The Awarding Bodies - ECDL

Awarding Bodies are organisations that are authorised to make awards, certification, or award qualifications

Listing Awarding Bodies

WhichCollege.ie provides an overview of awarding bodies operating in Ireland, the UK, and internationally. While many postgraduate qualifications are issued by organisations with statutory authority, a wide range of professional bodies also grant their own awards linked to advanced study. Although most Irish courses lead to qualifications from domestic awarding bodies, some programmes result in international or non‑Irish awards, depending on the institution or field of study.

A number of Irish institutions act both as education providers and as awarding bodies in their own right. This includes the Irish universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), which have the authority to confer postgraduate qualifications.

An academic award (whether a degree, diploma, or certificate) is granted when a learner successfully completes a recognised programme of higher education at undergraduate or postgraduate level. These awards are issued by designated awarding bodies and are aligned with the National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The NFQ distinguishes between major and non‑major awards, with the latter covering minor, special‑purpose, and supplemental awards.

Major awards represent the primary qualification type at each NFQ level and correspond to substantial learning achievements. Examples include an Honours Bachelor Degree at Level 8, a Master’s Degree at Level 9, and a Doctoral Degree at Level 10.

Recent legislative changes have streamlined Ireland’s qualifications system, reducing the number of statutory awarding bodies. The responsibilities previously held by organisations such as the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA), the National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA), Solas, Teagasc, CERT, and Bord Iascaigh Mhara have been consolidated under the awards councils FETAC and HETAC.

Below, WhichCollege.ie outlines the awarding bodies responsible for certification across Ireland and the UK.

young female student sitting with a laptop on her lap smiling

The European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) is a computer literacy certification programme. It is a globally recognised information and communication technology (ICT) and digital literacy qualification.

The qualification is provided by ECDL Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation.

About the ECDL Foundation

The Foundation is an international organisation. They focus on raising digital competence standards in workplaces, schools and society. Their certification programmes enable people and organisations to become more competent with computers and digital tools.

They appoint partners around the world to implement their programmes. These partners work to strictly defined standards. Consequently, the programme is consistently implemented across the globe.

The Foundation works with a number of different organisations. First of all, this includes communities as well as local and regional authorities. In addition, they work with national governments. Finally, the Foundation works alongside international bodies such as the United Nations and other international non-governmental organisations. These relationships are key to the delivery of its ICT skills certification programmes.

Fast Facts

ECDL Foundation’s certification programmes have been delivered to:

over 14 million people
in 41 languages
across 150 countries
through a network of over 24,000 test centres

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