Step One: Initial Enquiry

• Make contact with SEDA (office@seda.ac.uk) to register your interest.
• If you would like to discuss the scheme in more detail we can organise an informal meeting with either a member of the office staff or a member of the PDF Committee.
• At this stage you will need to start thinking about what Named Awards are most appropriate for the programmes that you are submitting for accreditation.
  

Step Two: Registration

• If you decide to go ahead with accreditation, you will need to complete the registration form.
• The SEDA office will appoint a mentor(s) and accreditor(s).
• The SEDA office will send you a letter confirming the mentor(s) and accreditor(s) and their contact details, plus the dates of the forthcoming committee meetings at which the accreditation could be ratified, along with an invoice for the fees payable.
• If your institution is already a member of SEDA, the fees for accreditation are reduced.

Step Three: the Mentoring Process

Your mentor will contact you and you start putting together your accreditation documents. These will include:

• Institutional mapping document (if your institution already runs SEDA accredited programmes you will need to update the previous version of this document)
• Programme mapping document for each programme requiring accreditation
• Programme handbook
• Programme outline of activities
• Other material as advised by your mentor, this normally includes other relevant policy and strategy documents
• You work with your mentor to finalise your documentation and the mentor will notify the accreditors and the SEDA Office when you are ready to go for accreditation.

Accreditors will normally need to receive documentation four to six weeks prior to any accreditation event taking place. As a guide, it is possible to complete the full accreditation process in approximately three to six months, however it may take longer than this, a lot will depend on how quickly you can prepare the required documentation in the mentoring period in particular.

Step Four: Accreditation

Once the accreditors have received the documentation they may meet with you briefly for introductions and to discuss the context and plan the the accreditation event, which is normally held online. They will read and review the documentation and discuss it with each other ahead of the event, contacting you if clarification is required on any of the material.

Accreditation Event

The accreditation event is normally held online and is dialogic. The accreditors will discuss dates/timings and people to be invited with you. The purpose is to clarify and evaluate the programme and institutional approach, and also to support the programme team with advice. A dialogic event enables clarification and understanding of the programme beyond paperwork, enabling quick queries and checks to be raised and discussed by the programme team. Usually the event is in two parts, a shorter institutional element (which may include more senior staff and other departments) and a programme element (primarily with the programme team).

Primarily the accreditors will be looking to see if the programme meets the criteria for institutional recognition and programme accreditation including development and demonstration of the SEDA Values, Core Development Outcomes, and the Specialist Outcomes for that named award. The accreditors will give you feedback on the results of the accreditation event which may include conditions (which must be met for accreditation) and recommendations, and liaise with you to ensure any conditions are met.

If the programme cannot be accredited in its present form, the accreditors will offer advice on how it may be developed further in preparation for any subsequent process.

Once all conditions are met, the accreditors write a report for formal consideration by the PDF Committee. This will be sent to you electronically to add feedback and responses. The office will let you know when the report has been ratified by the PDF Committee. They will send you a certificate of recognition for the institution and a certificate of accreditation for the programme and also let you know dates when further fees will be due.

Accreditation is normally recommended for one year plus four years, upon receipt of a first year report.

If you wish to appeal against the decision of the Committee you are advised to read the SEDA-PDF appeals procedure and follow the procedures outlined.

Back-dating of accreditation will be considered on a case by case basis, usually up to a maximum of six months. For this to be granted, you will need to provide evidence that all outcomes and values have been met in accordance with the named award during this period. Should a back-dating request be granted, any subsequent re-accreditation will be taken from that date.

Step Five: Candidate Certificates and Badges

After accreditation individual certificates will be issued to those who successfully complete your accredited programme. You are asked to submit requests for certificates once or twice a year in the form of an official pass list signed by the external examiner or moderator for the programme, or the chair of the assessment board. Certificates will be sent to you as programme leader for distribution. You will also receive a digital badge for each named award to forward to the candidates for use on their email signatures, LinkedIn pages etc.

Use of SEDA logo

Institutions recognised by SEDA may use the SEDA logo on programme documentation according to the guidelines which will be notified to you by SEDA.

Step Six: Reporting and Evaluation

You are required to submit a first year report form for all new programmes.

Step Seven: Review

• Reviews are held every five years. Your institutional recognition will be reviewed each time a programme is reviewed, or a new programme is added, in order to ensure it is always up to date.
• Approximately one year before the review date falls, SEDA will inform you that a review is due and invite you to complete a pre-review report form.
• You may negotiate the review date so that, where appropriate, the SEDA review may be tied in with any internal review of the programme.
• The negotiated date must normally be within six months of the review date. If the review cannot be completed within six months of the review date then the programme will need to be re-accredited and your institution charged accordingly.
• SEDA will appoint a mentor, to guide you through the review process, and a reviewer.

You will be asked to provide an evaluative report on the operation and running of the programme since the last accreditation or review. This will include:

• An updated institutional mapping document
• An updated programme mapping document
• Feedback from participants, reports from external examiners or moderators (you can draw on first year and mid-term reports)
• A description of any substantial changes
• Any new programme documentation
• A list of issues, problems and questions to contribute to the agenda for discussion.

The reviewer(s) will meet with you online for a discussion based on issues raised in the documentation. The emphasis will be on encouraging development of the programme in light of the experience of the whole named award and informing the development of the named award through the experience of the specific programme. The reviewer(s) will write a report on the process which will be submitted to the PDF Committee for ratification.

Minor Modifications

If in-between reviews you need to make modifications to their accredited programme, please get in touch to discuss details. There is a procedure in place for minor modifications to be logged and agreed, if suitable. This covers more minor updates, more major rewrites of the programme may need re-accreditation.

Termination

• Accreditation of a programme runs until the stated review date
• If the institution does not require accreditation after this date, then the academic year in which the termination date occurs will be used as the reference point for the final cohort of participants entitled to receive individual accreditation certificates.