38.The 2009 Act will require us to publish a register of recognised awarding organisations and the regulated qualifications that they award and those they are recognised to award.
39.We therefore propose to:
- publish a list of all the organisations that we have recognised to award qualifications on the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDAQ) (the list is currently available at http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/awarding-body/awarding+body+directory.seo.aspx and sets out all recognised awarding organisations that have accredited qualifications; we will keep this list under review to ensure that it is up to date)
- make available the database of regulated qualifications, which you can find at http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/index.aspx
- make available, for each recognised awarding organisation that had not had forms of qualifications accredited (either because an application has yet to be received or because a decision on an application is pending) a list of those qualifications that it has notified us it intends to submit, or has submitted, for accreditation (as approved by us and included in its plan of provision) immediately prior to 1 April 2010.
40.Taken together, these lists will allow learners and other stakeholders to identify recognised awarding organisations and the regulated qualifications and components that are available to them. The arrangements outlined above will allow us to publish most of the information required by the 2009 Act, albeit not in a single register. We therefore propose to use these arrangements initially until we are able to develop and introduce a single register, and will recommend that transitional provisions be made accordingly. This information will be published in cooperation with fellow qualifications regulators in Wales and Northern Ireland and will therefore cover recognised awarding organisations and the regulated qualifications they are recognised to award in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
41.Those provisions of the 2009 Act relating to the assignment of guided learning hours (GLHs) to qualifications for the purposes of the Education and Skills Act 2008 (that is relating to raising the participation age) will not be commenced immediately. Information about GLHs will not therefore be made available. However once these provisions are to be commenced we will take appropriate steps to notify stakeholders and to include information about GLHs in the register.
42.We will take account of responses to the separate consultation on the future exercise of our new statutory functions and develop and introduce a consolidated register in due course. We will work closely with awarding organisations and other stakeholders to develop a register that is fit for purpose for longer term use.
