The words Accreditation and Certification are synonymous with businesses striving to establish credibility and gain customers’ trust. Although both terms are related, they are different. We’ve taken a closer look at the difference between being certified and accredited and what this means for professionals in the training industry.
Accreditation
Accreditation is specific to a particular Standard or Standards. It is formal recognition by an authoritative body that an organisation or individual meet the relevant standard and associated requirements.
To claim accreditation, an independent third party must evaluate and assess the competence, quality and impartiality of an organization's ability to work to a standard – as a consequence accreditation is far wider than traditional quality assurance.
One example of accreditation is from UKAS, the UK's designated Accreditation Body. UKAS evaluates organizations and certification bodies to ensure they meet nationally and internationally agreed standards. A simple way to understand UKAS’s role is that they "check the checkers." Those using these “checkers” can then have confidence in their abilities and processes.
Certification
Just below accreditation in terms of formal recognition is certification. Certification confirms that an organisation, product or indeed an individual conform to the requirements of a recognised Standard. In short, certification is a process that confirms an individual or organisation meets pre-determined criteria for a specific service or product.
Certification often involves a final test or evaluation of skills, processes, knowledge or technical competence. This test is usually administered and judged by an accredited organization that can assess and appraise if the professional standards are met.
Accreditation, Certification and Quality Assurance
Although different, Accreditation and Certification play key roles in the maintaining quality assurance to specified standards.
There is usually one National Accreditation Body in a country. In the UK, the National Accreditation Body, UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), was appointed by the UK Government to accredit certification bodies like APMG.
Most countries have comparable regulatory bodies, and they all operate under The International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to maintain standards internationally. Each country's official body has its own interpretation of quality management, accreditation standards, and assessment processes and criteria. It aims to ensure that certification and accreditation align with international standards and specified requirements.
UKAS and other Accreditation Bodies assess the competence of Certification Bodies - independent organisations empowered to assess and verify whether organisations or individuals meet specific criteria or standards for a service or product. There is no legal requirement for a Certification Body to be accredited by a National organisation such as UKAS. However, for a Certification Body to be truly credible, provide the highest standard of written assurance for their clients and these clients to benefit from accredited certification, the Certification Body should be accredited by their National Accreditation body.
Before buying Certification services, it is always wise to check the Certification Body is registered with the relevant National Accreditation Bodies (they have online databases to verify which Certification Bodies are accredited).
Accreditation and Training within the Training Industry
Training and professional qualifications are offered by three groups:-
- Academic (Universities, Colleges etc).
- Professional (covering a host of business and professional activities)
- Commercial (certificates for an organization's own products or related products or commercial organisations that deliver independent certifications on a variety of products).
For the most part, Academic organizations usually obtain their remit for delivering high-quality education directly from the Government or a Government approved regulator. They are subject to rigorous assessment and third-party scrutiny by accredited government-backed organizations.
Professional Bodies are usually started by interested experts and evolve over time into a formally recognized organization, typically non-profit and often recognized by a Government. They can be subject to detailed external scrutiny and verification and are held to account by their members to ensure they abide by their bylaws and professional focus.
In the commercial training market, unless the organization voluntarily seeks accreditation from a National Certification Body or recognition by a Professional Body, there is minimal third-party scrutiny of their activities.
Is APMG Accredited?
Yes.
APMG has been active in the commercial training and certification market for over two decades. To differentiate ourselves from other organizations, we sought UKAS Accreditation which we have held since 2000. Applying the same in-depth assessment approach, our specialist assessment personnel have developed detailed assessment criteria for training organizations, trainers, courseware, and qualifications contributing to a global reputation.
Benefits of Choosing Accredited Training Providers
In the commercial training market, the quality of training can vary greatly, and it’s hard to assess prior to purchase. The value of training often depends upon the reputation of the training provider as well as the quality of the material if it’s distance learning or the approach of the trainer and material if it’s face to face.
The majority of courses are short and once someone has purchased a commercial training course they are already committed and if it doesn’t meet their requirements their primary action is to seek compensation from the training company.
Choosing a training company that has been assessed, like those who work with APMG, does not guarantee satisfaction; it does provide independent assurance. APMG evaluates training raw materials, the organisation and the trainer delivering the course to ensure they meet a minimum standard.
This third-party independent certification is a very powerful written assurance of standards. A dissatisfied client has the right to appeal to APMG, the Certification Body (for a serious issue a training company could lose their accreditation) and take direct action with the training organization. Consequently, when using APMG’s training organizations, the delegate can be confident their course will meet the stated objectives.
For training companies, third party certification confirms not only have they met expected standards, but they have willingly subjected themselves to third party scrutiny and ongoing audit and surveillance covering all parts of their operational business.
This provides them with a competitive advantage over other training companies – they have met formally recognized standards. Often individuals look to work with certified training providers because of a higher level of trust and subsequent appeal to a prospective employer.
For trainers, this third-party assessment recognizes their abilities and competence and provides independent professional feedback on their personal performance.
Summary
Accreditation and Certification are not interchangeable. Accreditation is a higher-level quality assurance process to ensure that an organisation can demonstrate that it works in full accordance with specific Standards and requirements. Certification assesses and verifies whether an individual or organisation meets specific candidates or Standards for very particular Standards or services.
The two are related but independent. For anyone seeking certification services, the likelihood of receiving a high-quality service is greatly enhanced by using Accredited Certification Bodies like APMG, rather than Non-Accredited Bodies.