Canon certification

What this is not, before what it is.

If you are going to find out something awkward about a certification scheme, you should find it out from the people running it.

What this certification is not

It is not an accreditation. In UK usage, accreditation means UKAS — the government-appointed national accreditation body. RISEA is not accredited by UKAS and does not claim to be. We never use the word about ourselves.
There is no external awarding body. RISEA International writes this standard and RISEA International awards it. That is the whole arrangement.
It carries no regulator endorsement. Not from Estyn, not from Ofsted, not from a commissioner, not from anyone.
It is not a qualification. Nobody receives a credit, a level or an award that sits on a national framework.
It guarantees no outcome. Holding it does not mean nothing will go wrong.

What it actually is

It is documented, dated evidence that your staff have been trained and assessed against a written standard for communicating with newcomers and ESOL learners. At the higher tiers it also evidences that somebody independent looked at that evidence and told you where the gaps were.

That has a specific use. Inspection and commissioning conversations ask what staff development you have done and how you support learners who are not confident in English. A signed self-assessment, a training record and a written findings report are the kind of thing that answers those questions concretely.

The permitted claim is exactly this: “Certified to the RISEA Canon Standard (Tier name) by RISEA International.” Never “accredited”, never “approved by”, never “endorsed by”.

The three tiers

Priced, published, and the same for everybody.

Canon Aware

£500 a year

Licensed standards pack, staff training module, self-assessment, certificate.

What is included

The licensed Canon standards pack
A staff training module your internal lead delivers, built as slides and a workbook
The twenty-indicator self-assessment
A signed Canon Oath and a named internal Canon lead
A digital badge and a certificate
A listing on the certified organisations register

To achieve it

Complete the training, submit the self-assessment, sign the Oath.

Renewal

Annual re-affirmation, plus updated materials each year.

Canon Aligned

£1,500 a year

Everything in Canon Aware, plus an evidence portfolio audit and a written findings report.

What is included

Everything in Canon Aware
An evidence portfolio audit against the twenty indicators
Written findings, with the gaps named and what to do about them
One hour of onboarding and one hour going through the findings

To achieve it

Submit evidence — induction documents, sample communications, training records, complaint handling examples. Each indicator is scored across two layers: manager to staff, and staff to public.

Renewal

Annual re-audit.

Canon Certified

£3,000 a year

Everything in Canon Aligned, plus annual assessor verification, a train-the-trainer session and a display licence.

What is included

Everything in Canon Aligned
Annual assessor verification — a half day of observation, remote or on site
A sample of staff interviews
A train-the-trainer session so your internal lead can keep delivering the module
A premises and website display licence
Public listing on the register

To achieve it

Verification against the same twenty indicators, at a higher threshold.

Renewal

Annual verification.

Things worth knowing before you commit

Some of this is still being built

The standard, the indicators and the assessment approach exist. The training slides, the workbook, the evidence templates and the badge are being produced now. If you buy Canon Aware today, you are buying into something that is being finished, and we would rather you knew that than discovered it.

The assessment framework is at version 0.1 and is not yet finalised. No paid audit will be run against a draft framework.

The register is empty

The certified organisations register exists and has nobody on it. That is what a new standard looks like. It is published anyway, because a public list that starts empty and fills up honestly is worth more than one that never gets built.

Buying it is simple

All three tiers sit below the threshold at which a college or council needs to run a tender. They are well below the light touch regime threshold of £663,540 including VAT. RISEA is not VAT registered, so there is no VAT on the invoice.

Information for buyers Objections, answered or email contact@riseainternational.co.uk