Accreditation

Achieving UNESCO status is a huge achievement. It shows that a place, organisation or person has met, and continues to meet, UNESCO’s international standard and ascribes to its values.

Recognised internationally as shorthand for high-quality, accreditation is the UNESCO ‘badge’ which demonstrates to a national and international audience that a place, item, event or initiative, is of global significance and interest.

As the official body for UNESCO in the United Kingdom, it is the role of the UK National Commission to provide a UNESCO accredition advisory and application support service for individuals and organisations in the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

Accreditation Process

Initial contact for all UK applications for UNESCO accreditation must be made to the UK National Commission for UNESCO. This will allow us to confirm eligibility and answer any initial questions before a formal application is started.
All UK applications are independently peer-reviewed before they are recommended for submission to UNESCO. This is to help ensure all UK nominations are of the highest possible standard. Reviewers are asked to recommend one of the following three options:
1. Endorsement
2. Endorsement contingent on further information, clarification, or amendments to the current application or nomination or
3. Not to endorse
Each UNESCO accreditation programme has fixed deadlines, and these can change year-on-year.
The UK National Commission for UNESCO has earlier deadlines than those published by UNESCO for all accreditation programmes. Please contact us to confirm the specific application calendar for the type of accreditation you are interest in.
For some accreditation programmes UNESCO sets a limit on the number of nominations a Member State can submit in each Programme Cycle.
Where these instances occur for applications from the UK, stronger nominations will be given preference for endorsement, as determined by the external independent reviewers. Differences in reviewer recommendations are reconciled by the relevant UKNC Non-Executive Director and UKNC Chair, who hold final authority on endorsement decisions.
Decisions made are final, although applicants will be provided with an explanation of any decision regarding their application on request. The UKNC reserves the right for its independent reviewers to remain anonymous.
Not all applications to the UK National Commission for UNESCO will be endorsed for submission to UNESCO. Further, endorsement by the UKNC does automatically mean that an applications submitted to UNESCO will be successful.
Click on the appropriate block below to learn more about the Accreditation Process for each type of designation or programme.

UNESCO Designations

UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks

UNESCO Expert Network

UNESCO Patronage

UNESCO Prizes

Partnership