To ensure the courses studied give you the skills and qualifications you need to better yourself, all of our courses result in a qualification, credits or award from any one or a combination of the following bodies:

Jargon commonly found on vocational courses:

such as automotive, engineering and building services courses; business studies courses; creative courses; hair and beauty; sports, tourism and public services:

• Foundation Modern Apprenticeship
• Modern Apprenticeship
• BTEC - Business & Technician Education Council
• City & Guilds - one of the oldest awarding bodies.
• EDEXCEL - Educational Excellence Foundation. EDEXCEL was created in 1996 by merging London Examinations and BTEC.
• NVQ - National Vocational Qualification
• GNVQ - General National Vocational Qualification - can be equivalent to GCSE or A Level.

For some hair and beauty courses only:

VTCT - Vocational Training Charitable Trust - Largest awarding body in beauty therapy. Also offers NVQs.

Found in business and professional courses:

• CIM - Chartered Institute of Marketing
• AAT - Association of Accounting Technicians
• CIPD - Certificate in Personnel Practice / Personnel Development
• ILEX - Institute of Legal Executives
• ILM - Institute of Leadership and Management
• PGCE - Post Graduate Certificate in Education - Useful for those who have a degree and want to teach that subject.

For some Lifelong Learning courses:

ACCESS courses - courses for those with few qualifications to get back into education at level 3, before moving onto higher education. ACCESS courses are not recognised in the workplace and are designed for learners with life experience. Access courses are recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) through their inclusion in the national scheme. A student who successfully completes an ACCESS course is awarded a certificate bearing the QAA ACCESS logo.

Only for academic courses:

• A Level - Advanced level
• AS Level - Advanced Subsidiary level. Think of this as a first half of an A Level, taken in one year. By taking four AS Levels in the first year you could then drop one to take three A2 Levels in the second year, or you could take different AS Levels the following year.
• A2 Level - Think of this as the second year of half an A Level course. Combining an AS Level with an A2 Level in the same subject will give you a full A Level.
• GCSE - General Certificate in Secondary Education.
• GCE - General Certificate in Education, which can cover A Levels.
• Welsh Baccalaureate - This is a new qualification in Wales, which can be taken alongside A Levels and some vocational courses, at different levels. The qualification includes formal study; work experience; knowledge of political, economic, social and cultural issues worldwide (by studying a foreign language) and Personal and Social Education, including a community participation project.

Childcare courses only:

CACHE - Council for Awards in Childcare & Education

For some Information and Office Technology courses:

• OCR - OCR was created when the Oxford & Cambridge Schools awarding body merged with the Royal Society of Arts
• CLAIT - Computer Literacy and Information Technology

Credit-based courses:

• Agored Cymru - Previously known as OCN, this is the awarding body offering credit-based courses aimed at Adult Learners

When you are considering a course, we usually state the qualification or credits you can earn at the end of it.