Ascentis

Ascentis

Ascentis is a national qualification-awarding body based in Lancaster in the North West of England. It was formerly called the Open College of the North West, or OCNW.

Formed in 1975 as a partnership between Lancaster University and Nelson and Colne College, the Open College of the North West was developed to accredit courses of learning aimed at adult returners to education with the aim of helping them progress to university education. The success of these early programmes quickly led to other colleges and universities becoming involved and the idea being replicated across the country by other regional 'Open Colleges'. These early courses have now developed in to the QAA-approved Access to HE Diploma,[1] which most universities accept as an alternative to GCSEs and A Levels for adult applicants.

With the introduction of the Learning and Skills Act of 2000 funding for adult education changed, and some of OCNW's qualifications became ineligible for continued public funding. All awarding bodies requesting access to public funds were required to gain approval from the QCA: OCNW obtained this approval in 2001, but, unusually, retained its status as a QAA Access Validating Agency as well. A full list of Ascentis's QCA approved qualifications can be found on the official list of approved qualifications, i.e. the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDAQ).[2]

OCNW was the only 'Open College' to become a National Awarding Body; the other regional Open Colleges formed and joined the National Open College Network (NOCN). OCNW has always remained outside NOCN and has no official relationship with it.

Ascentis awards two main types of qualification at a range of levels:

  1. QCA Approved Qualifications (including areas such as Teacher Training, Skills for Life, Functional Skills, Vocational qualifications, Foundation Learning tier, ESOL including ESOL International, etc.).
  2. QAA Access to Higher Education, along eight pathways (including Education Professions, Vocational Science, Health and Social Care Professions, etc.).

Ascentis is now accrediting learners in a number of countries around the world including Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Taiwan, China, Spain and Argentina. Most of these overseas students are studying for ESOL International qualifications which are offered in conjunction with Anglia Examination Syndicate Limited and are often used to gain entry to university in the United Kingdom.

On 1 August 2009 OCNW changed its name to Ascentis to reflect the fact that it was now a national and international awarding body and in order to reduce confusion with NOCN members.

References

  1. ^ "Access to Higher Education - A full explanation". Qaa.ac.uk. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/access/full.asp. Retrieved 2009-07-25. 
  2. ^ "Awarding body details for ASCENTIS - Ascentis - National Database of Accredited Qualifications". Accreditedqualifications.org.uk. http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/awarding-body/Ascentis.seo.aspx. Retrieved 2009-07-25. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Diego De Ascentis — Personal information Date of birth July 31, 1976 (1976 07 31) (age 35) Place of birth …   Wikipedia

  • Diego De Ascentis — Diego De Ascentis …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Marco común europeo de referencia para las lenguas — El Marco común europeo de referencia para las lenguas: aprendizaje, enseñanza y evaluación (MCERL)[1] es un estándar que pretende servir de patrón internacional para medir el nivel de comprensión y expresión orales y escritas en una lengua. El… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Cyprus College of Art — Coordinates: 44°38′58.02″N 63°34′26.23″W / 44.64945°N 63.5739528°W / 44.64945; 63.5739528 …   Wikipedia

  • Atalanta B.C. season 2008-09 — Football club infobox clubname = Atalanta fullname = Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio SpA nickname = La Dea (The Goddess), Nerazzurri (Black blues) Orobici (Orobics) founded = 1907 ground = Stadio Atleti Azzurri d Italia, Bergamo, Italy capacity =… …   Wikipedia

  • Como — For other uses, see Como (disambiguation). Como   Comune   Città di Como …   Wikipedia

  • A.S. Bari — Football club infobox clubname = Bari fullname = Associazione Sportiva BariSpA nickname = Galletti (Cockerels) founded = 1908 ground = Stadio San Nicola, Bari, Italy capacity = 58,270 | chairman = flagicon|Italy Vincenzo Matarrese manager =… …   Wikipedia

  • A.C. Milan 2006-07 — The 2006 07 season has had its ups and downs for Milan. Having started the season with an 8 point penalty due to the Calciopoli Scandal a bad run of results where Milan failed to win for 9 matches in a row had left them in a lowly 15th place on… …   Wikipedia

  • Calcio Como — Como Calcio Voller Name Como Calcio 1907 Gegründet 25. Mai 1907 Stadion Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Como Calcio — Voller Name Como Calcio 1907 Gegründet 25. Mai 1907 Stadion …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”