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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 service equivalent to BAC's but for the EFL sector.  As the only EFL accrediting body approved by the Government under the new immigration rules, all English Language schools who recruit international students should be inspected by the British Council before 2009.

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 Senior Inspector Mr Robin Laidlaw serves on the British Council's Accreditation Scheme Advisory Committee, while Ms Liz Mclaren, Assistant Manager of the British Council's Accreditation Unit, is a Member of 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, current CVU nominee Dr Kate Clarke also serves on our Accreditation Committee, providing welcome insight from the perspective of UK publicly-funded institutions.

Negotiations are currently underway to finalise how similar Top-Up Arrangements can be adopted by the BAC and CVU members, starting with the Open University, so as to better serve the interests of the Colleges with whom 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 Chief Executive Dr Stephen Vickers sits on ODLQC's Board of Directors, while ODLQC's CEO Dr David Morley is a Member of 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 Peter Williams, Chief Executive of QAA, is a member of BAC's Executive 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.

BAC's Chief Executive Dr Stephen Vickers is a Member of the UK NARIC Quality Standards Group, while 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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