course tariff to ease the process of admitting
future students onto Anglia Ruskin awards. Any applications for approval of a Course
Tariff should be submitted to the Faculty AP(E)L Adviser for approval and will be
processed by Sue Frost, Academic Office. Once the tariff approval process is
complete, tariff details will be entered onto the Course Tariff database and notification
will be given when the tariff is operational.
8.
Summary of Timescales
The table below provides a summary of the timescale for stages in the accreditation process:
Action Required
By Whom
By When
Notification to Accreditation Panel
Secretary of proposal to be considered
Faculty APL Adviser/Faculty
representative
At least 20 working
days in advance of
anticipated meeting
Proposal documentation (including
proposal, quality assurance checklist,
CVs, committee details and Faculty
AP(E)L Adviser’s report) to be submitted
electronically to Secretary
Faculty AP(E)L Adviser/Faculty
representative
At least 12 working
days in advance of
meeting
Planning meeting to be arranged for
attendance by:
Secretary
10 working days in
advance of meeting
Feedback provided to Proposal Team
arising from planning meeting
Faculty AP(E)L Adviser/Faculty
representative
8 working days in
advance of meeting
Minor
revisions
to
proposal
documentation to be received by
Secretary (if required)
Faculty AP(E)L Adviser/Faculty
representative
At least 5 working days
in advance of meeting
Report for each proposal considered
following the meeting
Secretary
and
Chair
Accreditation Panel
Following meeting
Responses to conditions
submitted to the Secretary
Proposal Team via Faculty
AP(E)L
Adviser/
Faculty
representative
By deadline set during
feedback session at
meeting or in report
Consideration and confirmation of
responses to conditions
Chair of Accreditation Panel
Following submission
of responses
Facilitation
of
signed
Recognition
Agreement
Accreditations only)
Faculty
staff/Office
Secretary & Clerk



Chair of the Accreditation Panel
Faculty AP(E)L Adviser or representative
Secretary
SF – Revised Jan 2013
to
be
Credit
(External
of
of
Following meeting
Notes of Guidance on Procedures Relating to the
Accreditation Panel
9.
Amendments to External Accreditations
Amendments to accreditations may be considered by two means:
(i)
(ii)
As part of the original proposal procedure (see para 4.5 above for details), or
By a separate process for external accreditations/accredited faculty short courses
which have already been approved. Details of this process are given below:
9.1
The Accreditation Panel is responsible for considering proposals for amendments to
existing external accreditations/accredited faculty short courses. Only in exceptional
circumstances will Chair’s action (by the Chair of the Accreditation Panel) be
considered.
9.2
Proposals for amendments to existing external accreditations/accredited faculty short
courses should be submitted for the panel’s consideration by the Proposal Team from
the organisation in which the external accreditation is situated, or the faculty in which
the accredited short course is situated. Liaising with the designated Faculty Link
Lecturer (external accreditations only), the Proposal Team should complete the
Proposal for Renewal/Minor Amendment Form and submit this to the Secretary to the
Accreditation Panel. Incomplete amendment proposal forms will be returned to the
Faculty Link Lecturer for revision prior to re-submission.
The Renewal/Minor
Amendment form can be found at:
http://web.anglia.ac.uk/curriculum/accreditation_prior_learning.phtml
9.3
The Accreditation Panel will consider amendments and will recommend three
possible outcomes;
(a)
approval without conditions;
(b)
approval subject to satisfactory completion of conditions;
(c)
rejection of proposed amendment(s).
In the case of either (a) or (b), the Accreditation Panel will also specify when the
amendment(s) will come into effect. Unless otherwise noted at the time, any
amendments will be applied for the duration of the original approval (subject to
Annual Monitoring procedures).
9.4
Following the meeting of the Accreditation Panel the Secretary will draft minutes of
the meeting in the form of a report for each proposal under consideration and forward
these to the Chair for approval.
9.5
If applicable, the responses of those proposing the renewal/amendment to any
conditions set should be submitted to the Secretary of the Accreditation Panel. The
Chair of the Accreditation Panel will consider the responses.
9.6
The Panel Secretary will notify the University Secretary’s & Clerk’s Office of any
amendments recommended to existing external accreditations.
9.7
The Proposal Team will be responsible for consulting with existing and prospective
students regarding the amendments (both prior to and after the consideration
process) and ensuring that any changes to the existing external accreditation are
clearly communicated to students.
SF – Revised Jan 2013