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We offer a course accreditation
service to organisations who have courses or qualifications which
they want the Institute to approve or otherwise recognise.
1.
Who applies?
A wide
variety of organisations such as commercial training providers,
employers, universities/colleges, professional associations, law
firms and local law societies.
2.
Why do they apply?
Mostly
because they think (correctly) that their course/qualification
will sell better/be more valued if it has some form of external,
professional and national recognition.
3.
Do you offer this service overseas?
Yes - but
for English language delivery only.
4.
How do I go about applying?
Email us
at office@ theiop.org (note break in the link).
It will
speed things up if you complete and return this form download
form but you don't have to.
Basically
we are happy to approve courses that we think are of good quality
and will help paralegals. The questions we ask are:
(a) will
it help paralegals? and
(b) will
we be happy to have our name associated with it?
We will
want to know basic information like what level it will be pitched
at (introductory, certificate, undergraduate, etc.); duration,
content, how assessed (if it is), who will be teaching it, how
it will be delivered etc.
5.
Are your accreditation services easy to get?
Well, we have tried to
make it as easy to apply as possible, and as inexpensive as possible,
but that doesn't mean approval is automatic.
Far from it. We do turn
down applicants. Sometimes we think their courses are quite poor,
other times they are disorganized and unhelpful applicants which
makes us wary of working with them. Other times we would just
rather not have our name associated with them.
6.
Will accreditation cost a lot?
No. We
look to cover our costs, not make a profit from you.
7.
What does "accredit" mean?
It is a
general, catch-all term. We actually have six levels of accreditation
service:
Level
1: CPD Recognition
This service
simply accredits your courses for CPD purposes for one year. It
is offered on a course-by-course basis.
It costs
a flat fee per year of £200 + VAT regardless of the number
of courses or how often they are run PROVIDED THAT the course
are already approved for CPD purposes by the Solicitors Regulation
Authority or the Bar Standards Board.
In this
case approval is automatic upon application with proof of prior
approval.
If the
course is not approved then the cost will depend upon how much
work we would have to do to review it ourselves. Normally this
would cost about £75 + VAT per course.
What you
get for your money:
- A listing
on the Institute's web-site of approved CPD providers
- Mention
in The Paralegal -
the paralegal sector's leading publication (produced in collaboration
with the New Law Journal)
- The
opportunity, should you need it, to discuss paralegal training
and your courses specifically
- The
right to say that the relevant course(s) are approved for CPD
purposes by the Institute
- The
opportunity to have The Paralegal monthly e-journal provided
to your attendees, customers and staff free of charge
- The
opportunity to offer Institute membership to your attendees, clients
and staff at a discount (subject to them meeting the eligibility
criteria). This can involve your receiving a referral fee for
new members
- Free
sets of relevant IOP Competency
Standards for your attendees, clients and staff
Level
2: Non-CPD Recognition
Recognition under Level
1 above relates solely to courses being run for CPD purposes.
If you have non-CPD courses
that you want recognised by the Institute then we can help by accrediting
them too. We offer along with the actual accreditation:
Recognition acts as a
quality kite-mark, telling your customers that an independent body
has audited your course and approved it.
The cost is dependent
upon how much work we have to do to approve the course, but rarely
costs more than £250 for a year's approval.
What you
get for your money:
- A listing
on the Institute's web-site of accredited providers
- Mention
in The Paralegal Practitioner e-newsletter
- The opportunity
should you need it to discuss paralegal training and your courses
specifically
- The right
to say that the relevant course(s) are recognised by the Institute
- The right
to use the Institute's logo on your web-site/marketing material
(after approval by us)
- The opportunity
to have The Paralegal Practitioner monthly e-newsletter provided
to your students and staff free of charge
- The opportunity
to offer Institute membership to your students and staff at a
discount. This can involve your receiving a referral fee for new
members
- Free
sets of relevant National Competency Standards for your students
and staff
Level
3: Accreditation
Recognition under Level
2 above simply allows you to confirm that the Institute has audited
your course and found it of suitable relevance/standard for paralegals.
In essence, it is a quality kite mark.
However accreditation
is the next level up. You would use this service if wanting the
Institute to actually award a qualification (or joint qualification)
for the successful completion of your course.
The feasibility and cost
of accrediting depends entirely upon how much work the Institute
has to do, how many students are involved, the assessment process
and the level of qualification.
Please contact us to discuss.
Level
4: Approved Course Status
Under our national career
path for paralegals - the Route
to Qualification the successful completion of certain approved
courses allows candidates to fast-track to Certified Paralegal status.
If having looked at the
list of currently Approved
Courses you think your course might be suitable then please
contact us to discuss.
Level
5: Mandatory Course Status
Under our national career
path for paralegals - the Route
to Qualification the successful completion of a mandatory
course is essential to achieve Qualified Paralegal status.
If having viewed the current
mandatory course
you think your course might be suitable then please contact us to
discuss.
Level
6: Accredited by a National Awarding Body
There will be occasions
where the award for successfully completing your course might be
better coming from a UK government approved National Awarding Body.
Through our connections,
we can advise on the likelihood of a National Awarding Body being
interested and can arrange an introduction.
How
to Proceed
Please either complete
the following enquiry form and return it to us, or just e-mail or
phone us to discuss your requirements.
All contracts are in confidence.
Please click
here to open/download a Word 97-2003 version of the Accreditation
Enquiry Form.
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