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Partner Organisations

BAC maintains close links with all the major bodies concerned with the maintenance of standards in British education, including the following:

British Council
www.britishcouncil.org

The British Council is one of BAC's closest partners and is responsible for running Accreditation UK, an accreditation scheme equivalent to BAC's but for the EFL (English as a Foreign Language) sector. Like BAC, Accreditation UK is an approved accrediting body under the UK Border Agency's Points-Based System.

The British Council provided a primary impetus behind the foundation of the BAC, enjoying representation on our Council since 1984 and supporting BAC financially for our first few years.

BAC's Chief Executive Dr Gina Hobson serves on the British Council's Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee, while Ms Liz Mclaren, Manager of Accreditation UK, serves on our Council and Ms Hilary Managh, Assitant Manager, sits on our Accreditation Committee.

BAC and the British Council now have formal Top-up Arrangements in place so that Colleges who run both EFL and other programmes can more easily benefit from the accreditation of both bodies with less of an organisational or financial burden.

Council of Validating Universities (CVU)
www.cvu.ac.uk

The CVU constitutes a collection of top Universities actively involved in validating external programmes run by smaller colleges, many of whom are BAC accredited.  

As well as nominating a Member to our Council, currently their Chairman Mr James Winter, CVU's Vice-Chairman Mr Graham Worsdale serves on our Accreditation Committee, providing welcome insight from the perspective of UK publicly-funded institutions.

Negotiations are underway to finalise similar Top-Up Arrangements to be adopted by BAC and by CVU members so as to better serve the interests of the Colleges with which we both work.

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Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODL QC)
www.odlqc.org.uk

ODLQC has long had a close relationship with BAC, and at present provides the only Quality Assurance in the distance learning sector, an area not encompassed by our own accreditation work.

BAC's Honorary Treasurer Mr Eric Glover is a longstanding Member of ODLQC's Council, while ODLQC's Chief Executive Dr David Morley serves on our own Council.

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Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
www.qaa.org.uk

QAA is an independent body tasked with safeguarding and helping to improve the academic standards of higher education in the UK.  They carry out regular institutional audits of all publicly-funded universities and colleges of higher education, in addition to many other oversight responsibilities.

Mr Anthony McClaran, Chief Executive of QAA, serves on our Council, while Dr Stephen Jackson, Director of Reviews, sits on our Accreditation Committee.

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UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)
www.ukcisa.org.uk

UKCISA is the UK's national advisory body serving the interests of international students and those who work with them.

Mr Dominic Scott, Chief Executive of UKCISA, is a member of BAC's Executive Committee.

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National Recognition Information Centre (UK NARIC)
www.naric.org.uk

UK NARIC is the National Agency responsible for providing information and advice about vocational, academic and professional skills and qualifications from all over the world.

Dr Cloud Bai-Yun, Head of UK NARIC, is a Member of our Council.

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Association of Colleges (AoC)
www.aoc.co.uk

The AoC is a membership organiation representing the interests of publicly-funded further education colleges in England and Wales.

AoC nominee Ms Michelle Sutton is a Member of our Council.

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GuildHE
www.guildhe.ac.uk

GuildHE, previously the Standing Conference of Principals, is the representative organisation for publicly-funded colleges of higher education in the UK.

Ms Alice Hynes, Executive Secretary of GuildHE, is a Member of our Council.

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