What this is
These are working guides, not theory. Each one answers a single question a training provider actually asks when applying to a regulator, building a course, choosing an accreditation route, or setting up quality assurance. Use the nine groups below to find the one you need, and book a scoping call when you want the route mapped to your own case.
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Accreditation readiness check
Ten questions about one course. You get a score out of 100, the gaps to fix first and the package that fits.
Start the checkRoute finder
Four questions point you to one of six accreditation routes, with its guide and the package to start with.
Find your routeGlossary, A to Z
MQF, RQF, SCQF, TQT, IQA and 31 more terms, each explained in plain English.
Look up a termSearch the guides
Search or filter 64 guides, from fees and timelines to quality assurance.
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What is accreditation, and which type do you need?
Independent recognition that a course meets a standard. CPD, UK regulated qualifications and MFHEA in Malta, and how to choose.
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How long does accreditation take?
CPD in weeks, UK qualifications through the awarding organisation, MFHEA roughly 6 to 12 months. What drives the timeline.
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How to choose an accreditation partner
Settle the route before building, be honest about what cannot be guaranteed, carry the whole route. Six questions to ask.
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CPD certification, explained
The fastest credible recognition for short courses. What it is, when it is the right route, and how to build to upgrade later.
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Can an online or blended course be accredited?
Yes. The mode is not the barrier. What a body actually checks, and how to build so it never stalls a submission.
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Getting a qualification regulated in England (Ofqual)
Ofqual regulates, it does not award. The two routes for a provider, and why England is not the whole UK.
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Accrediting a qualification in Scotland
Qualifications Scotland Accreditation, which replaced SQA on 1 February 2026, and the SCQF. Why Scotland is separate.
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Accrediting a qualification in Wales
Qualifications Wales and the CQFW. The approval and recognition routes, and what a provider needs to get right.
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Accrediting a qualification in Northern Ireland
CCEA Regulation and the RQF. Where Northern Ireland overlaps with England, and where it is a decision of its own.
Accrediting in the UK, by nation
Is a qualification recognised across the UK?
Not automatically. Four regulators, three frameworks, what travels between them, and what Scotland changed.
Malta and the EU
Malta and the EU
MFHEA accreditation in Malta, explained
Provider licensing and programme accreditation, the MQF referenced to the EQF, the timeline, and why UK providers use it.
Malta and the EU
Do you need a Maltese company for MFHEA?
In most cases yes. A body corporate registered in Malta and a legal representative based there. The two exceptions.
Malta and the EU
EU recognition for a UK provider after Brexit
What changed at Brexit, why Malta is the practical route, and when this route is the wrong answer.
Levels, terms and quality
Levels, terms and quality
MQF and EQF levels explained
Both are eight-level scales, referenced to each other, so a Maltese level is readable across the EU. What the levels mean.
Levels, terms and quality
RQF levels explained (UK)
Entry to level 8, with a size in Total Qualification Time. What the levels mean, and where the RQF applies.
Levels, terms and quality
Total Qualification Time and credit, explained
TQT is size in hours; credit is size in a common currency. Why the numbers have to match the level.
Levels, terms and quality
What is an awarding organisation?
A body recognised to award regulated qualifications. Most providers deliver through one rather than becoming one.
Levels, terms and quality
Internal and external quality assurance
IQA is your own checking; EQA is the independent check. Both keep a qualification defensible.
Levels, terms and quality
Keeping accreditation after approval
Accreditation is not permanent. Why recognition is lost as often as it is won, and how to hold it.
CPD certification
CPD Certification
How to calculate CPD hours for a course
CPD hours should match real learning time.
CPD Certification
Writing CPD learning outcomes an assessor can check
Vague outcomes make a CPD course hard to assess.
CPD Certification
What a CPD certificate should include
The details every CPD certificate needs so a learner can log it and a professional body can trust it, plus the wording to avoid and how long to keep records..
CPD Certification
How to check a CPD accreditation is genuine
CPD accreditation in the UK is unregulated, so marks vary.
CPD Certification
CPD accreditation for webinars, conferences and events
Webinars and conferences can carry CPD hours if they are planned as learning.
Applications, timelines and fees
Applications, timelines and fees
Apply for an MFHEA provider licence
Categories, Part A and Part B, a 6 to 12 month timeline and the published fees.
Applications, timelines and fees
Courses in Malta without your own MFHEA licence
The licensed partner route, what changed in February 2026, the fees and what to check before signing.
Applications, timelines and fees
MFHEA programme fees by MQF level
The per-credit scale, eight worked examples, awards versus qualifications, and the timetable.
