IEAC - Frequently Asked Questions

We help students, parents and other stakeholders an unbiassed assessment of an institution or program on offer. We comment on the student experience, welfare, quality of teaching and many other aspects of institution life. We listen to Management, staff and importantly the students themselves.

Since COVID, many institutions have moved over to some form of On Line provision. Some operate fully on line and some using a Hybrid or Blended delivery mode. We are happy to accredit all forms of on-line institution. The general process of accreditation is the same for all types of on line with some minor changes to the process. For instance some on line institutions don’t have any physical offices and have been set up from home, therefor most of the infrastructure requirements will not be relevant. For more information please click on button below.

IEAC offers accreditation by an independent and well-established international body, registered in the UK. Our experienced inspectors provide invaluable advice, and we support and advise our accredited institutions in many ways including assistance with World University Rankings and QS stars and in developing acting partnerships with other international institutions and professional bodies. Other benefits of IEAC accreditation include the mark of quality, raising standards, inclusion of ISO certification if required, assistance with health, safeguarding, safety and security.
You will also be invited to join our monthly webinars, free of charge and attend our international and regional conferences, with reduced delegate fees. For more information about the benefits of IEAC accreditation please press button.

This is a difficult question to answer as all institutions are different. Generally, once a complete application is received together with relevant documentation, our Customer Liason Manager will contact you to arrange a suitable date for inspection. We will then communicate with the most suitable inspectors and confirm the date of the inspection. Once the inspection is complete, a report will be written and submitted to the accreditation committee. The average time taken to complete the accreditation process is 3 months, although this can be shorter or considerably longer for large Universities. We try to work to your timescales

There is an application fee of £500 and an inspection fee. The inspection fee is dependent on size and nature of the institution, the country the institution is based and range from £2000 to £10,000 Annual License fees are also charged once accreditation is awarded.

For the head of the institution, we would expect that they hold either a higher degree (Masters, Doctorate, C.Eng. etc) or have substantial industrial, business, or Commercial experience
All teaching staff should hold a qualification equivalent to or above the level of the subject they teach. It would be beneficial for teaching/lecturing staff to have a pedagogical qualification. However, this is not necessary. All staff should be approved by the local Ministry of Education if appropriate.

This depends on what type of institution you want to start. Every institution is different. Some colleges enrol thousands of students, and some teach less than 100 per year. Some institutions teach a large range of different courses, and some focus entirely on one subject. Some follow a traditionally- structured academic year, while others provide short bespoke courses which can be only a few days in length. All of these institutions have very different needs and develop in different ways. For specialised, professional assistance with starting your institution, you may wish to consider our consultancy service, where we are able to work with institutions from concept stage through to completion. We are also able to assist in formulating policies and procedures. Please contact our team for further information.

IEAC recognise that new start up institutions may not be ready for Candidacy of full accreditation, therefore we have developed a Membership scheme for such institutions. We would then work alongside you and assist you to the point where you could apply for Candidacy or Full Accreditation. In some countries, the Governments require Membership of an accrediting body, before awarding a license, so that they will have an approved accrediting body guiding them as they develop into a fully- fledged institution

Yes, if you are fully operational but have not taught students for a period of 3 months then we are able to offer Candidacy Accreditation, if all standards are met. No site visit is required at this point. Once you have been teaching a cohort of students for 3 months, we will then arrange an inspection within to observe teaching, learning and assessment and student welfare provision, as well as the quality management procedures within the organisation.

