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The Accreditation Process
New applicants for accreditation will follow a three-stage process, which allows both for a thorough assessment of applicant colleges prior to full accreditation and for an initial period in which new colleges may address any outstanding requirements by BAC while proceeding with the international recruitment needed to grow their business.
Stage 1 is a paper-based submission comprising an Application Form and substantial supporting documenatation, which are checked against our accreditation criteria by BAC's experienced staff to determine the college's suitability for accreditation.
Stage 2 and Stage 3 constitute on-site inspections of the college, focussing in the main on regulatory compliance and more in-depth aspects of provision respectively.
After a satisfactory Stage 2 Inspection, accreditation may be awarded for a period of six months, while a successful Stage 3 Inspection will see the college's accreditation extended for up to four years.
Timescale
- Assuming that all required documentation has been submitted along with the initial Application Form, we aim to schedule a Stage 2 Inspection within six weeks of the date of application.
- Positive consideration of the Stage 2 Report by the sub-committee of the Accreditation Committee will result in the award of accreditation for an initial six months.
- A Stage 3 Inspection will then be scheduled for before this initial accreditation runs out.
- Where colleges are well established and have been operating successfully for some years, it may be appropriate to combine the inspection for Stages 2 and 3.
- The Report of the Stage 3 (or Stages 2 and 3 combined) Inspection will be presented to the next meeting of the Accreditation Committee (which meets six times each year). If the Committee consider that the college meets all the relevant requirements, accreditation will be awarded for a period of up to four years.
- The likely timescale then for new colleges, if they provide all the necessary evidence of meeting BAC's requirements, is to attain Stage 2 Accreditation within four months, and then to have their accreditation confirmed at Stage 3 within ten months of their application. Any failure to provide neccesary documentary evidence at Stage 1 or to address requirements identified at Stage 2 will of course have effect of delaying the process.
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