The impact that students’ unions have on the development of student activities is immense. Without support and guidance from students’ unions and the officers and staff that form their backbone students wouldn’t be able to play such a role in London 2012 inspired activity.

The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are fast approaching so now is your chance to show us what you’ve been doing to ensure your students’ union is playing it’s part on supporting London 2012. Wave two of accreditation has now opened and you can submit evidence up until 2nd March to show how you’ve supported the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

You can see who achieve accreditation in wave one here.

You can see the details of the three different levels that you can gain: Bronze, Silver and Gold by downloading the accreditation framework. The accreditation level will be determined through evidence based submissions containing documentation to show how the students’ unions have met the criteria. Examples of evidence are contained as part of the accreditation framework. You don’t need to submit reams of evidence – but enough for the accreditation panel to be able to see what you’ve done to meet the criteria. Please submit evidence using the submission form to detail the information that you are sending through and how it meets the criteria.

Please note that the accreditation criteria has changes slightly since the first wave due to the closure of the London 2012 Inspire Mark programme. Applications to receive an Inspire Mark closed in December 2011 so you are now unable to achieve the Inspire Mark. However we want to ensure that if students’ union didn’t have the chance to apply for an Inspire Mark they are still able to move through to Silver and Gold accreditation.

To do this you need to complete the form entitled ‘Inspire Mark Be a Champion Form’ which contains the questions you would have had to answer should you have applied for the Inspire Mark. This will then be assessed with your accreditation application. You won’t receive the Inspire Mark however it will show that you could have reached the right quality and therefore can achieve Silver or Gold level.You can see full details of the amended programme in the criteria and explanation details in the FAQ's. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you require further clarification. 

This is the second wave, of three waves of accreditation between now and July 2012 giving you plenty of time to move from Bronze all the way through to Gold. For this round submission dates are as follows:

• 9^th January 2012 - Submissions open
• 2^nd March 2012 - Submissions close
• 26^th March 2012 – Accreditation announced

For further details about the accreditation process and any additional questions please contact Fiona Ellison, 2012 Project Manager, on 07557 113761 or via fiona.ellison@nus.org.uk or check the FAQs.