A signing ceremony on 10 February marks a new 5 year agreement between English UK and the British Council for the operation of the Accreditation Scheme from 1 April 2006.
The British Council and English UK together look forward to managing the world’s largest scheme for quality assurance in English language provision, which from 1 April will be known as Accreditation UK. Accreditation UK, formerly known as the English in Britain Accreditation Scheme (EiBAS) has operated since 1982 when the British Council became the recognising body for all ELT services in the UK. It has long set the benchmark for English language providers and language accreditation schemes worldwide.
The negotiations for this third agreement between the two parties since 1996 got underway in January 2005. The timescale was in keeping with the conditions in the current Agreement and allowed time for reflection and consultation with the English UK Board and British Council senior management. The agreement was reviewed to meet the needs of both parties and accredited centres and new applicants in the current context. The 2001-2006 agreement has been revised significantly, as outlined below.
Key Changes to the Agreement for 2006-2011
1. Nature of agreement. The wording has been amended to the effect that where in the past the Scheme was managed by the British Council on behalf of ARELS and BASELT it will, from 2006, be managed by the British Council in partnership with English UK. It shall be in joint ownership, control and direction. The British Council will be the preferred partner for delivering the service through its Accreditation Unit, for which a management fee will be due to the British Council. All major manifestations of the intellectual property of the Scheme shall carry joint copyright and publishing attribution. Accreditation UK accredited providers will continue to use the ‘accredited by the British Council’ marque.
2. Governance structure. Where in the past the Scheme had an Accreditation Scheme Board with 9 voting members including 3 British Council, 2 BASELT, 3 ARELS and one non-affiliated representatives, the Scheme will now have an Executive Board with 3 representatives from each party and an Advisory Group with wider stakeholder representation to advise on the strategic development of the Scheme.
3. Additional Services. The agreement now highlights that both parties offer a package of additional services to the English language sector as a direct result of accreditation under the Accreditation UK scheme, some of which are free, some are paid for services at discounted rates.
4. The name of the Scheme will change from 1 April 2006 from English in Britain Accreditation Scheme to Accreditation UK.
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