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Support and advice

As well as our guidance documents, you can seek assistance from Collections LinkCollections Trust and Visit England.

The Accreditation Mentors scheme partners experienced professionals with smaller museums, to help them in their Accreditation applications and returns.

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Accreditation mentors

Accreditation mentors are experienced professionals in the sector, who help smaller museums achieve and retain Accreditation.

They do this by supporting those museums to develop Accreditation applications and returns.

To meet the requirements of Accreditation, all museums must have access to professional advice and one way for volunteer-run museums to achieve this is to appoint an Accreditation mentor.

We heard from the Accreditation review that mentors are really valued and are doing a great job. Thank you.

What’s changed with the 2018 Standard?

We’ve renamed museum mentors/curatorial advisors as Accreditation mentors to make it clearer what they do.

We’ve changed our criteria so it’s more flexible. Professional experience can be demonstrated over three years, not five.

We’ve removed the need for a professional qualification and are clearer that there’s a wide range of ways to demonstrate a commitment to continuing personal development. Museum professionals (including Accreditation mentors) are now able to serve on a museum’s governing body as a voting member.

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How to get help and provide feedback

We welcome your feedback so that we can continue to improve the Accreditation Scheme, and help with any difficulties you may encounter. Please send your comments or suggestions to our Accreditation team

If you want to make a complaint you can find details in our complaints procedure. This explains the formal procedure for dealing with complaints, and the sorts of things people can make a formal complaint about.

Download the document below for more information.

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National museums and nationally-styled museums

Nationally-styled museums are museums which are not National Museums: they were not established by national legislation and are not significantly funded directly by central or devolved Government however they are marketed with a national name. Examples include the National Football Museum and the Scottish Fisheries Museum.

Accreditation characteristics and criteria for such museums are enhanced as a nationally-styled name leads to a public expectation in terms of facilities and scope and scale of the collection. The museum will offer visitor facilities appropriate to a national organisation. It will hold and acquire a collection of national significance and international interest, providing excellent engagement opportunities through exhibitions, displays, learning, and research opportunities.

Nationally-styled names include the following, or equivalent words:

International, World, Nation, National, Europe, European, Commonwealth, Empire, United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, British, England, English, Wales, Welsh, Cymru, Cymreig, Scotland, Scottish, na h-Alba, Ulster, Norther Ireland and Northern Irish.

Nationally-styled names for museum are considered at eligibility stage for a new application from a museum and at this stage a site visit is usually undertaken to discuss the appropriateness of the name of the museum.

For museums already participating in the Scheme and where they have rebranded using a nationally-styled name, the assessing body will also consider the appropriateness of the name of the museum and may make additional recommendations in relation to this.

There are additional questions on the online form that national museums and museums styling themselves as ‘national’ or equivalent should complete. Full details of the national and nationally styled requirements within Accreditation are published in the Accreditation Guidance 2018.

A reference copy of the questions is available to download here (PDF, 160.37 KB) however these should be completed as part of the online form.

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