2025 is a milestone year for Northern Ireland’s leading technical and professional qualifications awarding body, Open College Network NI (OCN), as it celebrates 30 years of operation.

Since its foundation in 1995 (May) OCN has evolved into the largest awarding body in Northern Ireland, impacting the educational landscape locally by offering flexible, inclusive qualifications that address skills needs, promote professional growth and create a culture of lifelong learning.

From humble beginnings in a small office in the former Belfast Education & Library Board head office, today OCN offers approximately 500 regulated qualifications and for the last five years has been the largest awarding body in NI with over 600 000 qualifications awarded to date.

To mark the beginning of several special 30th anniversary commemorative events, Board Members of OCN hosted a visit to its Belfast headquarters for Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA.

Martin Flynn, Chief Executive of OCN said: “As the leading awarding body for technical and professional qualifications in Northern Ireland, we recognise the importance of skills development in driving economic growth and promoting social mobility. We are delighted to welcome Minister Archibald and her officials to our offices to kick off our special year of celebration for OCN across Northern Ireland.

Over the last 30 years we have worked tirelessly to ensure that our qualifications are relevant, up to date and perhaps most importantly, aligned with the needs of the labour market. To mark our 30th year, we have commissioned a special temporary logo alteration to reflect this important milestone as well as a new website for our recognised centres.”

He added: “We have also added a few special events to our existing activity calendar to give us the opportunity to engage directly with all our stakeholder groups including education, training providers, third sector, business and our local political representatives. We really have come a long way in 30 years.”

Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said: “I congratulate OCN NI on its 30th anniversary and for the important work the organisation does to support learners across the vocational education sector.

OCN NI has demonstrated significant commitment to vocational education and skills development here, as well as resilience and agility to meet the changing demands of the local economy. I commend OCN NI on its commitment to making learning accessible for all, including the importance of lifelong learning.”

Paul Donaghy, Chairperson OCN said: “I am extremely proud to be Chair of OCN during this important milestone year in our continued evolution. Since its launch back in 1995, OCN has always sought to support learners in their efforts to advance their career and personal development.

During my tenure I have had the privilege to share in the stories of some of our learners and listen to their inspirational accounts, some overcoming great adversity to achieve their goals. As a charity, OCN will continue to ensure that when it comes to learning, no one gets left behind.”

OCN’s offices are based in Belfast, and they are regulated by statutory bodies to develop technical and professional qualifications from Entry Level up to and including Level 5 across all subject areas. Its mission is to ‘develop and award qualifications which engage, enrich and equip learners for life.’

They are an independent, self-financing charitable organisation that has a proven track record of delivering and contributing to the NI skills agenda. As an indigenous Awarding Body based in Belfast, its priority is to develop and maintain qualifications tailored to the needs of people living and working in NI.

Its flexibility and responsiveness to economic need ensure its qualifications are tailored to the needs of education and training providers, employers, learners and align to the outcomes of the NI Programme for Government.

Through working in partnership with recognised education and training providers, they are able to develop and award qualifications which help tackle educational underachievement and remove barriers to learning. To date, the educational charity has registered over 800,000 learners and has worked with over 750 organisations in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.