Accreditation means, literally, to give credit to something, to acknowledge or certify its value.

Confusion arises because a range of aspects of education can be accredited: providers, courses or qualifications, processes, people, or outcomes.

For example, to accredit a course might mean, as it does in the case of ODL QC accreditation, to say that the way the course is delivered - materials and support - has been checked and judged to be of good quality.    But it does not necessarily mean that the qualification is widely recognised.

Or it may signify that successful completion of the course can be credited towards, or offers exemption from, something else, for example from part of a more extended course, or from having to sit the exams of a professional body.    Such accreditation says little or nothing about the quality of course delivery, any more than the former validates outcomes.

Then again, accreditation of an individual may indicate that (s)he is a good teacher.    Or merely that (s)he possesses certain qualifications.

This confusion, between process and outcome, applies to accreditation itself.    Many talk loosely of an accreditation process, when what they mean is assessment.

This confuses the process with the desired outcome:   it implies success when failure might equally be the result.    Accreditation is best reserved for the act of granting recognition, not the process which decides whether such recognition is deserved.