Programme accreditation

Our accreditation scheme aligns the criteria and process for accreditation with the learning outcomes described in the QAA’s subject benchmark statement for geography and seeks to complement existing institutional quality assurance processes.

Receiving accreditation for a programme may:

• Help raise awareness and understanding of the programme, e.g. through including a programme’s accreditation status in marketing materials

• Signal to students and employers (via KIS data and marketing materials) that a department’s teaching and learning is aligned with professional development, and that it is committed to their future using geographical knowledge, understanding, skills and approaches

• Encourage programme leaders and other staff to engage in a quality self-assessment process, which will contribute towards existing measures for continuous quality improvement in departments and institutions.

Accreditation is normally awarded for six years, with the process for re-accreditation to be started in the final year of accreditation before the period of six years is complete. Applications for accreditation are welcomed at any stage of a programme’s life-cycle, but it is recommended that departments aim to seek (re-)accreditation in the year after the programme’s Periodic Review as this will provide the strongest supporting evidence for the application.

Find out more about making an application

To help with planning, it would be useful if departments intending to submit an application could signal their intention by email to accreditation@rgs.org. (Applications will be considered without a signal of intention; signalling intention does not bind you to making an application.)

The next deadline for applications is:

• Friday 30 March 2018