Defence Awarding Organisation
DAO provides vocational qualifications to armed forces personnel (regular and reserve) and to Ministry of Defence civil servants.
About us
The DAO was established in April 2008 following a change in government policy. This allowed certain employers including defence to form their own awarding organisations, in line with Ofqual’s national regulatory requirements.
Defence is a powerful brand and civilian employers are increasingly recognising the quality and competence gained through defence training and experience. DAO approved centres are now on the increase and the portfolio of vocational qualifications is steadily expanding. All qualifications are developed with the strictest adherence to the regulatory requirements
The vision
The Defence Awarding Organisation’s vision is to be recognised by the defence community as the awarding organisation of choice.
The mission
The Defence Awarding Organisation’s mission is: to award vocational qualifications to armed forces personnel (regular and reserve) and Ministry of Defence (MOD) civil servants to recognise quality and competence gained through defence training and experience; and to exploit accreditation opportunities across the defence community.
What we do
The Defence Awarding Organisation develops and provides nationally recognised qualifications for the defence community. All qualifications are on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) and range from Levels 1 to 7. We maintain the quality of our qualifications through a robust quality assurance system.
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the DAO only holds the minimum amount of personal data of a learner in order to conduct our business as an awarding body approved and regulated by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual). This personal data refers to name, gender, date of birth and service number; we hold this data for previous learners and we require this information in order to correctly register and certificate a learner for a RQF qualification issued by the DAO.
Our qualifications
These are mapped to Defence Systems Approach to Training (DSAT) compliant courses therefore it is important when identifying courses you would like accredited that they have an endorsed Formal Training Statement (FTS) and assessment specification.
Qualification specification
DAO qualification specifications.
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) is a term that is used to describe a range of learning difficulties that are inherent to an individual and which have the potential, to varying degrees, to affect an individual’s ability to function effectively within the workplace. Hence DAO has a policy aimed at helping Learners to achieve formal recognition of their achievements, without compromising the assessment process or the assessment objectives of a qualification. Reasonable adjustments are made to ensure that Learners who have a disability are not disadvantaged in any way. Learners must declare their needs prior to the assessment period and all necessary reasonable adjustment arrangements must have been implemented before the time of their assessment.
Requests for making a reasonable adjustment should be made using the Reasonable Adjustment Request Form. The Reasonable Adjustment form should be completed and returned to DAO as soon as possible, to allow sufficient time for the reasonable adjustment to be made. The minimum amount of notice required is 15 working days prior to the assessment. DAO will log the request and the reasonable adjustment made, as appropriate.
Awarding centres
How to become a centre
Please find below links to our in-depth information, policies and guidelines for running our Defence Awarding Organisation qualifications. These documents provide you with help and guidance on providing and administering our qualifications, including how to contact us and who to speak to for all your queries.
External quality assurance visits
External quality assurance visits are conducted for initial centre approval after your first course has been completed and then annually.
Newsletters
For further information and updates please visit our newsletters page.
Help and support
If you have a question or require any more information, please use the information below. If you can’t find the answer to your query please get in touch using the details in the ‘Contact us’ section below.
Feedback
We are always aiming to improve the quality of our services and welcome feedback to help us do this. If you have any suggestions for improvements to any of the services that DAO provides, email us at: DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk.
Contact us
Defence Awarding Organisation
Defence Academy of the United Kingdom
Room 15, Slim
Trenchard
Shrivenham
SN6 8LA
Email external: DEFAC-DAO@mod.gov.uk