The Heritage Education Trust is the only body in existence able to provide independent quality assurance to historic properties and collections which run education programmes. Together, these two institutions subsidise the cost of entry to the Sandford Awards five-fold in order to cover the cost of the assessment, the reporting process and the presentation ceremony.

The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives and collections across the British Isles.

Over 500 sites including historic houses, museums, galleries, places of worship, gardens, landscapes and collections – have received an Award since the scheme began in 1978. They include the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh; official residence of Her Majesty The Queen in Scotland, Worcester Cathedral, Holdenby House in Northamptonshire, London Transport Museum and Lismore Castle Arts in Northern Ireland.

The Sandford Awards represent a broad spectrum of heritage sector partners who recognise the importance of the continuing programme of quality assessment that they provide and we work in partnership with the Historic Houses Association and Historic Royal Palaces who are leaders in heritage learning. The National Trust, The National Trust for Scotland, Historic Scotland, English Heritage and National Museums in England, Wales and Ireland all submit their properties for assessment alongside local authorities, independent trusts and private owners.

The Awards focus on formal, curriculum-linked education opportunities offered to schools by heritage sites, although recognition is also made of informal learning such as family programmes. The Awards are made annually and are non competitive.

The feedback that we receive from applicants proves how valuable they find the process:

“A thorough judging process. An award worth having."

“It was a rigorous process for assessing the quality of the educational provision within the heritage sector, which could then be flagged up as a Quality Mark to our users, potential users and colleagues."

“We gained ‘Quality Assurance’ from a well respected and widely acknowledged organisation."

An aspiring site (Scholar) will be placed with a Sandford Award winner (Fellow) and support and capacity will be added through training, volunteer involvement, a range of user-friendly e-learning and funds to meet costs as well as financial contributions for those involved. Scholars will receive good practice and learning from their Fellow(s) via short (potentially ‘virtual’) placements, and will in turn ‘cascade’ this back into their own site or collection.

Heritage experts have produced short films and follow-up support to encourage continued professional development in the historic environment. It is anticipated that this development will create a suitable platform in which heritage learning staff and volunteers can enter into professional discussions and also source relevant support and good practice.

The Sandford Cascade project is also building the foundations for an exciting informal learning award that seeks to recognise good practice and the fostering of positive relationships between visitors and venues.

The principal aim of this scheme is to build capacity and resilience within the heritage learning sector in the East Midlands. By the development of strong networks of learning, cascading and sharing good practice, we can support the shaping of a resilient heritage economy in the region. Heritage sector professionals and volunteers will be enabled to build sustainable opportunities for the benefit of their service users and sites in the historic environment.

For more information, please contact our Sandford Cascade Co-ordinator Rachel Bryant by emailing rachel.bryant@bishopg.ac.uk or calling 01522 583750.