Certifying QQI Awards
What is a certificate?
A certificate is formal confirmation from QQI that someone has demonstrated the knowledge, skill and competence required to achieve a specific award.
All certificates issued by QQI are placed on the NFQ (National Framework of Qualifications). This ensures the certificate is recognised nationally and internationally.
Our certificates and records of awards carry invisible security features to ensure they cannot be copied or changed.
For statistics on higher education and further education and training awards, check out our infographics.
QQI certification and providers
QQI assists providers of education and training programmes by:
- issuing certificates to learners who have reached the standard required for a QQI award;
- issuing replacement certificates for learners;
- providing a record of awards (Levels 1 – 6) or a verification letter (Levels 6 – 9) upon request;
- offering an award verification service; and
- publishing statistics in relation to higher education and further education and training awards.
Our certification process
Before a learner is entitled to receive a certificate issued by QQI, the following conditions must be met:
- the programme(s) offered by the provider must have been validated by QQI;
- the provider must have demonstrated to QQI that they assess learners in a fair and consistent way; and
- the learner must have achieved a pass/successful grade or higher in their assessments.
Providers are required to use the secure QBS certification platform to submit details of their learners' results. Once received, our Certification unit generates a certificate for each learner. The certificates are sent to the provider, who is responsible for issuing them to the learner.
Our certification schedule
The QQI certification process runs six times a year. To help providers stay on track, we have prepared a handy reference guide to the key certification dates 2025.
