What do recognition and affiliation mean for an institution?

Recognition is the approval given by the relevant education board, allowing an institution to teach at a particular level and to register students. Without it, the institution cannot register students for the board’s examinations.

“Affiliation” is used mainly at higher levels. For a college to teach a degree under a university it needs that university’s affiliation — the syllabus, the examinations and the degree then belong to the university.

Why it is worth checking becomes clear from the consequences. Studying at an unapproved institution can mean discovering two years later that you cannot sit the examination, or that the certificate is not accepted for a job or for further study. The loss is time, and time cannot be recovered.

Checking is straightforward: see whether the institution has an EIIN, look for its name in the board’s or university’s published list, and ask to see the approval letter. A verbal assurance or a claim in a prospectus is not evidence.