Applications, timelines and fees
Apply for Ofqual recognition
No application fee, four criteria, a panel, and 8 recognitions from 53 applicants last year.
Applications, timelines and fees
The awarding organisation route and its fees
Centre approval, bespoke development and per-learner fees from eight published lists.
Applications, timelines and fees
CPD bodies compared
Who publishes a price, who quotes on enquiry, and how long each one takes.
Applications, timelines and fees
Regulator fees side by side
Every published application and annual fee we could verify, in one table.
Applications, timelines and fees
Scotland: accreditation and credit rating
No fee for accreditation, but approved awarding bodies only. Credit rating in 3 to 6 months.
Applications, timelines and fees
Wales and Northern Ireland applications
Separate decisions, no application fee, and timings of three months and 45 working days.
Applications, timelines and fees
UK higher education: validation and the OfS
Higher Nationals from 1,000 pounds, validation by negotiation, and OfS fees from 14,775 pounds a year.
Applications, timelines and fees
What you pay after approval
Annual fees, five-year audits and renewals, regulator by regulator.
Course and curriculum development
Course and curriculum development
Design a compliance course that passes audit
Line up outcomes, assessment and records so the audit thread never breaks.
Course and curriculum development
Write outcomes mapped to a framework level
Match your outcome verbs to the level descriptors so a qualification places cleanly.
Course and curriculum development
Build a CPD certified course
What CPD certification needs, and when it beats a full qualification.
Course and curriculum development
Design an accredited management programme
Route first, workplace assessment, progression from foundation to advanced.
Course and curriculum development
Develop vocational content assessors accept
Competence-based, current with the occupation, assessed on real performance.
Course and curriculum development
Make soft skills training measurable
Behavioural outcomes and demonstration assessment turn soft skills into evidence.
Course and curriculum development
How long to develop an accredited course
A realistic, stage-by-stage timeline for the build and the accreditation.
Course and curriculum development
Convert classroom training to online
Redesign for the medium, keep assessment rigorous, protect the records.
Course and curriculum development
Choose an instructional design model
ADDIE, backward design or rapid: pick by scope and how fixed the outcomes are.
Course and curriculum development
Design assessments that hold up
Test the outcome, mark to explicit criteria, and get the same decision twice.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Accredited, certified or approved?
Three words, three different promises. Use the wrong one and you risk your credibility.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Become an Ofqual recognised AO
Recognition of the organisation, then regulation of each qualification, in England.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
The eleven MFHEA QA standards
What an MFHEA internal quality assurance policy must cover, and how to evidence it.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
What MFHEA programme accreditation assesses
Pegging a programme to an MQF level, and checking the design holds together.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Dual UK and Malta accreditation
When a second, EU-issued route earns its cost, and when one route is enough.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Accredit your in-house training
How employers give internal training recognition beyond the company.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
What accreditation costs
The route sets the baseline, but readiness work is usually the real cost.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Ofqual, CPD or MFHEA?
Choose your route by market and by what the qualification must prove.
Accreditation, the UK and the EU
Accredit a bootcamp or short course
CPD, credit rating or a regulated route: what fits intensive provision.
Quality assurance
Quality assurance
Internal quality assurance explained
How a small training provider sets up IQA without drowning in paperwork.
Quality assurance
Prepare for an EQA visit
What an external verifier samples, and the records to have ready.
Quality assurance
Write a self assessment report
An honest, evidence-backed SAR with a real improvement plan.
Quality assurance
Run standardisation meetings
Get assessors marking the same way, and record it so it counts.
Quality assurance
Internal verification, step by step
Sample assessors' decisions so your marking means what it says.
Quality assurance
QA for online and blended courses
Authentication, engagement data and accessibility become live QA concerns.
Quality assurance
QA for high risk training
Prove competence in practice, keep trainers current, trace every record.
Quality assurance
An appeals process regulators accept
Published, fair, timed, independently reviewed, and recorded case by case.
Quality assurance
Turn feedback into QA evidence
Feedback counts only when you act on it and record the action.
Quality assurance
Prepare for your first audit
A practical readiness checklist to pass the first accreditation audit.
FreeCourse diagnostic
Send us one course. We'll tell you what it needs, free.
Share one course or programme you already run, or the slides and notes behind it. After a short first call, we review it at no charge and send you a written note on what it needs and which package fits, within a few working days.
- One course or programme, reviewed by a named person
- A written note on what it needs
- The package that fits, so you know where to start
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