What’s The Difference Between Awarding Bodies?
If you are embarking on your journey to becoming an Assessor you may have noticed that there are lots of different awarding bodies. First, let’s have a look at what awarding bodies actually do, before we go into detail about the ones we choose to work with.
What Is An Awarding Body?
Awarding bodies are also sometimes referred to as awarding organisations or exam boards, but they all mean the same thing. They are all terms used to describe an organisation that designs, develops, delivers and awards the recognition of learning outcomes. These outcomes can include knowledge, skills and competencies and are measured following an assessment and quality assurance process.
Awarding bodies are experts at developing qualifications that meet the needs of both employers and the learners undertaking them. They are strictly regulated and ensure that the resources and qualifications they approve are of the highest standards. Standardisation is also a big part of the role of an awarding body, as they are responsible for ensuring learners receive the same level of assessment at all times.
Types Of Awarding Body
As you can imagine, there are lots of different awarding bodies. But when you get down to basics, there is not much difference between them all. At the end of the day, the course content, qualification and support given is exactly the same; no matter which awarding body you go with. The only real difference is the name that you will see on the certificate at the end!
Here at Brooks & Kirk, we use three main awarding bodies:
Pearson Edexcel
Edexcel is Pearson’s leading qualification brand, which has been running for over 20 years now. As well as being renowned for their GCSE and A level qualifications, Edexcel also offer some vocational qualifications including NVQs and functional skills.
Pearson Edexcel are industry leaders in digital teaching, learning and assessment. Being the only awarding body with expertise in on-screen assessment and online learning, they are always investing in innovative ways to deliver digital learning. As the majority of our courses are all delivered online, this is very important to us at Brooks and Kirk.
City & Guilds
City & Guilds are in a league of their own when it comes to vocational education, and have over 130 years of experience within this sector. They started up after releasing that businesses needed to develop a pipeline of talent who were trained to the highest standards. As the world of business evolves, City & Guilds continue to develop vocational services to meet these changing needs.
Not only are City & Guilds focused on creating top-level qualifications, they also have a wide range of support resources to help guide learners through. Again, City & Guilds are very technology-focused, allowing training providers like us to deliver quality training as efficiently as possible.
SFJ Awards
Probably the least popular of the awarding bodies we use, SFJ Awards are a nationally recognised awarding organisation, as well as being an approved End-Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO). They have a more collaborative approach; ensuring that both their centres and customers receive a personal approach from their experienced, specialist team.
SFJ Awards are the leading public sector EPA. They are approved for a range of End-Point Assessments for apprenticeships in England. By supporting both training providers and employers, they are helping to get more people into roles within the public sector.
We hope this has helped to explain the difference between the awarding bodies that we use at Brooks and Kirk. If you have any further questions, please feel free to give our team a call on 01205 805155.
