Why it’s an honour and a privilege to have been named as awards finalists.

We’re not known for taking ourselves too seriously at Training Qualifications UK: we know that laughing at yourself is one of the best ways to deal with stress and pressure. Someone who can’t laugh at themselves is no fun to be around. We like to stick our tongues in cheeks and have a bit of fun with everything we do, sure, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t understand the importance of what we do, nor take for granted the trust that our customers and learners put in us to do things properly and constantly drive for perfection.

With this in mind, the first thing we did when we learned of our finalist status at the Federation of Awarding Bodies annual awards, was develop our boxing themed show-down between two of our spearheads, Tom and Danielle: both up for the ‘Individual Contribution of the Year’ award. But a real sense of achievement rippled through the office when we learned that we were finalists for no less than three awards, and one of those twice!

We still consider ourselves relative new-comers to the market. Amongst our competitors are veritable behemoths of organisations with established reputations as experts, solid foundations in the education sector and credible voices in the wider education landscape. It’s not that we don’t share these characteristics, but these things take time and some would say that we haven’t had enough of it yet. Some would say we’ve grown too big, too fast, that we can’t be robust or deliver what we say we will. We don’t underestimate the challenge we have in proving ourselves and we never shy away from an opportunity to do so. We relish that challenge.

I see it every day: the entire team dedicated to delivering the best possible products, the most compliant, flexible and customer-focused quality assurance service, at the best value for money. We strive day in, day out to improve the way in which we deliver our services, not because we think it needs improving or we’re falling behind, but because the world is ever evolving. You and I know, that in an age where technology changes and develops at the drop of a hat, it’s important to evaluate the market, evaluate the changes, attempt to stay ahead of the curve or risk becoming just another awarding organisation. That’s not what TQUK is about, that’s not what we were built for.

What new software can we implement? How can we simplify this process? This training provider said can we try this, can we? These awards are our opportunity to show that others believe in us too.

The great thing is that we don’t have to win to do this. The fact that we have been named as a finalist for three awards does that for us. If we don’t win, it will be because the other finalists are excellent too. It won’t be because we are inferior or less deserving, and it won’t diminish our pride in having been shortlisted either.

The Federation is an authoritative voice in our industry – deeply embedded in the sector and when we say it’s an honour and a privilege to have been named as a finalist by FAB, we mean it. There are so many great awarding organisations out there striving to do exactly what we do: make the learner experience be the best it possibly can be. We must be doing something different to have earned these finalist positions and we’ve lived up to our slogan: we do things differently here.

FAB work with lots of organisations, they know each and every one of us as from the ground up. We were delighted to welcome Tom Bewick to our head office in south Manchester not so long ago as part of his AO tour of the country and he got to see the team in action, FAB know the journey we have been on.

Our Managing Director Andrew has been invited to sit on a panel Friday morning at the FAB event to discuss the challenges faced by a growing awarding organisation, which are numerous. When FAB reaches out and says, ‘you’re doing a great job, we would like you to sit amongst your peers and discuss your progress’, it’s both daunting and flattering. It’s the morning after the awards evening, so sleepy heads aside we’re keen to share our experiences and hopefully, an award or two will reinforce what Andrew has to say.

And if there’s to be no award wins for us this year, the message will remain the same and we’ll keep doing our thing. Because it’s working.