Centre Application Guidance

Recognition is granted in two tiers: recognition of the centre itself, and Programme Approval for each IAM Certified Programme it delivers. The centre delivers and supports locally — in person, online, or blended; the Institute retains at all times ownership and intellectual property of the Programmes, their specifications and assessment criteria, the setting of assessments and pass requirements, moderation and standardisation, all awarding and certification decisions, external quality assurance, and the registers. No centre becomes, or may describe itself as, an awarding body.

No, on both counts. Endorsement covers qualifications and courses you own, under the separate Endorsement Scheme — the two statuses can be held together. And recognition is granted by the Institute against the criteria of its own Scheme; it confers no status under any external framework.

Governance and financial standing appropriate to the delivery proposed; teaching capability and qualified personnel; adequate facilities and learner support in every mode offered; fair and inclusive admission, delivery, and assessment practices, applying the IAM Reasonable Adjustments and Special Considerations Policy; lawful, fair, and secure processing of learner data; and an accessible learner complaints procedure with defined timescales and records.

On recognition, the centre executes the Centre Agreement and undertakes in writing to comply with the Scheme; to conduct all recognised delivery consistently with the values of the IAM Code of Ethics; to cooperate with monitoring; to use the Recognised Centre Mark only as licensed; and to market recognised delivery only as the Scheme allows. Conflicts of interest, and any past refusal or withdrawal of recognition by another body, must be disclosed in the application and as they arise.

Start with the expression-of-interest pack from centres@instam.org — no fee and no commitment at that stage, with a briefing from the Institute’s team within five working days. The full application is assessed on the evidence by the independent Recognition Panel against published criteria; recognition is granted for two renewable years and maintained through risk-based, proportionate monitoring — a small centre with a sound record is not burdened with the scrutiny of a large one.

Regionally banded in three bands so the framework is viable in every economy — fees reduced by up to half in lower-income countries while the standard remains identical everywhere. Every amount is published in full on our Recognition and Endorsement Fees page.

Every learner is registered with the Institute within twenty working days of enrolment. If delivery is ever disrupted, the IAM Learner Protection Policy carries registered learners through to completion — by teach-out, transfer, or directly with the Institute — and everything they have achieved stays theirs, verifiable indefinitely.