How we Accredit

The accreditation process through which all our courses are approved is extremely rigorous and has been recognised as such by the Department of Health and by the Universities with whom we work. Although acupuncture having its roots some 3,500 years ago, acupuncture in the UK is a young profession, and grew up in independent colleges, led by committed exponents and masters of this ancient therapy. The early courses were therefore not subject to any external quality assurance processes. An important emphasis of the Board from the outset was development – of the courses, the staff and of the policies and processes of the Board itself. For an independent college or a university, working with the Board officers, it will take from three to six years before a course is fully accredited. Throughout this time, and subsequently, the institution has the support and advice of a specified accreditation officer of the Board.

The process involves:

• Preparation of documentary evidence by the institution wishing to be accredited that they are meeting the 17 Essential Requirements of the Board. This includes meeting the BAcC’s Guidelines for Acupuncture Education, which specifies length of course, amount of clinical practice and content
• Review of this documentation by the Accreditation Committee
• A visit by a team which will include two acupuncturists and an accreditation officer to discuss the course with the staff and students. In some visits, teaching in the classroom and the clinic and compliance with the BAcC Code of Safe Practice will be observed.
• Discussion at both the Accreditation Committee and Board of the report of the visiting team and recommendation on accreditation.

In order to support the development of the course and ensure that policies are robust and the course is appropriately resourced and managed, there are a number of stages of accreditation:
After an initial discussion with Board officers the institution formally notifies the Board of their intention to develop a course for accreditation.
Once the programme has been developed the institution will submit for Stage 1 (Provisional) Accreditation which, if it is approved, indicates that the institution has demonstrated that it has the potential to meet the requirements of the Board. Once the teaching clinic has been established and the first cohort of students is in their second year, the institution may submit for Stage 2 Accreditation. This involves a longer visit with observation of teaching both in the classroom and the clinic as well as discussion and scrutiny of minutes, course work and so on. Being awarded Stage 2 Accreditation enables graduates to be eligible for membership of the BAcC by direct entry. Stage 3 or Full Accreditation is normally a confirmatory process whereby the Board assures itself that the graduates of the course have attained the appropriate standards for independent primary professional practice.
As the process is developmental, full accreditation will only be granted once the processes for managing the course have been demonstrated to be robust and the course demonstrates that it is being delivered to the appropriate standards through its first graduates.

A fuller description of this process is in ‘institutions’