couses.ie logo
close

The Awarding Bodies - State Examinations Commission

Awarding Bodies are organisations that are authorised to make awards, certification, or award qualifications.

Listing Awarding Bodies

Courses.ie lists all of the awarding bodies in Ireland, the UK and abroad. Most major awards are made by bodies with statutory powers, but there are also many professional organisations that make their own awards. While courses and educational programmes in Ireland lead to qualifications from Irish awarding bodies, it sometimes be the case that courses lead to non-Irish awards, for example awards from international bodies, or national awards from other countries.

Certain Irish institutions are both providers of courses / programmes and awarding bodies in their own right: these are the Irish universities and the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).

In Ireland, following the changes in the qualifications system as a result recent legislation, the number of statutory bodies has been reduced as the new awards councils FETAC and HETAC have assumed the the awarding functions previously fulfilled by several other Irish organisations such as the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA), National Council for Vocational Awards (NCVA), Solas, Teagasc, the National Tourism Certification Board (CERT) and Bord Iascaigh Mhara.

Courses.ie lists all of the awarding bodies in Ireland and the UK below.
happy female student with laptop on her legs

The State Examinations Commission makes awards for learning in school programmes – Junior Certificate and Leaving Certificate.

Overview

The SEC is responsible for the development, assessment, accreditation and certification of second-level examinations in Ireland. These are the Junior Certificate and the Leaving Certificate. The State Examinations Commission is a non-departmental public body under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills. There are five Commissioners appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.

Established in March 2003, the Commission assumed responsibility for the operation of the State Certificate Examinations from the Department of Education and Skills.

The Commission works in partnership with school authorities and education providers in order to deliver a high quality examination and assessment system that is efficient, fair and accessible. In addition, the SEC ensures that the system operates in an environment of openness, transparency and accountability.

Functions

The Commission is responsible for the operation of all aspects of the established Leaving Certificate, Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme, Leaving Certificate Applied and Junior Certificate Examinations. This includes written, oral, aural and practical components and assessed course work in some subjects. Two million components are examined annually. The SEC also organises certain trade and professional examinations. The individual functions involved in the operation of the examinations include:

  • Preparing examination papers and other examination materials
  • Determining procedures for the conduct and supervision of examinations
  • Recruiting contract staff to draft and mark examination components and to superintend at the examinations
  • Arranging for marking of work presented for assessment and examinations
  • Issuing the results of examinations
  • Determining procedures to enable the review and appeal of results of
    examinations at the request of candidates
  • Charging and collecting fees for examinations
  • Designating examination places
Showing page 1 of 1 (listing 5 matching courses)
Courses.ie © 2026
© Jazbury Ltd T/A Courses.ie. Reg in Ireland No 293988. All Rights Reserved.
Proudly designed by Wikid
home