Overview

Once the Self-Evaluation Report has been completed it will be passed on to the Accreditation Review Panel. This stage will commence with a pre-analysis by the Accreditation Review Panel which performs a check for any unclear areas that can be solved before the review.

Review formats

There are three main forms of review that can be undertaken:

On-site review

Where reviewers physically attend the School. This is the most common form for initial accreditation cycles. It involves a panel of experts and a rapporteur (there are occasions when the Panel needs to be enlarged to accommodate multiple specialisations and times where a reviewer can also operate as a rapporteur). A possible timeframe for such a meeting is given in the Accreditation Manual.

Online review

The second type of review consists of an online review. This type of review is available for Schools seeking re-accreditation who have successfully achieved full accreditation status during the preceding accreditation cycle. An illustrative schedule, which can be administered as the example or separated into smaller timeframes spread over a longer period of time, is presented in the Accreditation Manual.

Hybrid review

Finally, there is a hybrid review which consists of a mixture of onsite and online reviewers. This can be chosen, if there are difficulties establishing onsite Accreditation Review Panels. Hybrid meetings are quite difficult for both reviewers and attendees. Therefore, it is recommended that for hybrid review everybody involved should be on individual screens rather than room video conferencing. The host will need to make arrangements for a person to manage these sessions to avoid issues, such as feedback, and ensure constant internet and power supplies.

Reporting

After completing the review, the Accreditation Review Panel will write a report taking up to 8 weeks and once drafted will be sent to the applicant to ensure the accuracy of the information contained. The applicant will have two weeks to reply with any factual corrections before the report is finalised and forwarded to the Accreditation Review Board. At this stage, the Reviewers will also inform the Accreditation Review Board of their opinion as to the accreditation category. Based on this and reading of the report, the Accreditation Review Board will issue a decision.