The British Psychological Society undertook a successful visit to the University of Nottingham’s Malaysia Campus last week. The BSc (Hons) Psychology and the BSc (Hons) Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience are the first programmes outside of the UK to be granted accreditation under the Society’s partnership model.

The Society’s visiting team was led by Dr Niamh Stack (University of Glasgow), and also included Dr Penney Upton (University of Worcester) and Lucy Horder (the Society’s Partnership and Accreditation Manager). The team was able to confirm accreditation for the programmes, which will directly benefit current and future psychology students at the university, who will now qualify for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the Society (GBC). This will also enable graduates to go on to further training and gain Chartered Membership of the Society in the future.

Dr Stack was delighted to have been part of such a successful visit: “This first international accreditation provides an excellent example of the process working at its best – combining the already established high quality standards of the UK institution with provision that has been contextualized for the local context.”

Her comments were echoed by Professor Christine Ennew, Provost and CEO of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus: “As higher education transforms and transnational delivery grows, the importance of accreditation from relevant national professional bodies will increase as a signal of quality. We are delighted that the BPS has recognised these developments and has provided the University of Nottingham's Malaysia campus with such‎ a significant accolade for the programmes that is delivers.”

The university was commended by the accreditation team for providing students with excellent and highly accessible research resources, and for promoting a strong culture of research engagement and scientific rigour across all levels of the provision. It is clear that the university is committed to providing high quality opportunities for international mobility, in ways that are tailored to individual students’ needs. The team was also impressed by the role that the university and its staff and students are playing in raising the profile of the discipline of psychology in Malaysia, in academic, policy, and practice-led communities.

Professor Dorothy Miell, President of the British Psychological Society, added: "I’m pleased that the Society’s first international accreditation has been such a success.

"The BPS has an important role in ensuring standards of psychology education, with accreditation of university courses being a vital part of our work. With this accreditation of the University of Nottingham's provision in Malaysia we have begun to extend this work internationally in line with the aims of our new Strategic Plan. I am delighted that we have completed the Society’s first successful international accreditation which will give students studying the course reassurance on its quality and coverage, as well as endorsing the academic and technical support they receive. We are delighted that extending the range of our accredited courses will help attract more students to explore psychology and ensure the future development of our discipline internationally."

From Dr Elizabeth Sheppard, Head of School (UNMC) Psychology: “We greatly enjoyed having the opportunity to talk in depth with the panel about our psychology programmes, and the infrastructure which supports them. Our students are very excited about the prospect of graduating with a BPS-accredited degree.”

The Society has been involved in the accreditation of programmes of education and training in psychology since the early 1970s and currently accredits programmes at both undergraduate (and equivalent) and postgraduate levels.

If you would like to know more about the Society’s accreditation process and standards please visit the website. 

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