All About TQUK

The adult learning sector is a crowded one, with a huge number of courses offered from a wide variety of awarding bodies. This can make choosing the right course for you feel particularly daunting. One of the newest of these awarding bodies is TQUK, who offer largely vocational courses that are recognised by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation England (Ofqual) and can be adapted to suit the learner’s needs. But are TQUK qualifications right for you? Are TQUK accredited? And which TQUK level will you need to achieve to reach your career goals? Here’s everything you need to know to answer these questions, and everything else you need to know about TQUK:

Who Are TQUK?

Training Qualifications UK (TQUK) are a UK-based awarding body. One of the newest awarding bodies in the UK, TQUK was first established in 2013. Within the awarding sector, TQUK are considered to be pioneers, thanks to their innovative approach to learning and qualifications.  The qualifications offered by TQUK are recognised by the UK Government, who also officially regulates the sector.

What makes TQUK unique, in comparison to other awarding bodies in the UK, is their flexibility. The services and qualifications that they offer can be adapted to each individual learning, making TQUK awards an ideal choice if you have unique learning requirements.

Although they don’t have a long history, TQUK have achieved significant recognition during their relatively short time in the sector. TQUK was established in September 2013, and submitted their first qualification to Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations regulation) in October 2013. In less than a year, by August 2014, there were over 100 recognised centres administering TQUK qualifications, and by December 2015 they were officially regulating over 100 different qualifications. In that same month, TQUK was recognised as the 23rd largest Awarding Organisation in the UK, and the growth of the organisation has continued at an incredibly rapid pace since then. By March 20218, TQUK had become one of the top 10 Awarding Organisations across the UK for the first time, and the organisation continues to grow both in size and in the number of awards they offer, enabling them to support as many learners as possible. Now, TQUK are officially the fastest growing awarding organisation in the UK. They have approved over 400 centres worldwide, and their qualifications are well-respected and highly regarded.

The force that drives TQUK is their ability to create opportunities for people, meaning that the courses they design and the awards they administer are unique, and designed to provide solutions to market issues. The aim of TQUK qualifications is to help learners do what they do best and develop their natural skills: that means that often these are vocational qualifications, and ones that will integrate perfectly with work-based learning.

Although TQUK is based in Manchester, their awards can be studied for and administered in colleges, and by online learning organisations, across the UK. Because TQUK are such a new awarding body, they are not as well-known as some more established brands, and this can feel daunting if you are trying to choose the right qualifications for you: but you can rest assured that TQUK are nationally and internationally recognised, highly regarded, and that their qualifications hold just as much value as those from awarding bodies that are considered to be household names.

What Does TQUK Stand For?

TQUK stands for Training Qualifications UK. This is the name of a regulated awarding body that administers certificates, diplomas and other awards within the UK. Although the number increases all the time, to date TQUK has helped over 100,000 learners across 50 countries to reach their goals, and the organisation has ambitions to keep growing as rapidly as possible, whilst still ensuring that the quality of the qualifications they offer remains high.

Innovation is key to TQUK, and the organisation has focused consistently on technology and IT solutions to ensure that they can provide e-learning courses in the most efficient ways possible. These solutions include:

• TQUK e-certificates. These are the digital, modern alternative to traditional paper certificates. They have been designed to make it easier to issue qualifications, and 99% of e-certificates are issued within 24 hours of a qualification being achieved
• Efficient API integration means that course registration and support can be offered online seamlessly. This programme even offers a translation service, ensuring that there is no language barrier in place for learners who wish to study worldwide, and in their own language
• Finally, TQUK also developed the Verve system which is a user interface that was created with the convenience of learners in mind. This tool simplifies administrative processes, makes downloading support materials much easier, and automates exam registration

It is their commitment to designing their own IT systems that makes TQUK different from other awarding bodies, who tend to rely on external IT and software platforms. This approach will be particularly valuable to e-learners, and to those focusing on technology-based studies.

Is TQUK A Recognised Qualification?

TQUK is recognised as an awarding body by Ofqual and they only provide qualifications that sit on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). TQUK courses are recognised by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation, England (Ofqual), the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills and the Welsh Government. What does this mean in real terms? It means that if you obtain a TQUK qualification then you are obtaining a qualification that is nationally and internationally recognised, and valuable.

TQUK certificates are not official qualifications, but they are recognised by industry employers: if you achieve a TQUK level 1 certificate in food hygiene, for example, then this is a certificate that would be recognised as relevant and valuable if you wanted to secure a position within a kitchen or food preparation environment.

Courses can either be regulated by TQUK or endorsed by TQUK. No matter which organisation or college you study with, for a course to be listed as a TQUK course, it needs to be endorsed by TQUK. And for a course to be endorsed by TQUK, the organisation needs to rigorously assess it and consider it to be a valuable, suitable and beneficial learning platform for learners. Both courses that are endorsed and regulated by TQUK will be subject to external quality assurance and will offer TQUK certificates to successful candidates, but only TQUK regulated courses are developed by TQUK and have their assessments undertaken by TQUK.

Like other awarding bodies, TQUK qualifications are organised by TQUK level. The higher the TQUK level of a course, the greater the value of the qualification. A TQUK level 1 certificate, then, is an entry level certificate and provides a good introduction to a subject or profession. The highest TQUK level is level 6, and qualifications obtained at this level will provide you with a diploma in your chosen arena.

What Courses do TQUK Offer?

As a primarily vocational awarding body, the courses offered by TQUK are usually related to sector specific needs. With over 400 qualifications currently endorsed by TQUK, it would be impossible to list all of the courses that they offer, but the sectors that they currently operate within include:

• Health and social care
• Teaching and education, including child development and wellbeing
• Business management, including administration
• Hospitality and catering
• Public services
• Foundation level skills, including preparation for work and basic ICT skills
• Marketing and sales
• Building, construction, and engineering
• Accounting and finance
• Warehouse and distribution

Many TQUK are suitable for in-person and distance learning, meaning that if you have found a TQUK course that suits your needs then it is likely that you will be able to undertake this from the comfort of your own home. TQUK distance learning qualifications often involve some time spent online in led study, dedicated one-on-one time with a personal tutor or instructor, and a significant amount of independent work. In order to make this work for you it is important that you are self-motivated, interested in the subject you are studying, and committed to finishing the course and achieving the certificate or qualification at the end of your hard work.