Awards and standards
RAMM is one of Exeter City Council's award-winning services. It subscribes to a range of nationally-recognised standards.
Awards and standards include Museum of the Year 2012, the MLA's Designation Scheme, VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service), the Accreditation Scheme for Museums in the United Kingdom, Inspiring Learning for All, Investing in Volunteers and Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge.
Museum of the Year 2012
Praised by the judges for its ‘ambition and imagination’, RAMM was crowned 'Museum of the Year' and awarded the £100,000 Art Fund Prize for its redevelopment project. Chair of Judges, Lord Smith of Finsbury, said of the Museum, “The new Royal Albert Memorial Museum is quite simply a magical place.”
The MLA's Designation Scheme
The MLA's Designation Scheme has identified RAMM's World Cultures collection as a pre-eminent collection of national and international importance. The collection contains important items from cultures in every continent outside Europe and RAMM is committed to providing high-quality services which deliver the fullest possible access to our collections. With support from the Scheme, RAMM takes a leadership role in the sector by helping other institutions by sharing expertise, offering advice and lending objects or materials.
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council is the government's agency for museums, galleries, libraries and archives. It delivers strategic leadership in England and in each of its regions and collaborates with partners across the UK. The Designation Scheme aims to identify and celebrate the pre-eminent collections of national and international importance held in England's non-national museums, libraries and archives.
Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS)
The redeveloped RAMM received the seal of approval from the Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS), VisitBritain’s consumer-focused quality assessment of visitor attractions in May 2012.
To attain and retain VAQAS accreditation RAMM has to maintain a good level of customer service and quality in a wide variety of disciplines. These include interpretation, staffing, visitor information, services and facilities, café and retail services, cleanliness and other general observations.
RAMM first acquired accreditation in 2004. St Nicholas Priory, the former Benedictine monastery and Tudor home managed by RAMM, acquired accreditation in 2009.
Visitor Attraction of the Year
RAMM won the Devon Tourism Awards 2012 Visitor Attraction of the Year category jointly with Exmoor Zoo and the Silver Award in the tourist attraction category of the South West Awards.
NAS Design Partnership Award 2012
Museum specialists The Benbow Group in partnership with designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) and Exeter City Council have won the prestigious 2012 National Association of Shopfitters (NAS) Design Partnership award for the stunning displays at RAMM. The award recognises excellence in interior design and shopfitting contracting with emphasis on the special partnership between designer/architect and contractor that high quality contracts such as these demand. The museum partnership won the Non-retail category.
The Accreditation Scheme for Museums in the United Kingdom
The Arts Council awarded the redeveloped RAMM full accreditation status after reopening in December 2012. The Scheme sets nationally agreed standards for museums in the UK. RAMM is one of almost 1,800 museums participating in the scheme and demonstrating their commitment to managing collections effectively for the enjoyment and benefit of users.
2012 Event Design Awards
Entered for this prestigious international award by our exhibition designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates, RAMM won the Best Museum Environment 2012 category.
RIBA 2012 awards
RAMM was shortlisted for the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) 2012 awards.
Museums & Heritage 2012 awards
RAMM was shortlisted for the Museums & Heritage 2012 awards.
AAM Muse Awards 2012
Ghostwriter, the digital art by award-winning Blast Theory commissioned for the 2011 reopening, received an honourable mention from the judges of the prestigious American Association of Museums Muse Awards.
Inspiring Learning for All
Inspiring Learning for All is a Museums Libraries and Archives Council initiative to transform the way in which museums, libraries and archives deliver and engage users in learning.
Investing in Volunteers
The quality of RAMM's vibrant volunteer programme gained formal recognition in November 2007 with the achievement of the Investing in Volunteers Quality Standard, the UK's best practice standard for volunteering. Renewed for another 3 years in 2011, the volunteer programme was assessed against a range of best practice standards for the recruitment, involvement, support and retention of volunteers and it excelled in all aspects. RAMM was only the forth Museum nationally and the eighth organisation in the SW to receive the award.
