Accreditation
Our commitment to generating knowledge that helps shape places, people and policies has led to our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes being accredited by a range of external bodies.
These accreditations recognise and endorse our unique approach, they further strengthen our long-established relationships with industries and professional bodies, and help our graduates demonstrate the quality and practicality of their learning experiences.
Accreditation partners
Royal Geographical Society (RGS)
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is the UK's leading professional body for geography. To be accredited is an endorsement of both the quality of the learning outcomes and module content of an accredited programme, and also of the graduates of that programme. We are proud that our BSc Human Geography is one of the first specialist degrees to be awarded the RGS accreditation.
Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI)
The RTPI is the Chartered Institute responsible for accrediting world-class planning courses and maintaining standards in the planning profession. Our BSc Human Geography and Planning and BSc Urban Planning and Development programmes have been accredited by the RTPI.
This means that students graduating from these programmes will have completed a fundamental stage in their professional development to become a certified planner. Full certification is completed through a combination of professional work experience (which is possible through the four-year route of accredited undergraduate programmes), and through the successful completion of an accredited specialist postgraduate degree.
Along with the specialist degrees, we also offers two comprehensive postgraduate degrees, MSc Spatial Planning and Development and MSc International Planning and Development, that fully meet the education requirements for professional membership of the RTPI for those that do not already have an accredited undergraduate degree.
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
The RICS is a globally recognised professional body working to promote and enforce the highest professional standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction, and infrastructure. Our BSc Urban Planning and Development degree has RICS accreditation, recognising its relevance not only to current industrial practice, but also its ability to produce graduates who are ready to tackle key societal challenges through the workplace.
Upon graduation, individuals will be able to complete the RICS’s Assessment of Professional Competence (through structured training in a professional organisation) and thus become a fully recognised Chartered Surveyor.
Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation (CIHT)
Our MSc Transport and Planning programme is accredited by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. Courses approved by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT) are recognised by the Transport Planning Professional (TPP) Professional Standards Committee as meeting the educational requirements for the Transport Planning Professional qualification.
Candidates who have attained a CIHT approved postgraduate degree are able to follow the standard route to the TPP qualification without submitting a Portfolio of Technical Knowledge. After gaining work experience (usually about five years), they can progress to preparing and submitting a Portfolio of Evidence and attend a Professional Review Interview.
Postgraduate
At postgraduate level, the following courses have been accredited by Chartered Institutes, enabling successful graduates to complete the education requirements for professional membership of these organisations.
Comprehensive Masters
For those that have not completed an accredited RTPI undergraduate degree.
- Spatial Planning and Development (MSc) / RTPI and RICS
- International Planning and Development (MSc) / RTPI and RICS (specific modules need to be taken to ensure accreditation from this external body)
Specialist Masters
For those that have completed an accredited RTPI undergraduate degree.
- Urban and Regional Development (MSc) / RTPI and RICS
- Sustainability, Planning and Environmental Policy (MSc) / RTPI and RICS
- Urban Design (MA) / RTPI and RICS
- Transport and Planning (MSc) / RTPI and CIHT
- Environment and Development (MSc) / RTPI
Our Planning Practice (PgCert) allows individuals who do not have an accredited undergraduate degree but have completed one of the Specialist Masters degrees to ‘top up’ their knowledge and meet the education requirements for professional membership of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
