“We thought we had a pretty good scheme beforehand and had always had good feedback from participants, but going through the process has really made us examine our procedures, monitoring, evaluation and feedback processes to ensure that we are not just compliant to the latest regulations but go beyond the regulations to ensure a quality mentoring experience for all participants and systems for continual development and improvement.”
Annette Baxter, Careers Adviser, Sheffield Hallam University

9 Approved, conditional and not yet approved

Congratulations! Once you have been approved you will be able to promote
the project’s achievement of APS and to use the APS logo in any marketing /
promotional materials. In addition you will also receive a framed certificate
of APS accreditation. Your accreditation is valid for a period of three years.
We will also provide you with a press release template to promote your
success to local and regional media.

As part of the monitoring process and to ensure that we offer you the best
service possible we will send you a APS customer feedback survey.

In order that we can keep an up to date record of your project you will be
required to complete a short annual questionnaire.

We will also keep you updated about new APS resources and/or ongoing
workshops such as benchmarking and continuous improvement.

Following the assessment, if the information and supporting documentation
indicated that further clarification and/or evidence was needed then your
application would be given a Conditional Approval rating.

The assessment report will give a clear, specific and objective explanation of the areas where your project is not currently meeting the requirements of the 12 elements of the standard.

In most cases we would require clarification or more supporting evidence about one or more of the processes, policies or procedures that were not confirmed during the assessment visit.

The Conditional Approval rating allows projects three months to resubmit
the additional information and/or evidence requested.

In the unlikely event that the project fails to meet APS and the assessment
has identified major areas for development that go beyond Conditional
Approval, then we would direct you back to the APS action plan stage
in order to address the developments that would need to be introduced.

Once you have completed the improvements across the areas identified
in the earlier assessment you can request another assessment visit by
completing the application for assessment visit form. Please note that a
follow up assessment visit will incur an additional charge of £200.