Frequently Asked Questions

In higher education, institutional accreditation entails certain established transactions between an institution and the accreditation agency. These include:

• Self-Study – this is an institution-wide activity where senior administrators, faculty and other personnel engage in the preparation of a self-study report which discusses and provides evidence that the institution demonstrates compliance with various higher education quality criteria and standards. The report also identifies areas for continuous improvement and presents relevant recommendations. The self-study process can take as long as 1 to 2 years to complete and results are submitted in a detailed report to the accreditation agency.
• Site Visit – Having reviewed the institution’s self-study report, external peer evaluators, commissioned by the accreditation agency visit the institution to examine its compliance with accreditation criteria and standards. Depending upon the size and complexity of the institution, this site visit can last between 2 to 5 days.
• Evaluation Report – Having undertaken the site visit, evaluators prepare and submit an external evaluation report which documents the institution’s compliance with accreditation criteria and standards and identifies recommendations for the advancement of the organization as a quality educational institution.
• Institutional Commitment and Response – the institution considers the evaluators’ report, determines whether it would accept the recommendations offered and responds by monitoring and improving its processes and outcomes to conform to the standards.

The campus senior executive management is ultimately responsible for institutional accreditation. A dedicated Self-Study Steering Committee, helps guide the campus through the accreditation process.

The St. Augustine Campus has full institutional accreditation for the period 2018 – 2026.

The Campus’s accredited status can be viewed at www.actt.ord.tt.

The maximum period granted by the Accreditation Council of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) for continuing institutional accreditation is seven (7) years. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic all ACTT registered and accredited institutions were granted an automatic extension of one year to their status.   The ‘Accredited Institution’ status granted to the St. Augustine Campus will be up for renewal in 2026.

The accreditation process evaluates governance and administration, financial stability, teaching and learning outcomes, student support services, and continuous improvement efforts, among other key operational areas.

Programme or specialized accreditation is an external evaluation performed by a competent professional body which espouses quality standards for its profession. The evaluation focuses on ensuring that a programme’s learning outcomes, its educational processes and administrative practices meet the professional licensure or recognition requirements that permit graduates of the programme to be admitted to the profession.

Institutional accreditation confirms that the St. Augustine campus meets or surpasses the acceptable minimum quality standards set by the ACTT. It considers the overall characteristics of the institution and our capacity to deliver quality educational programmes. It does not analyse the individual programmes and therefore does not specifically mean that those programmes that require professional licensure for their graduates to practice in certain professions such as engineering, and medicine have met those standards.

Accreditation ensures that students receive a recognized and high-quality education that meets global standards. This also makes it easier for students to transfer credits and enhances their employability.

At the St. Augustine Campus, professional accreditation is managed at the faculty level. To date, degrees in engineering, business and medicine all maintain professional/programme accreditation.

• Business Accreditation

The St. Augustine Campus, through The UWI Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business, has business accreditation from the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

• Medicine and Health Science Accreditation

The St. Augustine Campus has received programme accreditation in medical sciences, dentistry and veterinary sciences from the Caribbean Accreditation Authority for Education in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM-HP) headquartered in Jamaica.

• Engineering Accreditation

Engineering programmes at The UWI St. Augustine Campus are accredited by relevant accreditation bodies in the UK:

• Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors – ICES, UK
• Energy Institute (EI)
• Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST), UK
• Institution of Chemical Engineers – IChemE, UK
• Institution of Engineering and Technology – IET, UK
• Joint Board of Moderators, UK
• The Geological Society of London
• The Institute of Mechanical Engineers – IMechE, UK

After the report is issued, the university reviews recommendations from external evaluators and implements changes to address any gaps. This ongoing process helps improve the quality of education and operations at the university.

Traditionally measures to assure and preserve the quality of The UWI degree have been internally driven and sustained by the institution’s high academic standards, the quality of the intake of students, long held to be the best in the Anglophone Caribbean, the quality of academic and non-academic staff and its rigorous quality assurance processes and procedures including international benchmarking, inter alia.

The St Augustine Campus has been voluntarily submitting itself to institutional accreditation which is externally driven. While institutional accreditation is important for public confidence, failure to be re-accredited does not affect the quality of degrees already awarded. Rather, it is likely to affect the perception of the quality The UWI degree which of course is not in the best interest of The UWI, its students and its graduates. This effect on perception is linked to the focus of accreditation processes on evaluating how well quality indicators are met by the institution. The St Augustine Campus, therefore, is fully committed to ensuring a successful outcome of the current continuing institutional accreditation self-study process.