ACE Portfolios vs PebblePad

ACE Portfolios is a web ePortfolio and assessment platform for NVQs, apprenticeships, and vocational qualifications. It is intended for training providers, colleges, and employers, and the maker says it was built by a working assessor and IQA. Assessors can review evidence beside assessment criteria, map evidence to criteria, and create reusable mapping templates for team use. A built-in recorder captures audio or video for professional discussions and observations, attaching recordings to candidate evidence. IQA sampling workflows and actions are included, along with read-only EQA access to claimed portfolios and EQA sessions. ACE lists unit structures for more than 130 qualifications from Highfield, ProQual, NOCN, ECITB, and City & Guilds, and says requested qualifications are added at no charge. Phone capture supports photos, video, and audio mapped to criteria. An optional employer portal shows selected progress in read-only form. Security features include MFA, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.3, tenant isolation, and Cloudflare edge protection. Pricing is on request, with listed one-time charges.

PebblePad is a higher education platform for learning, assessment and engagement, designed for institutions, educators and learners. Students can plan and reflect on learning experiences, then collect and share evidence of their capabilities in ePortfolios. Educators can create templates and workbooks for activities, projects and placements, and use assessment tools to monitor engagement and give formative or summative feedback. The platform maps competencies and skills to programme outcomes or professional frameworks, while dashboards help institutions define completion and identify learners ready for assessment. PebblePocket captures reflections and learning evidence offline and syncs it after reconnection. Accounts are issued by institutions, each with its own installation. Integrations with learning management systems support single sign-on, enrolment synchronisation, resource links and grade synchronisation; listed options include Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas and Moodle. The service is hosted on AWS and has a stated 99.9% uptime SLA. PebblePad lists ISO 27001, Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus and TX-RAMP among its security certifications. Pricing is institutional and available on request.