I have been trying to contact NCRQ for a few days now with no response. Tried to login and got this:

The site is undergoing maintenance and is currently not available

We regret to inform you that NCRQ are currently not able to continue delivering qualifications to learners.

We are working very closely with AIM Qualifications, the Ofqual-regulated awarding organisation, to find a solution that will enable you to continue your studies.

We do not have any further information at this time, however all learners will be contacted directly as soon as arrangements have been made.

We sincerely apologise for this temporary disruption to your studies.

Thank you Peter.

this is most unusual. They only launched a new qualification a couple of weeks ago. I have done what it says in the arcticle and contacted AIM. I will update if I hear anything back.

Hi all,

Not sure of the ins and outs - looks like NCRQ is gone, but the main courses are being taken over by Hatten Education:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hatten-education_information-for-ncrq-students-hatten-education-activity-6983426022125756416-92UY/

https://hatten.org.uk/ncrq-students/

This includes the H&S certs/diploma and Safety for Managers, but looks like their new fire qualification has died practically at launch, although possibly some other provider might pick it up? 

Adrian

Statement now on NCRQ website. It makes interesting reading. Looks like they are partly blaming the legal battle with IOSH.

It will be good to get a response from IOSH. I wonder how many of their members are currently enrolled on an NCRQ qualification?

Full statement here: NCRQ statement | NCRQ

Originally Posted by: adrian.devine

I don't think we will hear anything from NCRQ...

I spoke too soon as usual!

As someone has noted on the other thread, the 'last director standing' for NCRQ is also the director of Hatten Education.

From the Hatten info for NCRQ Students: "The team at Hatten Education have been delivering qualifications for many years, and after being approached to help the students affected by NCRQ, we have scaled up our systems and staffing and launched a new brand to take on these groundbreaking qualifications."

They don't seem to have any of their own/other courses, and I can't find anything previously offered by Endeavour Professional Training Solutions either.

It seems like it's mainly a case of setting up NCRQ again under a different name, but they don't want to present it like that (perhaps with good reason - I don't pretend to know much about this sort of thing).

I do wonder how long the discussion was when Iain approached himself to ask if he could step in to help students... I hope he didn't bite his own hand off.

Edited by user 05 October 2022 17:48:42(UTC)  | Reason: Colon

Sorry, just to clarify, they said these dates are for the existing students who were already enrolled and were for the H & S courses only - not the fire one.

Originally Posted by: James H

Has anyone who has NCRQ Diploma heard if that it is still an approved qualification for Grad membership? My membership is due and Grad IOSH is a requirement of my job.

From the info on the Hatten website:

"Yes. It is the AIM Qualifications RQF qualification that is recognised by IOSH, and so your previous qualifications achieved via NCRQ, as well as transferred or new enrolments with Hatten Qualifications, continue to be recognised for Tech IOSH and Grad IOSH membership."

It would not appear that NCRQ are gone because of any question regarding the quality or integrity of the qualifications, so I don't think there would be any basis to say their qualifications no longer satisfy the requirements for IOSH membership. 

That said, I have a hazy recollection of reading that IOSH only accepted the NCRQ Dip for GradIOSH after having their arm twisted in the first place, so who knows what will happen in the future? I would be good to hear something from IOSH.

Hopefully Hatten don't take over the 'agressive' (towards IOSH and NEBOSH) marketing, and everyone can get along!

Adrian

Edited by user 07 October 2022 10:27:51(UTC)  | Reason: Messed up quoting

I did get a response from AIM:

Thank you for your email and I do completely understand your situation. 

We’ve been informed of the situation by NCRQ and we are working with them to find a solution as quickly as possible. I have taken your contact details and any updates will be communicated to you as soon as we get them.

 I think like others that are 'trying to help' they seem to be behind on the information. I have learnt much more on here.

Statement from AIM. Looks like its not a simple case of switchover:

Statement from AIM Qualifications and Assessment Group

Following the recent news that a training provider delivering AIM Qualifications is going into liquidation, we would like to make the following statement. We will make no further statement on our website regarding this matter but will communicate with all registered learners directly.

