One Awards Joins NOCN Group
6th August 2018 Date of publication
One Awards and NOCN recently signed a subsidiary agreement which came into effect on 1 August 2018. One Awards is now a subsidiary of the NOCN Group. This move will widen the NOCN Group offer to the FE market to include Access to HE, regulated qualifications, Functional Skills and apprentice end point assessments.
The agreement was signed by One Awards Chair of Trustees Peter Stonell and NOCN Chair of Trustees Gareth Jones (pictured left to right) at the NOCN Board Meeting on 26th July 2018.
As two organisations that have successfully worked together for over twenty years, and with a common vision and values aimed at creating opportunities for all, enabling social mobility and promoting learning, this is a very natural step to take. This move will benefit all of our existing and prospective partners through a much wider and more integrated range of products, including:
- Access to HE Diplomas
- Regulated Qualifications
- End-Point Assessment for Apprenticeship Standards
- Non-regulated learning programmes
- Performance Points Qualifications
- Other Advice and Services
Existing Learners and Recognised Centres will experience no significant operational change as things carry on as usual, with the same high levels of customer service and support. As the regulator for the Access to HE Diploma, QAA have approved and support the planned arrangements which will see One Awards continue to operate as the Access Validating Agency within the Group. As things progress, Centres will be able to discuss how they can benefit from the Group’s wider offer.
Fabienne Bailey, One Awards MD said:
“It is an exciting time for One Awards as we move into the NOCN Group. One Awards have a well-established relationship with NOCN that we are looking forward to developing further to give greater benefits and choice to our Centres and their learners. One Awards will continue to operate as a high performance AVA within the group structure and will continue to lead on the development of non-regulated provision to extend curriculum and enrichment programmes for Centres across the UK. All members of the NOCN group will benefit from each other’s strengths and expertise in further and higher education.
Graham Hasting-Evans, NOCN Group MD said:
“I warmly welcome our new colleagues from One Awards into the NOCN Group Family. This is a natural development and I am very excited by this agreement which we’ve been working on for some time. This is a good strategic fit for both NOCN and One Awards because we share similar values and history through the old Open College Networks. NOCN Group is now a progressive educational organisation with a focus on future skills and productivity and we are all committed to Equality and Diversity and to helping people achieve their potential through our education. As we’ve shown through Cskills Awards, NOCN is able to take on new organisations and to successfully integrate their products and services, retaining customers and building market share to the wider benefit of employers, learners, and FE providers.”
