Accreditation/Exemption

The University of Edinburgh, like most British universities, seeks accreditation of its degree courses by appropriate professional bodies in disciplines where this is relvant. In the case of computing degrees, course accreditation is sought from the British Computer Society (BCS), which is the Chartered Engineering Institution for Information Systems Engineering. Like all engineering institutions, the BCS assesses courses for accreditation against the standards laid down by the UK Engineering Council in the UK-SPEC document. Electrical engineering degrees are normally accredited by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, whilst joint computing/electrical engineering degrees may be accredited by one or both institutions. Psychology degrees are normally accredited by the British Psychological Society.

BCS Accreditation/Exemption

The BCS considers courses for both accreditation and exemption. Accredited courses contribute towards the academic base required for Engineering Council Chartered Engineer (CEng) or Incorporated Engineer (IEng) registration. Exemptions awarded to courses are described in terms of exemption from component parts of the BCS Professional Examination. Full exemption gives exemption from the Certificate, Diploma, Professional Graduate Diploma (PGD) examinations and the PGD Project. These examinations and the project also contribute to the requirements for Membership of the BCS (MBCS), which is itself a professional qualification carrying with it both prestige and responsibilities (as defined in the BCS Codes of Conduct and Good Practice).

For full accreditation, the current benchmark for the academic component of the requirements for CEng is an MEng degree, a four-year (five-year in Scotland) undergraduate programme (at least two thirds of which should be within the information systems area) that is "broader than a traditional (English 3-year/Scottish 4-year) honours degree. It should provide some multi-disciplinary education whilst retaining depth in traditional subject areas in order to provide an educational foundation for leadership, social and business awareness and for a wider appreciation of risk, environmental, health and safety, and political issues. There should be an individual, practical, research-based project and a practical problem-solving group project, the latter having industrial involvement."

 In practice, very few universities offer MEng degrees in computing, so the BCS offers Partial CEng Accreditation (strictly speaking, accreditation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for CEng) to BSc/BEng Honours degrees, graduates from which will be required to undertake further learning to complete the academic requirements for CEng. Further learning equates to an additional undergraduate year of education, but which may be industrially based. 

Exempt/Accredited Degrees

At the University of Edinburgh the following degrees carry Full BCS Exemption and Partial CEng accreditation: on condition that students pass at the first attempt a practical problem solving (fourth year) project.

The following degrees carry exemption from the Certificate and Diploma examinations and the Diploma Project:

on condition that students pass at the first attempt a practical problem solving (fourth year) project.

IET Accreditation

The following degrees are accredited by the Institution of Electrical Engineers:

British Psychological Society

Full Graduate Basis for Registration accreditation is accorded to the joint honours degree in Artificial Intelligence and Psychology, from 1999 intake to 2008 intake inclusive. Matters concerning this accreditation are handled by the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences.

Roland Ibbett, Director of Teaching, School of Informatics
22 May 2006


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