Customer Service Excellence accreditation: putting students first
Why Customer Service Excellence?
Customer Service Excellence (CSE) is a national standard assessed across 57 elements that was introduced by the UK Government to ensure organisations put the customer at the heart of everything they do. This aligns with the University of Bradford's "Students First" strategy and the University's values of Excellence, Inclusivity, Innovation and Trust. CSE is an independent, rigorous validation of achievement, and a driver of continuous improvement in university library services, also supporting skills development for the library team.
Our CSE accreditation
The University Library first achieved CSE accreditation in December 2021 and have successfully retained his through subsequent annual reviews.
Our January 2025 review achieved an amazing 13 Compliance+ awards for exceeding the standard excellence requirements, demonstrating innovation and going above and beyond in customer support and services. Areas of successful Compliance+ include 1.1.3 "We make particular efforts to identify hard to reach and disadvantaged groups and individuals and have developed our services in response to their specific needs", and 3.3.2 "We evaluate how customers interact with the organisation through access channels, and we use this information to identify possible service improvements and offer better choices".
It was very clear from the start of the assessment that the senior management team were determined about their commitment in putting the customer at the heart of their service delivery. Staff go above and beyond what is expected of them to ensure a quality service is given to customers. It is clear that extra emphasis has been placed on customer service to ensure a quality service continues.
Assessor comments in 2025
From left to right - Anas Iqbal, Community & Welfare Sabbatical Officer, Alison Lahlafi, Associate Director: Chief Librarian and Aleem Bashir, UBU CEO.