Higher Education and Training Awards Council

The Higher Education and Training Awards Council (Irish: Comhairle na nDámhachtainí Ardoideachais agus Oiliúna) (HETAC), the legal successor to the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA), grants higher education awards in Ireland in the extra-university system. It was created in 2001, is subject to the policies of the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland, and, specifically, grants qualifications at many Institutes of Technology and other colleges. The National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA) was founded in 1972, on an ad-hoc basis and granted the first National Certificates that year at five Regional Technical Colleges. Early on it was decided that the NCEA would be the only extra-university conferring institution...