Exploring the Value of Professional Body Accreditation for Masters Programmes

Abstract

Masters programmes face a range of pressures including the drive for increased numbers, for widening participation and for increasingly vocational approaches. Maintaining quality and consistency of knowledge and skill sets between programmes is becoming difficult. This paper critically appraises the value of accreditation of a UK Masters programme by a professional body; the Chartered Institution of Water and Environment Management (CIWEM). Accreditation is an external audit of programme and module content, delivery and facilities. Questionnaires to students, graduates, employers and programme managers indicate that accreditation encourages increased reflective practices and harmonizes the skill sets of the programmes with workplace drivers.

Keywords:

• Skill sets
• vocational
• CPD
• reflection
• recruitment

Acknowledgement

I thank Tom Owen for providing data from CIWEM.