Glossary

Find below a list of some of the acronyms that surround learning, skills, employment and IT-related issues.

• A/AS 
  Advanced/Advanced Supplementary level qualifications
• ABs 
  Awarding Bodies
• ACCAC
  Qualifications Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales
• ACL
  Adult and Community Learning
• AE
  Adult Education
• AEA
  Advanced Extension Award
• AEV
  Association of External Verifiers
• AGCAS
  Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services
• AISS
  Alliance for Information Systems Skills
• ALI
  Adult Learning Inspectorate
• AMA
  Advanced Modern Apprenticeship
• AoC
  Association of Colleges
• APL
  Accreditation of prior learning
• ASCETT
  Advisory Scottish Council for Education and Training Targets
• ASSET
  Association for Schools, Science, Engineering and Technology
• AIVA
  Association of Internal Verifiers and Assessors
• AVCI
  Association for Vocational Colleges International
• BCC
  British Chamber of Commerce
• BCS
  British Computer Society
• BECTa
  British Educational Communications and Technology Agency
• BITC
  Business in the Community
• BLink
  Business Link
• BSA
  Basic Skills Agency
• BSF
  Building Schools for the Future
• BTEC
  Business and Technician Education Council
• BTI
  British Training International (now part of the British Council)
• CAP
  Centralised Application Process
• CBI
  Confederation of British Industry
• CCEA
  Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment for Northern Ireland
• CCET
  Community Councils for Education and Training
• CCTA
  Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency
• CCTE
  Chambers of Commerce Training and Enterprise
• CDL
  Career Development Loans
• CEC
  Council for Education in the Commonwealth
• CEG
  Careers Education & Guidance
• CEI
  Centre for Education and Industry
• CEL
  Centre for Excellence in Leadership
• Certus
  Association for IT Directors
• CETW
  Council for Education and Training for Wales
• CfA
  Council for Administration
• CIPD
  Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
• CITB
  Construction Industry Training Board
• CMA
  Communications Managers Association
• COGS
  Confederation of Group Training Schemes
• COIC
  Careers and Occupational Information Centre
• Comptia
  Computing Technology Industry Association, USA
• CoVEs
  Centres of Vocational Excellence
• CRE
  Commission for Racial Equality
• CSNA
  Careers Services National Association
• CVCP
  Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals
• DENI
  Department for Education, Northern Ireland
• DETR
  Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
• DfES
  Department for Education and Skills
• DDPs
  Diploma Development Partnerships
• DRE
  Disability Rights Commission
• DTI
  Department for Trade and Industry
• E2E
  Entry to Employment
• EAZ
  Education Action Zone
• EBP
  Education Business Partnership
• EC
  European Commission
• ECB
  European Central Bank
• ECDL
  European Computer Driving Licence
• ECITB
  Engineering Construction Industry Training Board
• EEDA
  East of England Development Agency
• EMA
  Education Maintenance Allowance
• EMDA
  East Midlands Development Agency
• EMTA
  NTO for Engineering Manufacture
• EOC
  Equal Opportunities Commission
• ERDF
  European Regional Development Fund
• ES
  Employment Service
• ESF
  European Social Fund
• ESiB
  e-skills into Business
• ETAG
  Education and Training Action Group
• ETAP
  Education and Training Action Plan
• EU
  European Union
• EVs
  External Verifiers
• FBI
  Federation of British Industry
• FD
  Foundation Degree
• FE
  Further Education
• FEDA
  Further Education Development Agency (now replaced by the Learning and Skills Development Agency)
• FEFC
  Further Education Funding Council (now replaced by the Learning and Skills Council)
• FEFCW
  Further Education Funding Council for Wales
• FEI
  The Federation of the Electronics Industry
• FMA
  Foundation Modern Apprenticeship
• FRESA
• FSB
  Framework for Regional Employment and Skills Actions
  The Federation of Small Businesses
• FSW
  Future Skills Wales
• GA
  Graduate Apprenticeship
• GAD
  Government Actuary's Department
• GCSE
  General Certificate of Secondary Education
• GNVQ
  General National Vocational Qualification
• GO
  Government Office
• GTA
  Group Training Association
• GTC
  General Teaching Council
• HE
  Higher Education
• HEFCE
  Higher Education Funding Council for England
• HEFCW
  Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
• HIE
  Highlands and Islands Enterprise
• HNC/D
  Higher National Certificate/Diploma
• I&DeA
  Improvement and Development Agency
• IAG
  Information, Advice and Guidance (Partnerships)
• ICT
  Information and Communications Technology
• IEE
  Institution of Electrical Engineers (became IET in March 2006)  
• IER
  Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick
• IES
  Institute of Employment Studies
• IET
  Institution of Engineering and Technology (formerly IEE and IIE)
• IiP
  Investors in People
• ILAs
  Individual Learning Accounts
• ILO
  International Labour Organisation
• ILR
  Individual Learning Record
• IMIS
  Institute for the Management of Information Systems
• Intellect