Regarding the delivery of the following AIM Qualifications:

• Level 6 Certificate in Applied Health and Safety
• Level 6 Certificate in Personal Injury Liability and Absence Reduction
• Level 6 Diploma in Applied Health and Safety

The provider informed both AIM management and learners on the 30th September, that they were no longer in a position to deliver AIM Qualifications due to business failure with immediate effect. AIM had no prior knowledge or warning that this was about to happen. The provider suggested that learners could be transferred to another organisation which would be under the control of the same owner as the provider facing liquidation.  AIM agreed ‘in principle’ to the proposal but stated that this would be subject to due diligence checks. This process included centre recognition checks and careful consideration of the new provider's ability to offer a viable and compliant service for learners. On the 19th October these checks were completed and a letter sent to the Director explaining that AIM was unable to support the proposal. AIM has since become aware that the provider has posted, on its website and via email correspondence, its frustration at AIM's decision which it states was primarily for reputational reasons. AIM categorically rejects this and adds that the decision was based on five key considerations which resulted in it being impossible to recognise the new provider. These were serious shortcomings and AIM will not take a risk that future learners could face a similar situation.

Next steps

Our compliance team are currently working through details of all affected learners who have been registered to complete an AIM qualification. An email has been sent to each learner and we anticipate that all learners will have received further clarification by Friday 28 October 2022. The team will endeavor to achieve this earlier if it is possible.   To all affected learners, we thank you for your continued patience and understanding during this stressful time.

Forum members may like to know that this fortnight's Private Eye (the edition with the quickly out-of-date cover picture of Jeremy Hunt inviting Liz Truss to be his Prime Minister) has a slightly garbled account of the NCRQ fiasco.  I say slightly garbled because it represents the NEBOSH Diploma as being a qualification offered by IOSH.  It discusses both of the legal cases between NCRQ and IOSH, the directorship of NCRQ, and the question of who is out of pocket.

Still hope they can get it sorted - i have 2 friends currently on the course - 1 had just submitted his final assignment. 

I've filled out the Phoenix e-form and will update as & when I hear anything from them. I did the NEBOSH Fire Cert with Phoenix last year and had a good experience.

I am not sure how you can move someone from the NCRQ course-which a learning based course based on case studies with NVQ which a mechanism to show that you have attained a certain level of competence already in your workplace. It sounds like someone is simply throwing up a smokescreen while they decide what to do with this mess. Perhaps we need some leadership from someone in the centre (IOSH or Ofqual or even the Department for Education?) to sort this out.

Update here:

https://www.shponline.co.uk/safety-training-and-development/ncrq-latest-phoenix-recruit-former-ncrq-director-or-product-development/

NEBOSH are now saying that they might be willing to take on NCRQ students and credit them for  the modules they have completed.  Unfortunately, the NCRQ format is very different from  the NEBOSH approach, and it might be difficult to do this.  The thing about NCRQ was this alternative format( based on case studies) was attractive to people who did not like the  traditional NEBOSH approach.  What is going to be offered to them?

Like Peter, I just got the SHP email, so thought I'd pop in here...

From the statements given in it, I'm getting the impression that the NCRQ courses are dead, or at least Phoenix H&S wont have any involvement in them.

I have to say, I think the NEBOSH recognition of prior learning sounds like a bit of a token exercise. They state there will be no assignment/assessment exemptions. I can't imagine NCRQ materials would leave someone well prepared for a NEBOSH assessment (One of NCRQ's main 'things' was that they teach practical application, while NEBOSH teach recitation). I think I would feel disadvantaged and want to do the full course to give me the best chance of doing well in the assessments. I know the NEBOSH courses have changed over recent years, but I'm very wary of believing the 'spin' - I remember some years back reading something they put out called "The Myth of 'NEBOSH Speak'" (or something similar), so I looked at the most recent exam papers - still NEBOSH speak from start to finish (to elaborate, on first pass, I thought I knew nothing of what they were asking - it was only when I studied each question I started getting "Ohhh... they're asking about this... why not just say that?" moments. And that's speaking as someone who'd managed to pass the Dip Part 1 exams some years earlier.)

So yeah, I think NEBOSH has probably changed for the better, but I’ll take some serious convincing that they’re focussed on job skills at the expense of learning things that, in practice/reality, you just look up when you need to refer to them. And that they’re bothered about what you can do/know rather than giving than saying things exactly how they want you to say them. Not to the degree where I’d want to do a NEBOSH assessment without the NEBOSH prep!

Looks like I will have to write off my part-completed HSD2 and choose between NEBOSH (maybe with a few quid off, but it’ll still be more expensive?) and NVQ. Or just never getting to GradIOSH.

Demoralising…

I’m glad I completed my NCRQ Diploma last year, but I really feel for those who were still doing the course. It’s such a mess. I have always spoken very highly of NCRQ and recommended NCRQ to many people. Its been hard enough to deal with the snobbery against NCRQ in the past, this mess is not going to help. I hope that someone picks up on the NCRQ courses and relaunches them. It can only be good for the H&S profession to have  people with varied backgrounds and qualifications from different providers.