Coordinated by the Arts Council, The Accreditation Scheme ‘sets out nationally agreed standards for museums in the UK’. In other words, the scheme is a way of raising and consolidating standards in museums across the country. But what does Accreditation actually cover? And what sort of standards does it monitor?
In theory anyone and everyone can establish a museum. The world contains an enormous collection of museums from The Horse Museum in Nottinghamshire to the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London. There really is a museum for everything. However, in order for a museum to be accredited it must prove that it has met certain standards.
The standards are divided into three key concerns: 1) How they are run i.e. organisational health, 2) how they manage their collections and 3) the experience of their users. In explanation, in order to be accredited, museums should have a clear statement of purpose, an organised governing body, management structure and workforce, a clear collections policy and a good-quality user experience. The full document is available via the Arts Council website.
But why bother? The Accreditation process can be arduous, long winded and may involve a few late nights at the office. However, there are numerous benefits museums can access once they are accredited. The Arts Council summarises them as the 6 Ps: performance, profile, people, partnerships, planning and patronage. In simple English accreditation helps to raise the profile of the museum, drives improvement, enables the museum to apply for more funding as it has shown it meets national standards, formalises procedures and policies and encourages joint working.
So accreditation is certainly not to be scoffed at. If you’d like to find out or read more about the accreditation scheme and process then pop over to The Arts Council website. Here you’ll find a great selection of guidance on what accreditation actually is, how to apply for it and the key benefits.
loveyourhistory 