The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) is a
community interest company
A community interest company (CIC, pronounced "see-eye-see", or colloquially, "kick") is a form of social enterprise in the United Kingdom intended "for people wishing to establish businesses which trade with a social purpose..., or to carry on ...
acting as a single voice for the eight largest qualification providers in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
offering
GCSE
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...
,
GCE,
Scottish Highers and vocationally related qualifications:
AQA
AQA Education, trading as AQA (formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds Test (assessment), examinations in various subjects at Genera ...
,
CCEA,
City & Guilds
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has bee ...
,
Edexcel
Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. It ...
,
NCFE,
OCR,
SQA and
WJEC. The JCQ closely monitors
examination administration, invigilation of examinations (exams) at individual schools and other centres, and the activities of examinations officers.
About
The JCQ was established in January 2004, succeeding the Joint Council for General Qualifications (JCGQ, 1998–2003). Its purpose is to bring together major educational and vocational examination boards in the United Kingdom and oversee testing standards. The JCQ should not be confused with Ofqual (the
Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation
The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog ...
), which holds the authority to regulate and accredit British examination boards. The JCQ facilitates collaboration among its member awarding bodies by:
* providing, wherever possible, common administrative arrangements for the schools and colleges and other providers which offer their qualifications
* dealing with the regulators, in responding to proposals and initiatives on assessment and the curriculum
* dealing with the media on issues affecting all member bodies
* helping the awarding bodies to work together to create common standards, regulations and guidance
* helping them to regulate themselves against those agreed standards as well as monitoring any exceptions
* providing a forum for members to discuss issues with each other, with partner organisations and with the regulators
* ensuring examinations are managed under consistent regulations.
Regulations and examination practices
The JCQ provides rules and regulations concerning the exams. These are updated annually and published on the JCQ website.
British examination boards for GCSEs and GCE A-levels (i.e. AQA, Edexcel, OCR, WJEC, CCEA) are obliged to comply with JCQ's regulations, whereas
Cambridge International are not obliged to comply with them for their international GCSEs.
See also
*
Examination boards in the United Kingdom
References
*
External links
Official website of JCQ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joint Council For Qualifications
Education administration in Northern Ireland
Education in the City of Westminster
Education regulators
Educational organisations based in the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the City of Westminster