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Accreditation Scheme Update

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By Arts Council England / Posted on Monday 1st February 2021

Arts Council England (ACE) and the other Accreditation partners have published an update for the Accreditation Scheme, which was paused last year due to Covid-19, to offer detail on what museums can expect over the next few months.

Due to the ongoing nature of the pandemic, and with a new national lockdown in place, they are not able to confirm a full reopening date for the Accreditation Scheme at this stage. In England, ACE will be phasing its approach to reopening the scheme, focusing initially on museums that are new to Accreditation and applying for the first time.

To support all Accredited museums in the UK, their current Accreditation award status is being further extended for an additional 12 months to 1 April 2022. Whether your museum holds a Full or Provisional award, it’s still Accredited, and you’re able to apply for funding which has Accreditation status as an eligibility criterion.

As this is an unfolding situation, current thinking is subject to change and further Government advice. ACE will aim to provide more information in March 2021 and recommend regularly checking its website for updates here.

Phased reopening:
The UK wide Accreditation Partnership has agreed that plans for reopening and rollout will respond to the devolved approaches to lockdown and recovery for museums in each of the four nations.

  • In England, ACE is phasing the reopening of the scheme and will partially reopen by end of April 2021. Museums which are Working Towards Accreditation or hoping to put in a new application will be able to apply from April 2021.
  • If you’ve already applied and are awaiting an award outcome, ACE will give you the opportunity to update your information and review your application again.  ACE will also give you longer to prepare by extending its target WTA period by a further 12 months automatically if you need it.
  • If you have a provisional review in progress, you’ll be able to review this, make any updates, and resubmit from April 2021 onwards.

Eligibility has remained open throughout the UK for museums, galleries and heritage organisations considering a new applications to the scheme.

The full update and FAQs can be viewed here.

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