Degree Accreditation
Degree Accreditation
The accreditation of physics degrees is an important part of the Institute's support for higher education. Accreditation is the means by which the Institute monitors the content and standard of physics degrees and keeps the wider community of physicists informed.
The primary aims of Accreditation by the Institute are:
- to provide an independent, rigorous and valid assessment of physics degree courses;
- to provide a means of supporting the standing of individual physics degree courses and physics departments;
- to make it easier to establish and promote the standing of UK degree courses in the rest of Europe and in the wider international context;
- to give potential students a guarantee that a course can satisfy the academic requirements for Corporate Membership of the Institute; and
- to provide a means of enhancing the standing of physics and physicists.
Application is voluntary and Accreditation may be granted for a period not exceeding five years, may be withheld pending the implementation of certain recommendations or refused. Accreditation may also be withdrawn if necessary. No fee is charged to applying departments in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, but other overseas countries are required to meet the costs of the exercise.
When a physics department applies to the Institute to have its degree courses formally accredited, the Institute establishes a team of assessors to scrutinize the paperwork. That team conducts an accreditation visit to the applying department to meet staff and students and to review:
- departmental statistics and management structures;
- core curriculum;
- salient graduate skills;
- overall standards of assessment;
- academic and technical support facilities; and
- student participatory and welfare mechanisms.
The visiting team makes a recommendation to the Degree Accreditation Committee where the decision is taken formally. The Degree Accreditation Committee acts on behalf of the Institute's Council as the moderating body.
Holders of accredited degrees are eligible to follow a route to corporate membership of the Institute and to the CPhys professional qualification. Degrees which are successfully Accredited are listed in the Register of Accredited Courses which is available in the public domain.