Accredited Museums

Accredited Museums

The National Museum Accreditation Scheme (run by the Arts Council) sets nationally agreed standards for museums in the UK. There are currently just under 1,800 museums participating in the scheme, demonstrating their commitment to managing collections effectively for the enjoyment and benefit of users. The scheme is designed to show how a Museum manages and develops its collection for the enjoyment and benefit of the community. The scheme, which is renewable on a three-year basis, was established in 1988 has supported museums across the UK to focus on standards and identify areas for development. The scheme is regarded as one of the most innovative and effective developments in the museum sector. It has led the way in raising museum standards in the UK, and has been used as a model and source of inspiration for similar schemes overseas.

The scheme is administered by Arts Council England in partnership with CyMAL: Museum, Archives, Libraries Wales; Museums Galleries Scotland and the Northern Ireland Museum Council.

Accredited museums have a responsibility to keep their assessing organisation informed of any changes likely to impact on the museum's Accreditation status.

Updated Accreditation standard

People's expectations of museums have increased. Museums' reliance on volunteer support has also increased. Environmental and operational challenges continue to grow.

Accreditation has recently been developed to keep pace with the times, to help museums develop their resilience through effective forward planning, to balance aspects of collection management and to encourage all museums to be responsive to user needs and expectations.

The benefits of taking part in the Accreditation Scheme

Accreditation enables museums and governing bodies to assess their current performance, and it supports them in planning and developing their services. It helps with:

Performance

It is quality standard that serves as an authoritative benchmark for assessing performance, rewarding achievement and driving improvement.

Profile

It raises awareness and understanding of museums, building confidence and credibility both within the governing body and among the public.

People

It helps museums to improve their focus on meeting users' needs and interests and developing their workforce.

Partnerships

It helps museums to examine their services and to encourage joint working within and between organisations.

Planning

It helps with forward planning by formalising procedures and policies.

Patronage

It demonstrates that a museum has met a national standard, which strengthens applications for public and private funding and gives investors confidence in the organisation.

To contact the Accreditation Service email accreditation@artscouncil.org.uk.

You can use the accreditation to filter a search by selecting it in the Accreditations section of the Search List Filters.

Venues with this Accreditation

The Hunterian Museum is the oldest museum in Scotland.

The Museum spans that very small period in history in which the technological revolution took place. The items represent the evolution of electrical, electronic and warfare technology between the period 1850 and 1980.

18th-century Welsh gentry estate - with house, walled gardens and home farm

This rare example of a self-sufficient 18th-century Welsh minor gentry estate has survived virtually unaltered.

The villa, designed in the 1790s, is the most complete example of the early work of John Nash. It has its own service courtyard with dairy, laundry, brewery and salting house, and walled kitchen gardens (with all its produce for sale when in season).

Elegant suspension bridge and toll-keeper's house

See how trade and travel brought Conwy to life and discover how a husband and wife kept Thomas Telford's bridge open every day of the year, whatever the weather.

Extraordinary Victorian house, gardens and woodland - the wonder of its age

Enter the world of Lord Armstrong - Victorian inventor, innovator and landscape genius. Cragside house was truly a wonder of its age.

Birthplace of the world-famous railway engineer

Discover the humble birthplace of great railway pioneer, George Stephenson, whose entire family lived in just one room. Our costumed guide tells the story of how challenging life was for mining families, like George’s, that once crammed into this now charming little stone cottage, nestled in a pretty garden near the river Tyne.

A wonderful world of wheels and water

Come and explore how the curious cogs and machinery of a fully operational watermill work in the grounds of Hardwick Hall.

For centuries, the water wheel at Stainsby Mill has ground flour for the Hall and the estate. The wheel is still turning today, fed by the adjoining Miller's pond. Find out more about this fascinating process at Stainsby Mill.

This experience follows the lives of children in East Anglia in World War II. How children lived and to hear about the lives of children then.

