CAVA services

At CAVA, we are driven by our values and passion for Access to Higher Education Diplomas. We are the only Access Validating Agency (AVA) that is solely focused on Access to HE Diplomas. We have a small friendly staff team dedicated to Access to HE. You can pick up the phone and know that whoever answers will be able to help.

Benefits of joining our CAVA membership

By joining CAVA, you will become part of our community of members across England. All of our members have a voice on our CAVA Council of Members.

If you are considering offering Access to HE Diplomas or looking to transfer from another Access Validating Agency, becoming a CAVA member will give you:

• Access to CAVA’s entire library of Access to HE Diplomas and units

• Support with developing your range of Access to HE Diplomas, whether off-the-shelf or bespoke

• Our dedicated team of Access to HE specialists, available to offer support via telephone, email, and face-to-face meetings

• Tailored staff training delivered within your college

• Subject-specialist external moderator visits

• Access to CAVA’s annual staff development conference for your Access to HE course teams

• Access to CAVA’s training sessions to build staff skills 

All of the above is included in our annual membership fee – which is reviewed and set by our members annually. 

How to join us

We would be delighted to discuss any aspect of Access to HE with you: whether it is transferring existing provision or realising your ideas by designing totally new provision, CAVA can help. 

1. Initial conversation to establish your aims for Access to HE.

2. Meeting to discuss how CAVA operates and how to develop and validate new provision to meet your local needs. You will also be provided with examples of relevant existing CAVA Access to HE Diplomas, a demonstration of our systems, and a schedule of how you would be supported through the process of joining CAVA. 

3. You may wish to speak with some of our existing members to find out more about how CAVA works from a college perspective.

4. Apply in writing to join CAVA as a member and complete our Provider Recognition Form.  

5. Formal approval of application by our senior governing body, the CAVA Board.

If you share our values and passion for social mobility through lifelong learning, we would love to hear from you. Please contact our Chief Executive, Emily Ross, to start the conversation. You can email her on e.ross@cava.ac.uk or call her on 01223 302148.

We look forward to welcoming you to the CAVA membership.