Eligibility

For all of our professional development programmes you have to be an individual member of the Museums Association or using the individual membership provided to each commercial member.

For our programmes with an end-point assessment (the AMA or FMA), you need to be a full or concessionary individual member.

Associateship of the Museums Association (AMA)

You need to have worked in or with museums for 12 months.

We have a Competency Framework, and to start your AMA you need to be able to comfortably perform at level 1 for each of the six competencies. Before you register, we would recommend looking at the level 1 competency statements to confirm that this is the case.

If you don’t meet level 1 in the competencies, please email cpd@museumsassociation.org and we can signpost resources to support you in developing to level 1.

At the end of your AMA you will be assessed against the framework, and you’ll need to demonstrate evidence, deep understanding and direct hands-on experience (where applicable) against the majority of the level 2 competency statements for all six competencies.

If you have any other questions, please visit our FAQ page or contact cpd@museumsassociation.org.

Fellowship of the Museums Association (FMA)

You need to have worked in or with museums for a minimum of five years in a leadership space.

To start your FMA you need to have a proven track record within the profession and your practice should be at level 3 in our Competency Framework.

The Fellowship is awarded based on clear evidence of learning, impact and legacy. We recommend you review all the competencies in our framework and reflect on your expertise and experience relating to level 1-3 competency statements.

You should feel confident that your career to date enables you to demonstrate deep understanding, direct hands-on experience (where applicable) and significant sector impact.

If you don’t meet these criteria, please email cpd@museumsassociation.org and we can signpost resources or other Museum Association programmes to support your professional development.

At the end of your FMA you will be assessed against the framework and you’ll need to demonstrate evidence against the majority of the level 4 competency statements for all six competencies. We understand that in a leadership role you may have different experiences across the competencies in line with your specialism(s).

If you have any other questions, please contact cpd@museumsassociation.org.

Mentoring for All

You need to have worked in or with museums for three years. This programme looks to support you as you navigate your role and career journey, as well as providing you with opportunities to reflect on your future.

We have a Competency Framework and we recommend that you review it to identify the areas you wish to develop during your 12-month mentoring relationship.

Unlike our other professional development programmes there is no end-point assessment. The mentoring relatonship comes to an end after 12 months.

Please note that Mentoring for All runs annually.

If you are interested in this programme or would like to know more about whether it’s for you, please email cpd@museumsassociation.org.

My organisation is funding me, how can I pay?

It is wonderful that your organisation is supporting your development. Your organisation can pay via credit card or invoice:

  • To pay using your organisation’s credit card, please tick the box on the registration form to confirm “organisation paying”, enter the billing address registered to the credit card and follow the instructions to add card details
  • To arrange for an invoice to be sent to your organisation, please tick the box on the registration form to confirm “organisation paying”, enter the billing address for your organisation and select the payment method “invoice” when you get to this screen

My organisation is funding part of my fees, how can I split my payment across different methods?

We will be happy to make arrangements for you to pay part of the fees on different cards or by different methods, please call the MA office or contact cpd@museumsassociation.org to set this up.

I am a Members Support Fund beneficiary, what should I do?

Congratulations on receiving this support. On the payment screen, you will see there is a field to enter a grant code. Your Members Support Fund award email will contain a unique code for you to enter into this field. This will automatically update the required fee and you can then proceed with the registration process.

Can I pay in instalments?

Yes. For all of our professional development programmes you can pay on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis by direct debit. Please select the option that works for you. Note that monthly and quarterly payments will incur a small admin fee.