Four Study Areas  

Home Front / Sea Prince

The Royal London has a museum which is located in the crypt of a 19th-century church. It reopened in 2002 after extensive refurbishment and is open to the public free of charge.

The Florence Nightingale Museum is located at St Thomas's Hospital.

The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity, and first public art gallery, and celebrates the ways in which artists of all disciplines have helped improve children’s lives for over 270 years.

17th-century manor house with romantic, intimate gardens

Come and explore East Riddlesden Hall, home of 17th century cloth merchant James Murgatroyd.  See the changes he made and discover why his work was never completed.

For generations, this estate was a hive of farming activity; producing enough milk, cheese and bread to adequately supply the household and its workers.

The Cistercian abbey of Hailes was founded in 1246 in Gloucestershire by the Earl of Cornwall in thanks for surviving a shipwreck. 

Wool-merchant's house of circa 1500

This early Tudor timber-framed wool merchant's house (circa 1500) provides a fascinating insight into local history.

Its strong medieval character is enhanced by the appearance of arcaded stalls opening onto the street on the ground floor (recreated by the National Trust during the building's restoration).

A unique 17th-century treasure trove

This rare and atmospheric 17th-century house sits on the banks of the River Thames in Richmond. It is the creation of the tenacious Duchess of Lauderdale and her husband, the Duke, who together transformed Ham into one of the grandest Stuart houses in England.

Our exhibition of works from the collection of Doncaster Museum Service brings together a wide range of images of Doncaster and its surrounding area.

Spectacular 18th-century mansion with Adam interiors and parkland

Take a trip back in time to the 1760s at this spectacular Neo-classical mansion framed by historic parkland.

Designed for lavish entertaining and displaying an extensive collection of paintings, sculpture and original furnishings, Kedleston is a stunning example of the work of architect Robert Adam.

An Elizabethan Masterpiece

The family home of Bess of Hardwick, one of the richest and most remarkable women of Elizabethan England, stands beside Hardwick New Hall which she had built later in the 1590s.

Though the Old Hall is now roofless, visitors can still ascend four floors to view surviving decorative plasterwork, as well as the kitchen and service rooms with our audio tour.

Late Medieval merchant's house in Worcester city centre

Built in 1480, with early 17th and 18th century additions, this fine timber-framed house was rescued from demolition after the Second World War and has been carefully restored and refurbished.

An archway leads through to a delightful walled garden.

A family home, delightful gardens and an idyllic setting

An intimate family home and peaceful estate set in the rolling hills of the Chilterns.

This picturesque 16th-century mansion and tranquil gardens were home to the Brunner family until recent years. The house exudes a welcoming atmosphere with a well-stocked kitchen and homely living rooms.  The series of walled gardens is a colourful patchwork of interest set amid medieval ruins.

Elegant and spacious 18th-century house in the Cathedral Close

When walking into the celebrated Cathedral Close in Salisbury, visitors step back into a past world, and on entering Mompesson House, featured in the award-winning film Sense and Sensibility, the feeling of leaving the modern world behind is deepened.

Visit Churchill War Rooms to discover the original Cabinet War Rooms, the wartime bunker that sheltered Churchill and his government during the Blitz. Explore the historic rooms to experience the secret history that lives on underground.

St Bartholemew's is the largest NHS Trust in the UK serving a population of 2.5 million in east London and beyond and our hospitals have long and important histories.

Glynn Vivian Learning team continue to deliver an offsite programme of full and half day workshops to take place within schools while the Gallery is closed for redevelopment.

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British schoolgirl assaulted on school trip to Iceland

hotel corridor

A viral video shows a black girl being assaulted by a white woman in a corridor.

Police in Iceland are investigating after a British schoolgirl was slapped and chased by a tour guide in a hotel corridor.

The schoolgirl, 13, who attended Harris Girls’ Academy, was assaulted whilst on a school trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights. The incident occurred at Hotel Örk, Hveragerdi on 13th October.