Apply for service accreditation
BACP Accreditation schemes

Applying for service accreditation requires a detailed written application supported by clear evidence for all criteria.

Please read the scheme criteria together with the Guide to applying before starting your application.

We allocate assessment time to applications in advance, so give us at least one month's notice of your anticipated submission date.

Service accreditation - Guide to applying (pdf 0.1MB)

Service accreditation – Scheme criteria (pdf 0.1MB)

Service accreditation - Terms and conditions (pdf 0.1MB)

Submitting your application

When you inform us that you intend to submit Part A:Eligibility, we'll send you a link to our secure accreditation portal. This uses Microsoft OneDrive and sits in the cloud.

This is our preferred way of sharing information as access is limited and there is no need for password protection on any documents, ensuring that we are GDPR compliant.

You can easily upload documents individually, or as complete folders, into your portal. Just send us an email to let us know when your submission is complete.

All material used for your service accreditation will be held within this portal for reference, including all submissions, assessment reports, certificates, accredited logo and key email correspondence that directly relates to your accreditation. This material will be retained on a rolling five-year basis before being deleted in line with our accreditation retention policy.

If your service accreditation is withdrawn, lapsed or cancelled then all material will be deleted within three months from the end date, which we will confirm by email.

Telesurgery

If you want, you can request a telesurgery with your allocated assessor. This is included in the application fee. This may help you better understand the accreditation criteria and how they may be evidenced. For further details see: 

Telesurgery guide (pdf 0.1MB)

Assessment process

We'll confirm by email that we've received your application and submission fee at each stage. Our accreditation officers will check your application ensure it is complete, in date and clearly referenced. If we have any minor queries regarding the supporting evidence, we’ll ask you for more information. Poor quality or obviously incomplete submissions cannot be assessed and will be returned for revision. We cannot pre-assess your application.

Part A will be allocated to an accreditation assessor for assessment. They will provide you with an assessment report and once all criteria are met in full, give you a deadline of six months to submit your completed Part B application. This deadline helps to ensure your Part A eligibility criteria does not become out of date.

Part B will then be assessed by the same assessor where possible, along with a supporting assessor. They will have a copy of your Part A application and Part A assessment report. Once all Part B criteria have been met, an accreditation officer will contact you to arrange a date for your assessor visit. Both assessors will attend the visit and this will be held virtually via video-call.

If your assessors have any questions or queries about your application, we’ll email you on their behalf. Please respond promptly so your assessment is not delayed.

The entire application process (Part A and B) can take between six to twelve months to complete, but this is dependent on the quality of an application and how soon we can arrange the visit. We also send 10% of applications for external moderation to ensure the standard of assessment is consistent.

When completed, we’ll upload your assessment report into your secure accreditation portal and email you to let you know the outcome of the assessment and that it’s ready for you to access.

Assessment outcomes

Your application may be:

• Successful and accredited
  If you successfully demonstrate that your service meets all the criteria, you'll be awarded accredited status for five years, unless indicated otherwise. We will specify your accreditation start date and confirm your annual review date. You must abide by all the scheme terms and conditions to become and remain accredited. You must also continue to meet all criteria.
  
  
• Accreditation with recommendations
  We may award accredited status but make recommendations for you to consider. Your accreditation does not depend upon complying with these recommendations, but you must respond to them within your first annual review submission as stated in your assessment report.
  
  
• Deferred accreditation with set conditions
  We may ask you to meet certain conditions before you are awarded the accredited status. The conditions will be specified in your assessment report and we’ll provide you with a template to address all outstanding criteria. You must make a resubmission which meets these requirements by the deadline set by the accreditation assessor, or we'll need to withdraw your conditional accreditation.
  
  
• Unsuccessful
  We will always try to support you through the application process so that you can be successful. However, if you don't meet the set conditions, we will consider your application to be unsuccessful. You can always re-apply with a new application when you feel you can meet all the criteria.

Appeals

If your application is unsuccessful, you can appeal if there is clear evidence that either:

• the assessment was not conducted according to the published procedure
  or
• your application was not fairly and properly assessed against the published criteria for the scheme

Disagreeing with the assessors' professional judgement is not grounds for an appeal.

You must make your appeal to us officially in writing, preferably by attachment to an email, within three months of the issue date of your final report. Your appeal will be considered by an independent appeals panel. Their decision will be final.

If you wish to make an appeal please notify us by email to accred.services@bacp.co.uk and we will confirm the process details.