Press Release
Date: Wednesday 29 October 2008 (NR/23/08)
Huge Success in Europe for Local Education Body
Local education body, the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment, (CCEA), was last night announced as the winner of Europe’s most prestigious award for business excellence with two additional special prizes.
Neil Anderson, Acting Chief Executive, CCEA, emphasised the importance of this award for CCEA;
We have not only won Europe’s most prestigious award for business excellence; we have also been recognised in two special categories for Customer Focus and for Continuous Learning, Innovation and Improvement. I had no doubt that we would do well in Europe, but this level of success is outstanding.
We have been using the EFQM Excellence Model for almost a decade as a way of firmly rooting quality and excellence at the core of everything we do. It provides a framework against which we can monitor our performance through a rigorous external assessment each year.
As the current environment changes within the education sector in Northern Ireland; teachers, principals and parents should be in no doubt that CCEA remains committed to delivering top quality educational products and services and will continue to innovate.
This commitment has lead to increased income through growth in our qualifications market share. In today’s economic climate and with the pressures on government spending, we are aware of the benefits of generating our own income.
I commend and congratulate the staff at CCEA for their dedication and for making this achievement possible. As an organisation, we can now be viewed as a role model for organisations across Europe to learn from and aspire to. This is a proud moment for CCEA.
Bob Barbour, Chief Executive of the Centre for Competitiveness (CforC) which mentors and supports organisations through the EFQM Excellence Model process says:
To qualify as a finalist in the European Excellence Awards in a first attempt is highly impressive and to actually win the award first time around is an indication of truly world-class organisational management. CCEA has gone through a huge change process in recent years, supported by, and structured around the EFQM Excellence Model.
This process has led to significantly improved customer satisfaction, enhanced reputation and improved service quality and has led the organisation to expand into the UK examinations market. CCEA is a truly deserving winner of the European Excellence Award and an example of the important, tangible performance improvements that organisations can realise through the EFQM Excellence Model.
CCEA is the only organisation in the UK to be awarded the European Excellence Award this year. In addition to the top prize, the Customer Focus award recognises that CCEA demonstrates a dedication to customer excellence and creating added value.
Their second special achievement award for Continuous Learning, Innovation and Improvement Award further highlights CCEA’s commitment to continuous improvement.
Additional Information
The EFQM European Excellence Award sits at the pinnacle of dozens of regional and national quality awards. It is given to Europe's best performing companies and not-for-profit organisations and is Europe's most prestigious award for organisational Excellence.
The Centre for Competitiveness is a private sector, independent, not for profit, membership organisation with members in all sectors of business and in the voluntary and public sector. Its purpose is to actively support the development of an internationally competitive economy through innovation, productivity and quality excellence across all sectors.
Media enquiries to Ruth Maguire on (028) 9026 1216, Mobile 07796947993. E mail rhmaguire@ccea.org.uk
ENDS
Note to Editors
CCEA is the Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.
CCEA places learners and those who have a concern for their educational and personal development at the forefront of its thinking. CCEA's mission is:
"To enable the full potential of all learners to be achieved and recognised"
What we do
CCEA is a unique educational body in the UK , bringing together the three areas of curriculum, examinations and assessment.
Advising Government – on what should be taught in Northern Ireland ’s schools and colleges.
Monitoring Standards – ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard.
Awarding Qualifications
– as Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, including the new GCSE Double Award specifications in vocational subjects, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications, and Graded Objectives in Modern Languages.
- CCEA also offers a range of Awards and Certificates in Education, Training and Skills (ACETS) targeted at learners who want to get
the knowledge, understanding and skills needed
to hit the ground running in the world of work.
