The scheme works for museums of all sizes: from volunteer-run museums to national museums. There are 250 Accredited museums in Scotland.

To achieve Accreditation, a museum must meet requirements on:

• how it is governed and managed
• how it cares for and manages its collections
• the information and services it offers to museum users

Museums Galleries Scotland is the assessing organisation for museums in Scotland. The Accreditation Scheme is managed as a partnership between:

• Arts Council England
• Museums Galleries Scotland
• Northern Ireland Museums Council
• Llywadwodraeth Cymru – Welsh Government

The Accreditation Standard and associated guidance were updated and published in 2018/2019 following a review.

Achieving the Accreditation standard has many benefits for a museum.

• Performance: A quality standard serves as an authoritative benchmark for assessing performance, rewarding achievement and driving improvement.
• Profile: It raises awareness and understanding of museums and builds confidence and credibility, both within the governing body and among the public.
• People: It helps museums to improve their focus to meet the needs of museum users, and on developing their workforce.
• Partnerships: It helps museums examine their services and encourage joint working within and between organisations.
• Planning: It helps with forward planning by formalising procedures and policies, which help the museum achieve it’s aims.
• Patronage: It demonstrates that a museum has met a national standard, strengthening applications for public and private funding. Giving investors confidence in the organisation.

Achieving Accredited Status has helped museums to:

• improve planning skills
• assess achievements
• improve morale
• raise awareness to stakeholders
• attract financial support from external sources
• show their fitness to receive sponsorship and donations

If your museum is already Accredited and you are looking for your next return date, please see our Accreditation returns schedule.