How CareerSkale works with institutions

No institution here holds accreditation from a body that appears on a recognised register. That is a fact about all six, not a comparison between them.

It does not automatically mean a private award is worthless to you. It does mean you must not assume that a licence, a membership, a candidate status, a private accreditation or a commercial rating is equivalent to a nationally recognised university degree. If you need the qualification for a regulated profession, further study, credit transfer, immigration or a specific employer, the recognition question is the whole question — and the person who answers it is that regulator, university, authority or employer, not us and not the institution selling the programme.

Three of the six publish disclaimers saying, in their own words, that they are not what a buyer might assume. Read those disclaimers. They are the most useful sentences on their websites.

A relationship may let us introduce applicants, coordinate documents, communicate with an institution and receive payment under a commercial agreement. Its exact scope depends on the agreement.

It does not mean that we can make an admission decision, that we award the qualification, that a government or regulator has approved us, that the institution is accredited, that every programme on its website is available through us, or that another university, employer or authority will accept the award.

We are paid by institutions under commercial arrangements, set out in how CareerSkale works and is paid. Consider that separately from whether a qualification is right for you.

1. Find the legal awarding entity. Not the trading name, not the school-style brand. Find the organisation whose name will appear on your offer, your enrolment agreement and your final award.

2. Ask what that entity is legally permitted to award. A company registration, a provider licence, a declaration of opening and a membership all permit different things. None of them is degree-awarding authority.

3. Check the named accreditor, and the institution's exact status with it. Search the accreditor's own directory. Accredited, candidate, applicant and member are four different things. Then check whether that accreditor is itself recognised by the relevant national or meta-recognition body.

4. Check the official register for the country. Recognition is national, and in the UK it is devolved across four nations. Our guide to checking an institution's accreditation lists the correct starting point for the UK, Ireland, the US, Switzerland and the EU.

5. Get the current terms in writing. Programme, awarding institution, duration, delivery, attendance, total charges including registration and graduation, cancellation terms, refund responsibility and the institution's own recognition statement.

EIMT publishes clear private-award disclaimers alongside a separate state-recognition statement. LSMT publishes three different doctoral durations across its own pages. American Management University's two reviewed domains describe different legal bases and different programme portfolios.

We have not resolved these in the institutions' favour, and we have not resolved them in ours. Ask for a written answer before you rely on any of it.