Accreditation

DIAmond offers an accreditation service for training providers within the driver and instructor training industry.

The aims of the accreditation service are:

to establish minimum standards of training and assessment
to ensure that those individuals or companies seeking driver or instructor training are protected from inferior training
to promote DIAmond accredited providers to those seeking driver or instructor training
to offer assistance, where necessary, to existing providers

Step one: Training syllabus overview
Once an inspection date has been mutually agreed the DIAmond will request the provider to send an overview of the training/assessment material to them (the DIAmond) at least one month before the due date of the inspection. Therefore, if the inspection date is 1st July 2010 the DIAmond should be in possession of the material by 1st June 2010. During this time the DIAmond will request payment of fifty percent of the total fee before the due starting date of the inspection.

The purpose of this request is to allow sufficient time to identify the following:

the course date, venue and duration
the course title
a list of those trainers/assessors who are authorised to deliver the course
the aims of the course
the intended audience and why they should attend
a clear course structure
the course starts with a clear recapitulation of prior learning
methods of training and assessing
trainer and student activities
a summary
a clear link between theory and on-road training (where applicable)
an explanation of what constitutes a satisfactory or unsatisfactory grade
how all students are to be engaged in the learning process
the health and safety measures

Once the course material has been inspected the DIAmond will confirm to the provider the elements of the course that are to be inspected. The provider will be informed of these elements no later than one week before the due date of inspection.

Step two: Inspection
The external verifier(s) will observe the training and assessment as detailed in step one. As a guide an external verifier will be expected to observe:

one classroom/theory session for half a day
one on-road training session for half a day
two classroom/theory sessions for a full day
two on-road sessions for a full day

For practical reasons the ratio for classroom/theory training is restricted to no more than ten students to one trainer (10:1) and an on-road training ratio of no more than two students to one trainer (2:1) during the inspection. Accredited providers should endeavour to maintain a ratio of no more than 12:1 for classroom/theory and 3:1 for on-road training at all other times.

The purpose of this inspection to ensure that:

there are clear links between the theory and on-road training
all students are engaged in the learning process
all students receive appropriate feedback and remedial training
assessments of all students are accurate
trainers and assessors understand the course content
the provider receives sufficient feedback of the strengths and areas for development of the training team

Step three: report compiled and certificates issued (upon successful completion of accreditation)
Within ten days of the inspection the provider will receive an electronic report explaining the findings of the external verifier(s). A hard copy will follow along with the certificates upon receipt of the remaining fifty percent of the outstanding fee for inspection.

Step four: re-accreditation
Accreditation is valid for a period of no more than two years from the date of the original accreditation. Providers are advised to request a re-accreditation no later than three months before the expiry of the accreditation.

Fees
For simplicity all fees are calculated on a per-external verifier-per-day rate. In any one day an external verifier may observe:

two classroom/theory sessions
two on-road sessions
one classroom/theory session and one on-road session