A federation and international gateway supporting the growth of UK qualifications, quality assurance and workforce development across the Middle East and beyond.
FAO is a federation and gateway organisation — not an awarding body and not a regulator. We exist to help training providers, colleges, employers and government organisations access regulated UK qualifications, navigate the centre approval process, and build the quality assurance systems that sustained qualification delivery requires.
The UK awarding bodies within the FAO network hold their own regulatory recognition from Ofqual and equivalent bodies. FAO’s role is to provide the coordination, market access and operational support that enables those awarding bodies to operate effectively in international markets — and that enables international organisations to access their qualifications.
Headquartered in Dubai, FAO has particular depth across the Middle East and beyond, with specialist understanding of the regulatory environments, labour markets and sector dynamics of international markets.
A coordinating and gateway organisation that provides access to UK awarding bodies, centre approval support, quality assurance guidance and workforce development solutions.
FAO does not issue qualifications. Qualifications are issued by the UK awarding bodies within the FAO network, each of which holds its own regulatory recognition independently.
FAO does not deliver training to learners. We support the organisations that do — helping them access qualifications, gain centre approval and maintain quality compliance.
Our mission is to make UK qualifications, quality assurance and workforce development expertise accessible to organisations across the Middle East and beyond — supporting training providers, employers and government bodies to build genuine capability, not just access certificates.
Providing organisations with a practical, expert-guided route to regulated UK qualifications and awarding body approval — removing the barriers that stop capable organisations from accessing the qualifications their learners and workforce need.
Supporting centres in building the internal quality systems, policies and compliance processes that qualification delivery demands — so that approval is the beginning of a quality journey, not the end of a compliance exercise.
Working with employers, government agencies and professional institutes to build workforce development programmes that are anchored in UK-regulated qualifications and aligned to real sector demands.
“FAO exists to give training providers, colleges, employers and government organisations practical access to UK qualifications, quality assurance and workforce development expertise — a genuine gateway, not a gatekeeping body.”
FAO Position Statement
Whether you want to become an approved centre, access a UK qualification or discuss a workforce development programme — speak to our team.