Programme accreditation

The Society has issued a statement regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on programme accreditation.

Read the statement

When accreditation is awarded, institutions are asked to confirm that they will abide by the following terms and conditions governing the accreditation scheme

• Payment of the one-off application fee in full

• Payment of an annual registration fee

• Complying with the guidance for the use of the accreditation logo mark and statement

• Notification of any changes to programmes to us at the earliest convenience

Institutions will be contacted annually to confirm that they wish to continue accreditation, which is also an opportunity to notify any changes to accredited programmes.

Changes to accredited programmes

The Society accepts that programmes of study evolve to reflect the latest developments in the subject and to meet the needs of students and employers. Providers offering degree programmes in geography are free to decide upon, and are responsible for, the details of content and organisation of their programmes.

If the content or delivery method of a programme will change substantially during the period of accreditation, departments are asked to send a summary of changes to the Society (accreditation@rgs.org) each year at the time of re-registration, and/or at the point in their institutional review process where input from an accreditation provider is normally expected.

The Panel expects to review any changes to accredited programmes that fall into the following categories:

• Any changes to credit weighting, content or assessment methods in core modules;

• For undergraduate programmes, changes that affect the mapping of the programme against the Geography Subject Benchmark Statement, especially the balance of human/physical geography across the programme (bearing in mind the expectation that an accredited programme adequately demonstrates Sections 3.2, 3.8 and 3.9 of the Subject Benchmark Statement);

• For master’s programmes, changes that affect the mapping of the programme against the criteria in section 2.2 of the Programme Accreditation Handbook; and/or

• Any other changes that would trigger an institutional review, or which would require feedback from an accreditation provider before institutional sign-off may occur.

Changes to programmes accredited by RGS-IBG must conform to any relevant individual institutional policies and procedures regarding accreditation.