Accreditation requires candidates to demonstrate, through evidence, how their professional practice meets the Icon Professional Standards.
The Accreditation process is designed to assess professional competence against Icon's Professional Standards through a structured, evidence-based approach. From submitting an application and building an assessment portfolio to undertaking an assessment discussion and receiving a final outcome, each stage plays an important role in the overall assessment process.
Step 1: Submit your Application Form
To apply for ACR Assessment you need to complete the application form in which you will need to provide information on your current role, work and training history and details of three complex conservation / restoration projects that you might wish to include in your assessment portfolio. (Note: your final assessment portfolio will need at least one other project.) You can find out more about hat information we look for in an application in our video ‘Completing the Application Form’.
To submit the form, log into the Icon website, click the My Account button in the top right corner and select Accreditation Application from the steps in the drop-down menu.
For more information on application fees, please visit the Fees and deadlines page
Applications are reviewed by the Icon Skills Team and specialist Moderators to check candidates are currently working in a conservation / restoration role, have sufficient experience to proceed and have undertaken complex projects. Candidates who pass this stage are enrolled on the e-portfolio and invited to an onboarding meeting to demonstrate how the e-portfolio works.
Step 2: Prepare your e-portfolio
Accreditation is based on evidence that you are meeting the ACR Assessment criteria. Once your application form has been reviewed you will then be set up on our e-portfolio system OneFile.
You have up to 12 months to complete this stage, however most candidates are able to pull together their portfolio in around 6 weeks when fitting it in between your work. If you fail to meet this deadline your portfolio will be archived and you will need to
When preparing the portfolio, you will gather evidence from at least three projects, but no more than six that show how you are meeting each of the ACR criteria across the body of projects you are presenting.
You will assign Assessment Criteria to the projects. Please remember that you will be assessed on every criterion you assign to each project. You must not tick every criterion for each project. You should evidence each criterion at least once, but no more than three times. If you have over assigned criterion, your portfolio will be returned prior to proceeding to the next stage.
The portfolio of evidence is expected to contain, but is not limited to:
- Narrative accounts for each project, providing a written overview of the project, highlighting which parts of the project provide evidence of the of the specific assessment criterion. This will help your assessors to understand the projects you’re presenting.
- Product evidence, images of the physical objects / collections, documentation
- Witness testimonies from colleagues, clients, and / or managers
- Evidence of communications
- Images or videos of work undertaken
- Case studies / written statements outlining the steps taken in a project and any personal evaluation of practice (if provided alongside another form of evidence)
- Continuing professional development records.
Again, please focus on uploading the best evidence, you shouldn’t be uploading dozens of documents, you should focus on uploading the strongest evidence.
Tips:
- If you’re uploading multiple images, we suggest you put these into a power point and annotate the images, so it is easier to access the right information.
- When uploading reports that your own authorship or input can be identified.
- Focus on uploading the strongest evidence to demonstrate the criteria – we don’t expect tens of pieces of evidence per project.
Once you have finished writing up and gathering your evidence for your first project you should email the Icon Skills team who can review the project to ensure you’re approaching this correctly.
Step 3: Submit portfolio
Once you have completed your portfolio, you should inform the Icon Skills Team. Your portfolio will then be reviewed by your assessors to help them prepare for the assessment discussion. At this stage, they will review all your evidence in detail, identifying which criteria have been met and developing questions for the assessment. This process can take up to four weeks.
If your assessors feel that changes are needed to strengthen your portfolio, you will have the opportunity to make amendments or provide additional evidence before your assessment. Please do not be concerned if this is requested, as it is a normal part of the process.
Stage 4: Assessment discussion
Once your portfolio has been signed off, your assessors will contact you to arrange your Professional Discussion. This is typically conducted online and usually takes between three and four hours.
During the discussion, your assessors will ask questions based on the projects included in your portfolio. This allows them to explore the technical details of your work, understand your role and responsibilities, and assess your underpinning knowledge, skills, and professional judgement.
What happens next
Following your Professional Discussion, your assessors will produce a comprehensive assessment report, usually within two weeks. At this stage, you will be notified of the outcome recommended by your assessors.
The report is then reviewed by the Accreditation Moderation Committee. The Committee's role is to ensure that assessment decisions are consistent, based on sufficient evidence, and that the standard of assessment is maintained across all candidates.
Once the moderation process has been completed, you will be informed of the final outcome of your assessment.
What if I am not Accredited?
If you do not meet all of the required criteria during your assessment, you may be offered the opportunity to be reassessed against the outstanding criteria only. You will be asked to provide additional evidence in your portfolio and take part in a further Professional Discussion.
The amount of additional evidence required, and the length of the reassessment, will be proportionate to the number of criteria being reassessed.
Please note that an additional fee applies for reassessment. The fee will vary depending on the number of criteria being reassessed. See the Fees and Deadlines page for further information.