Governance Statement

Last updated: 23 June 2026

1. Introduction

Albion Awards is being developed as a specialist awarding organisation focused on professional qualifications in governance, risk, assurance, cyber governance, board practice and organisational resilience.

This Governance Statement explains how Albion Awards is establishing governance arrangements to support accountability, independence, quality assurance, learner protection, regulatory readiness and continuous improvement.

Albion Awards is currently preparing for Ofqual recognition. Albion Awards is not yet recognised by Ofqual and does not currently offer Ofqual-regulated qualifications.

2. Governance Commitment

Albion Awards is committed to operating with clear governance, transparent decision-making, documented accountability and effective oversight.

Our governance arrangements are designed to ensure that:

responsibilities are clearly allocated;
key decisions are documented;
conflicts of interest are identified and managed;
risks are reviewed and controlled;
qualification standards are protected;
centres are approved and monitored appropriately;
assessment and certification decisions are controlled;
complaints, appeals and learner issues are handled fairly;
regulatory evidence is maintained;
continuous improvement is embedded.

3. Governing Body Oversight

Albion Awards will maintain a Governing Body responsible for strategic oversight, regulatory readiness, quality assurance, risk management and organisational accountability.

The Governing Body will oversee:

recognition-readiness activity;
qualification strategy and portfolio development;
governance and regulatory compliance;
policy approval and review;
risk management;
conflict of interest management;
centre approval oversight;
assessment and awarding controls;
certification assurance;
complaints, appeals and malpractice oversight;
financial sustainability;
business continuity;
platform and systems assurance;
annual review and continuous improvement.

The Governing Body will operate under formal Terms of Reference and maintain records of meetings, decisions, actions and approvals.

4. Responsible Officer

Albion Awards will appoint a Responsible Officer with overall responsibility for ensuring that the organisation understands and meets its regulatory obligations.

The Responsible Officer will act as the main accountable officer for regulatory matters and will ensure that Albion Awards maintains appropriate systems, controls, policies and evidence to support its awarding-body functions.

The Responsible Officer’s responsibilities include:

oversight of regulatory compliance;
reporting to the Governing Body;
maintaining recognition-readiness evidence;
ensuring effective management of risks and conflicts;
overseeing responses to regulatory issues;
ensuring that key policies are implemented and reviewed;
supporting a culture of quality, fairness and accountability.

5. Scheme of Delegation

Albion Awards will operate a Scheme of Delegation to clarify which decisions are reserved to the Governing Body, which are delegated to the Responsible Officer, and which may be carried out by operational staff or committees.

The Scheme of Delegation supports:

clear accountability;
appropriate separation of duties;
controlled decision-making;
escalation of significant issues;
protection of assessment and certification decisions;
avoidance of unmanaged conflicts of interest.

Key decisions relating to governance, qualification approval, centre approval, sanctions, certification control, appeals, malpractice and regulatory risk will be subject to appropriate oversight and documented approval.

6. Independence and Conflicts of Interest

Albion Awards recognises the importance of independent and objective decision-making.

All relevant staff, contractors, assessors, quality assurers, committee members and governance participants will be required to declare actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest.

Conflicts will be recorded, reviewed and managed. Where necessary, individuals may be excluded from decisions, assessment activity, centre approval, quality assurance, appeals, investigations or certification decisions.

Albion Awards will maintain a Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedure and a conflict register.

7. Risk Management

Albion Awards will maintain a structured approach to risk management.

Risks will be identified, assessed, recorded, monitored and reviewed. This includes strategic, operational, financial, regulatory, assessment, centre, learner, platform, data protection and business continuity risks.

Risk management will support:

protection of learners;
integrity of qualifications;
reliable assessment and certification;
effective centre oversight;
regulatory compliance;
organisational resilience;
continuous improvement.

Significant risks will be reported to the Governing Body and reviewed as part of governance oversight.

8. Quality Assurance Governance

Albion Awards’ governance arrangements will support the quality and integrity of qualifications and assessment.

This includes oversight of:

qualification development;
assessment design;
assessment approval;
internal quality assurance;
external quality assurance;
standardisation;
centre monitoring;
certification decisions;
qualification review;
complaints, appeals and malpractice outcomes.

Quality assurance evidence will be used to identify improvements, manage risks and protect standards.

9. Centre Governance and Oversight

Albion Awards will approve centres only where they can demonstrate suitable governance, staffing, resources, assessment capacity, internal quality assurance, learner support and compliance arrangements.

Centre approval and monitoring will be governed through documented policies and procedures, including:

centre application and due diligence;
centre approval review;
centre agreement;
centre risk rating;
external quality assurance;
centre action planning;
sanctions and withdrawal procedures.

Centre performance and risks will be reviewed through quality assurance reporting and governance oversight.

10. Assessment and Certification Controls

Albion Awards will maintain governance controls over assessment and certification.

Assessment development, review and approval will be documented. Certification will be controlled through learner registration, assessment confirmation, centre checks, approval workflows and certificate issue records.

The governance model is designed to ensure that assessment and certification decisions are fair, valid, reliable, traceable and protected from inappropriate influence.

11. Learner Protection

Albion Awards will maintain policies and procedures to protect learners and support fair treatment.

These include arrangements for:

complaints;
appeals;
reasonable adjustments;
special considerations;
malpractice and maladministration;
equality, diversity and inclusion;
access to assessment;
qualification withdrawal;
data protection;
certificate verification.

Learner-related issues will be recorded, reviewed and escalated where appropriate.

12. Evidence, Audit Trail and Records

Albion Awards will maintain governance evidence and audit records to support accountability and regulatory readiness.

Records may include:

governance meeting records;
policy approval records;
risk registers;
conflict declarations;
Responsible Officer reports;
centre approval decisions;
assessment approval records;
EQA findings;
certification records;
complaints and appeals records;
malpractice records;
system audit trails;
regulatory evidence mapping.

Records will be retained in accordance with Albion Awards’ data protection and records retention arrangements.

13. Platform Governance

Albion Awards is developing a digital platform to support awarding-body operations.

The platform is designed to support:

role-based access control;
qualification and module records;
centre records;
assessment records;
EQA records;
certification records;
complaints and appeals records;
evidence mapping;
audit trails;
system security and backup controls.

Platform governance will be reviewed as part of Albion Awards’ wider quality assurance and regulatory readiness arrangements.

14. Continuous Improvement

Albion Awards will use evidence from governance activity, centre monitoring, assessment review, EQA findings, complaints, appeals, learner feedback, centre feedback, risk reviews and regulatory updates to improve its systems and practices.

Governance arrangements will be reviewed regularly to ensure they remain effective, proportionate and suitable for the organisation’s size, scope and regulatory responsibilities.

15. Review of This Statement

This Governance Statement will be reviewed at least annually, or earlier if required by:

legal or regulatory change;
Ofqual recognition requirements;
changes to Albion Awards’ structure or operations;
significant risks or incidents;
findings from governance review;
platform or process changes;
feedback from stakeholders.

16. Contact

For questions about Albion Awards’ governance arrangements, please contact:

Albion Awards
United Kingdom
Email: info@AlbionAwards.org.uk