The JCQ (formerly the Joint Council for General Qualifications) was established on 1 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 and Assessment), City & Guilds, Edexcel, OCR and WJEC (the Welsh Joint Education Committee).
The JCQ provides:
- an opportunity for strategic debate, information exchange and expression of common interest among 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
- 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 and rules for the conduct of examinations, and for developing common formats for stationary such as results slips, certificates and forms.
Specific information about 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
- media information, including JCQ responses to current media issues
- documents and forms.