The Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ)

The JCQ (formerly the Joint Council for General Qualifications) was established on 1st January 2004 and represents the major awarding bodies that serve England, Wales and Northern Ireland: AQA, CCEA (the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment), City & Guilds, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC (the Welsh Joint Education Committee).

JCQ provides:

• an opportunity for strategic debate, information exchange and expression of common interest amongst awarding bodies;
• a means to enable the awarding bodies to jointly express views on, and respond to, national issues as they arise;
• a vehicle for collective approaches, where relevant, to government, political and other influential parties; and
• a means of collective discussion with teachers, their organisations and other valued stakeholders, on matters of common concern.

The JCQ also provides a forum for the awarding bodies to discuss and agree principles of common interest such as timetabling, rules for the conduct of examinations and developing common formats for stationary such as results slips, certificates and forms.

Specific information relating to JCQ responsibilities can be found on its website at www.jcq.org.uk.  This includes:

• contact information for the JCQ and its members,
• copies of all centre communications, notices and rules issued by the JCQ,
• current news for centres, for example developments relating to foot and mouth restrictions,
• media information, including JCQ responses to current media issues
• documents and forms.