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4. Process of Accreditation

The Institute of Coding, in conjunction with the BCS, are establishing a process for accrediting HEIs for their capability to provide courses with the necessary experience that comply with this standard, and their ability to assess individual students competence, as per the standard's requirements for competence in skills.

The following outlines the various components of an accreditation process, and this standard's approach to each.

4.1 Scope

The following awards are in scope of this standard for an accredited HEI:

  • Bachelor’s / Master’s degrees incorporating validated real-world experience
  • Sub-degree awards incorporating real-world experience (badges)

4.2 Preconditions

The following preconditions need to be met by an HEI for accreditation:

  • Evidence of significant opportunities to gain real-world experience embedded in degrees
  • Degrees comply with QAA/FHEQ requirements

4.3 Submission Content

For accreditation, an HEI needs to provide the following:

  • Overview of department, including policies for supervision of real-world experience opportunities
  • Description of degrees/awards setting out opportunities for real-world experience
  • Description of process for assessing competence
  • Sample work: Graded portfolios for a range of skills

4.4 Competence Assessment Criteria

An accredited HEI must be able to demonstrate their ability to assess competence of students against SFIA skills, in particular assesing their:

  • Underpinning knowledge
  • Technical achievements
  • Generic responsibility characteristics

4.5 Process

The process for accrediting an HEI will assess the following:

  • Evaluation of a clear understanding by the HEI of the distinction between capability and competence
  • Evaluation of the HEI's assessment approach
  • Sample portfolios assessed using IoC grading criteria to ensure conformity
  • Note these do not necessarily have to come from the proposed programme; it is the HEI that is being accredited, not a programme
  • Check for compliance with QAA requirements

4.6 External Benchmarks

For accreditation purposes, the HEI will be subject to the following external benchmarks:

  • SFIA framework
  • QAA Subject Benchmark

4.7 Fees

  • TBD but will need to cover the IoC SFIA licence.

4.8 Duration

  • TBD but likely to be 5 years, in line with existing BCS processes.

4.9 Programme Updates

An HEI is free to introduce new degrees, modules, or pathways with same assessment of competence for which they have been accredited.

4.10 Benefits

A student awarded an IoC accredited degree receive the following benefits:

  • Students will graduate with accredited badges of knowledge, skill and competence. These badges contribute to their CV using open standards, widely accepted and recognised by industry.
  • A competence badge will normally be accepted as satisfying the pre-registration requirements for RITTech.

4.11 Extensibility

The standard envisages extension to programmes in a number of ways, including:

  • Knowledge Badges could be based on vendor/employer-based training, short courses or micro-credentials, provided overall FHEQ requirements are satisfied,
  • Experience Badges could be based on industry placements, covering specific SFIA skills,
  • Accredited HEIs may award badges out with degree programmes