Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

Updated on Nov 27, 2023

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Abbreviation CCEA		Formation 1 April 1994
Type Non-departmental public body (NDPB) Headquarters Belfast, Northern Ireland Location 29 Clarendon Road Clarendon Dock Belfast BT1 3BG Region served Northern Ireland, England and Wales

The Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is a Non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department of Education (Northern Ireland).

CCEA’s principal products and services are described in the Education (NI) Order 1998. CCEA’s duties and functions are to:

keep under review all aspects of the curriculum, examinations and assessment for grant aided schools and colleges of further education and to undertake statutory consultation on proposals relating to legislation;

advise the DE on matters concerned with the curriculum, assessment, examinations and external qualifications and accredit and approve qualifications;

conduct and moderate examinations and assessments, ensuring that standards are recognised as equivalent to standards of examinations and assessments conducted by other bodies or authorities exercising similar functions in the United Kingdom;

publish and disseminate information relating to the curriculum, assessment and examinations;

develop and produce teaching support materials for use in schools; and

carry out research and development.

CCEA also has a remit for the development of educational technology and the production of multimedia resources and is considered a leader in this field.

CCEA was established on 1 April 1994 as a NDPB and is based in Belfast. It replaced the Northern Ireland Schools Examination and Assessment Council and the Northern Ireland Schools Examination Council.

Awarding Qualifications

CCEA offers a wide range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, Keyskills, Essential Skills, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages. Due to educational reforms of the Conservative Party under Prime Minister David Cameron CCEA (among other UK examination boards i.e. Edexcel, AQA, OCR and WJEC) continuously redevelops syllabi for GCSEs and GCE A Levels.

Principal Products and Services

CCEA’s principal products and services are to meet the requirements outlined in the Education (NI) Order. CCEA’s duties and functions are therefore to:

Keep under constant review all aspects of the curriculum, examinations and assessment for grant aided schools and colleges of further education and to undertake statutory consultation on proposals relating to legislation;

Advise the Department of Education (NI) or The Minister for Education on matters concerning curriculum, assessments, examinations and external qualifications and to accredit and approve qualifications;

Conduct and moderate examinations and assessments, keeping standards in line with the rest of the UK;

Publish and disseminate information relating to the curriculum, assessment and examinations;

Develop and produce teaching support materials for use in schools and other educational Centres;

Carry out research and development into curriculums, examinations, assessments, new media and software/hardware environments.

Departments

AAT Assessment Administration Team

BA Business Assurance

CAR Curriculum Assessment & Reporting

CES Centre & Examiner Support

EAA Exams & Assessment Admin.

ERC Entries, Results & Certification

ICT Information Communications Technology

IM Irish Medium - 3 staff

MM Multimedia - approx 20 staff

PSE People Services & Equality - approx 13 staff

Financial - approx 17 staff

QOS Qualifications Operations Support

QPP Qualifications Paper Production

QTS Qualifications Technical Support

R&S Research and Statistics

Miscellaneous

In general conversation CCEA is commonly called 'See-ah' since the introduction of the current logo.

The exam board has also come under fire because of allegations related to poor working conditions (e.g. staff needed being obliged to work during weekends). The consequence were strikes by CCEA's labour union.

Incorporated Examination Boards

Northern Ireland School Examinations and Assessment Council (NISEAC)

Northern Ireland School Examinations Council (NISEC)

References

Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment Wikipedia

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