This follows the Government's announcement that 80 per cent of higher education courses in the UK will accept Diplomas - a move which the Government says is a testament to the high quality of the Diplomas and the skills they provide.

David Grailey, Chief Executive at NCFE said: "This is great news for education - especially for students, centres and organisations that have already dedicated time and resources into Diplomas.

"We are confident that this announcement will encourage more young people to consider Diplomas as an option and support future Diploma developments."

NCFE is approved as both a Diploma Awarding Body and a Component Awarding Body. It currently works with centres across the UK, offering Additional and Specialist Learning (ASL) and Functional Skills in English at Level 1 and 2.

David Grailey added: "Our Additional and Specialist Learning offers learners the opportunity to study a particular topic in more depth or broaden their studies in other areas. A large proportion of our existing portfolio is also included in the ASL catalogue across all lines of learning."