Educational assessors from the US are visiting Berkeley Institute this week to decide if the school can join an international accreditation scheme.

The secondary school has reached the final stage of its application to become a member of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), which accredits public and private schools in New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington D.C. as well as schools in the Caribbean, Europe and elsewhere in the world

This week's three-day visit will see five representatives from MSA assess the school on 12 different areas, including its educational programme, leadership and student services.

Deputy principal Levyette Robinson said on Tuesday: "The visit is going very well. Today is their first full day and yesterday they had a tour of the school ? both the old and the new sites.

"They will give us the final report in six weeks to three months."

She said Berkeley was the first public school on the Island to complete the accreditation process.

"It is anticipated that the achievement of this award will not only boost public confidence in the senior school but will offer Berkeley graduates an advantage when applying to US colleges and universities," she said.

She added that the school community had spent the last two years formulating a school improvement plan.

Bermuda College has recently had its candidacy to become an accredited member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accepted.

Evelyn James-Barnett, the college's director of communications, said membership would mean students' credits were automatically transferable to colleges in the States.