  The trade association for the UK hi-tech industry
• IoD
  Institute of Directors
• IPD
  Institute of Personnel and Development (now the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development)
• ITB
  Industry Training Board
• ITCE
  Information Technology, Communications & Electronics
• ITMB Degree
  BSc(Hons) Degree in Information Technology Management for Business
• ITQ
  Information Technology Qualification
• ITSSP
  IT Systems Support Professional
• ITSST
  IT Systems Support Technician
• ITT
  Initial Teacher Training
• JETI
  Jobs, Education and Training Information
• JSA
  Job Seekers Allowance
• KPAG
  Key Partners Action Group (Scottish Office)
• KS3
  Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14)
• KS4
  Key Stage 4 (ages 14-16)
• KSSP
  Key Skills Support Programme
• LCCI
  London Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• LDA
  London Development Agency
• LDP
  London Development Partnership (now London Development Agency)
• LEA
  Local Education Authority
• LEC
  Local Enterprise Company (Scotland)
• LFS
  Labour Force Survey
• LMI
  Labour Market Intelligence/Information
• LMT
  Labour Market Trends
• LPC
  Low Pay Commission
• LSC
  Learning and Skills Council
• LSDA
  Learning and Skills Development Agency
• MA
  Modern Apprenticeship (Scotland)
• MANTRA
  Modern Apprenticeship and National Traineeship Steering Group
• MaP>IT
  Mature Professionals into IT
• MIAP
  Managing Information Across Partners
• MoD
  Ministry of Defence
• NACETT
  National Advisory Council for Education and Training Targets
• NCSL
  National College for School Leadership
• NCVQ
  National Council for Vocational Qualifications
• NCWE
  National Council for Work Experience
• NEET
  Not in Education, Employment or Training
• NFER
  National Foundation for Educational Research
• NGfL
  National Grid for Learning
• NIACE
  National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
• NILTA
  National Information and Learning Technologies Association
• NISVQ
  National Information System for Vocational Qualifications
• NLSC
  National Learning and Skills Council
• NMW
  National Minimum Wage
• NOMIS
  National Online Manpower Information System (Labour Market Database)
• NOS
  National Ocupational Standards
• NTA
  National Training Awards
• NTF
  National Training Federation
• NTO
  National Training Organisation (now replaced by SSCs) 
• NTP
  National Training Provider
• NUS
  National Union of Students
• NVQ
  National Vocational Qualification
• NWDA
  North West Development Agency
• OCR
  Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations
• OECD
  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
• ONS
  Office of National Statistics
• OSC
  Occupational Standards Council
• OST
  Office of Science and Technology
• OU
  Open University
• PGCE
  Post-Graduate Certificate in Education
• PIRLS
• Progress in International Reading Literacy Study
• PIU
  Performance and Innovation Unit, Cabinet Office
• PLASC
  Pupil Level Annual Schools Census
• PLP
  Programme-Led Pathways
• PSA
  Public Service Agreement
• PSAG
  Projects and Standards Approval Group, QCA
• PSE
  Personal and Social Education
• PSS
  People Skills Scoreboard
• QAA
  Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
• QCA
  Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
• QIA
  Quality Improvement Agency
• QTS
  Qualified Teacher Status
• RDA
  Regional Development Agency
• RES
  Regional Economic Strategy
• RSA
  Royal Society of Arts
• RSP
  Regional Skills Partnerships
• RVQ
  Related Vocational Qualification
• SBS
  Small Business Service
• SCONTO
  Scottish Council of NTOs (now replaced by SSAScot)
• SDF
  Skills Development Fund
• SDEP
  Sustainable Development Education Panel
• SEEDA
  South East England Development Agency
• SEN
  Skills and Enterprise Network
• SERAP
  School Examination Results Analysis Project
• SESSU
  South East Sector Skills Unit
• SETNET
  Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics Network
• SFIA
  Skills Framework for the Information Age
• SI
  Social Inclusion
• SIC
  Standard Industrial Classification
• SME
  Small / Medium [sized] Enterprise
• SOC
  Standard Occupational Classification
• SQA
  Scottish Qualifications Authority
• SSA
  Sector Skills Agreement
• SSAScot
  Sector Skills Alliance Scotland
• SSAT
  Specialist Schools and Academies Trust 
• SSC
  Sector Skills Council
• SSDA
  Sector Skills Development Agency
• SVQ
  Scottish Vocational Qualification
• SWDP
  Sector Workforce Development Plan
• SWRDA
  South West Regional Development Agency
• TDA
  Training and Development Agency for Schools
• TEA
  Training and Employment Agency, Northern Ireland
• TfT
  Technologies for Training
• TIMSS
  Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies
• TSC
  Training Standards Council
• TTJL
  Through-the-job learning
• TUC
  Trade Union Congress
• UCAS
  Universities and Colleges Admission Service for the UK
• UKAIS
  UK Academy for Information Systems
• UfI
  University for Industry
• VET
  Vocational Education and Training
• VQ
  Vocational Qualification
• WBL
  Work-Based Learning 
• WBLA
  Work-Based Learning for Adults
• WDP
  Workforce Development Plan
• YST
  Youth Sport Trust

Last modified: 02 Jul 2008