Accreditations: Adapting during COVID

Well what a year it has been for everyone! No matter how much we all want to put 2020 behind us, where just the mention of words like ‘unprecedented’ and ‘let’s have a zoom meeting’ can make us wince, it will be impossible to forget the impact COVID-19 has had on the education sector.

In March, we saw the first national lockdown which resulted in nurseries, schools and universities closing for 5 months, exams were cancelled in an ‘unprecedented’ move, and for many of us home schooling took over. For working parents this was a huge and stressful challenge which we hope for the sake of our mental health (and our children’s) never has to happen again! We also do not underestimate the enormous challenges you have faced by having to adapt to online teaching, in addition to, in some cases, having to ensure your teaching establishments were COVID secure.

Back in March and April, I wrote to all our Accredited institutions to share the temporary changes we had made to our accreditation process and to confirm our expectations with regards to changing assessments and learning outcomes. Due to lockdown and subsequent travel restrictions that were put in place, we had to quickly adapt our processes, and with some planning our accreditation visits are now fully virtual. These are likely to occur in this format well into next year, although there is an expectation that we will resume on-site visits as soon as travel restrictions are lifted, and it is safe to do so.  

Understandably, some institutions have been unable to submit their renewal documentation this year and we’ve been able to support them by approving an accreditation extension, subject to panel approval and a small extension fee. However, despite our best efforts to mitigate a potential backlog, we do anticipate quite an overwhelming number of submissions next year, so we ask that you please bear with us as it may take us longer than usual to assess your paperwork. If you would like to volunteer your time to help assess accreditation submissions and become a member of our Accreditation Panel, you just need to be an MCIOB or FCIOB, and you can register your interest by sending a copy of your CV by email to [email protected]. Being a member of the Panel also provides you with excellent networking opportunities and the chance to share best practices.

We’re also pleased to announce that we’ve been working closely with the Marketing Team who are busy producing a new Accreditation Welcome Pack, which will be given to institutions when they gain accreditation. We hope the pack will provide valuable information to both teaching staff and students on how the CIOB can help and further support Accredited Institutions and students on their learning journey.

Finally, we end on some good news! In June this year we changed our eligibility criteria for our Certificate of Excellence prize. Initially, only students on accredited undergraduate degrees were eligible but we’re delighted to tell you that we have recently gained approval to extend our budget and the prize can now also be awarded to Master’s students.

For further information about Accreditation or Certificates of Excellence please email [email protected]