The accreditation process, through which our courses are approved, is rigorous and transparent, and has been recognised as such by the UK Department of Health and by the universities with whom we work. All of our courses recently reviewed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) received judgements of confidence.

Acupuncture in the UK is a young profession, and grew up in independent colleges, led by committed exponents and experts of this long-standing system of medicine. Early courses were not subject to any external quality assurance processes. An important emphasis of the Board from the outset was development – of the courses, the staff and of the policies and processes of the Board itself. For an independent college or a university, working with the Board officers, it takes from three to six years before a course is fully accredited. Throughout this time, and subsequently, the institution has the support and advice of a specified accreditation officer of the Board.

The process involves:

• Preparation of documentary evidence by the institution wishing to be accredited that they are meeting the Board's six Standards of Education and Training for Acupuncture Programmes (SETAPs) as found in the Accreditation Handbook. This includes meeting the British Acupuncture Council’s (BAcC’s) Standards of Education and Training for Acupuncture (SETA), which specifies length of course, amount of clinical practice and content
• Review of this documentation by the Accreditation Committee
• A visit by a team which will include two acupuncturists and an accreditation officer to discuss the course with the managers, staff and students. Teaching in the classroom and the clinic and compliance with the BAcC Code of Safe Practice will be observed.
• Discussion at both the Accreditation Committee and Board of the report of the visiting team and recommendation on accreditation.