Yes, IEAC does accredit institutions that teach only English language as well as On Line institutions, Universities, Colleges and training organisations. We are also able to accredit teachers and also specific programs or courses

All students at accredited institutions may make a complaint to IEAC regarding the institution at which they are studying, providing that they can show that they have made reasonable efforts to resolve the matter using the institutions’ own complaints procedure before they contacted IEAC, and providing that all other forms of appropriate documentary evidence are shown to be in place. However, we do expect the student to exhaust the institutions own complaints or appeals policy in the first instance. We cannot accept anonymous complaints. The complaints process is an essential part of IEAC’s quality assurance monitoring with regard to accredited institutions. It is very important that they respond within reasonable time to IEAC in respect of a student complaint, as this allows IEAC to fully understand the institutions’ perspective on the issue, and to allow this perspective to inform any suggested resolution which IEAC may put forwards. Should it not be possible for IEAC to arrive at a resolution which is satisfactory to both parties, the matter may be referred to the Accreditation Committee. For more information on student complaints, please see IEAC complaints policy ( please add button here leading to our complaints policy)

Yes, IEAC have a complaints policy and a complaints form, please click on the form below for more information.

Following the successful submission of an application form and documentation, a site visit is arranged, (this is done remotely for on line institutions) The site visit includes reviewing collected evidence and assessing the institution's adherence to IEAC published Standards. The inspector(s) will conduct a detailed audit of systems, observe teaching sessions, and engage in meetings with staff and students to gather their perspectives. The inspection format will be tailored to the institution's size, location, and type, aligning with their usual operation and timetable. The visit concludes with a final meeting with the Institution Head to provide informal feedback; however, the inspector(s) cannot officially declare the inspection outcome. Please click on button her to see more details of the whole accreditation process

IEAC have actually partnered with an ISO organisation and we have included the ISO processes into our accreditation process. Therefore, there is no need to apply separately. As you will know, the ISO process can be lengthy and costly. If you want the ISO certification as part of the IEAC accreditation you need to let us know as there will be a small extra charge, which will include the ISO certification.

IEAC accredits an institution as a whole, not the individual courses. IEAC do have a process for programmatic accreditation for more information please click the button below

No, IEAC accreditation does not give you degree awarding powers. We do check your curriculum, assessment methods, reliability and consistency, academic misconduct and security of the examination process. We also undertake classroom observation and look at the various feedback mechanisms the institution employs. We will also check that you have appropriate awarding powers for the courses on offer at the institution. PLEASE NOTE IEAC neither confers nor validates degree-awarding

Yes we can. There are many Universities worldwide, including those who have IEAC accreditation who do have Degree awarding powers and they are willing to validate your programs. For more information please contact +44 20 4578 1431

I am afraid we cant guarantee this, although having gained a qualification from any accredited institution will help. Each Country and Institution are entitled to set their own requirements and there is no set standard. Also, entry to a University or Institution is not solely dependent on your qualification.
Unfortunately, we cannot help you, as it is not within our role or power to decide on qualification requirements either in the UK or elsewhere. If you want to either embark on further study or work abroad, you will need to speak to the relevant body responsible for benchmarking international qualifications in the country you wish to

Yes, this is one of the unique aspects of IEAC. We are able to accredit teachers and lecturers at different levels. This is done through internal evaluation by an approved evaluator or overseer. Please click on button below to see more details

IEAC do not want to try and persuade an institution to switch accrediting bodies, however, we are aware that some accrediting bodies do not actually fulfil their original promises. So IEAC have developed an Affiliate scheme, where an institution, already accredited can benefit from IEAC support services. To apply you need to complete the affiliate application form and submit your latest accreditation report. For more details, please click on button below

An awarding body validates or approves courses and qualifications. It may also administer examinations and assessments, and may provide students with certificates. BAC inspects and then accredits the college as a whole if it meets our standards.

Yes, we can. We have several staff who are able to help you with these. There is quite a skill in collecting the correct data and presenting it to QS or other bodies , we have staff who have already gone through this process with their own University and are able to assist you. In some cases, this may be chargeable.

Yes, we can. IEAC have developed good relationships with several UK awarding bodies and in some cases, having IEAC accreditation, is sufficient for you to gain Centre Status at no extra cost. This is because the awarding body trust the accreditation process of IEAC

IEAC are particularly concerned about Health and Safety, Safeguarding, Risk assessment and security in schools. IEAC have staff who are experienced in assisting schools with all these aspects and is, of course included in our inspection process. In addition, we have partnered with an organisation who can assist you with this.