ISO 9001 for education: show that your courses are run with quality

Private schools, training providers, language schools, coaching businesses and continuing education institutes sell something that is hard to inspect before buying: a learning outcome. Prospective learners and their employers cannot test the course in advance. They look for signals that you work in a reliable way.

Corporate clients that book training for their staff, partners that send learners to you, and buyers in tenders often want evidence of a controlled way of working. ISO 9001 is a familiar, internationally used answer. It does not judge what you teach. It shows that you plan, deliver, check and improve in a structured way.

ISO 9001 is voluntary. Whether it is required depends on the client or on the tender documents, so read those documents closely before you decide.

• About ISO 9001:2015

ISO 9001 is built on a process approach and on risk-based thinking. In education, the main processes are easy to name. So are the things that tend to go wrong in them.

The standard uses general language. Here is what its main terms can mean in a school or training business.

Customer requirements

What learners, parents, employers or funders expect from a course: content, level, schedule, certificate of attendance, support.

Interested parties

Everyone with a stake in your work: learners, trainers, employers who pay for training, partner institutions, owners.

Competence

The qualifications, experience and ongoing training your trainers and staff need to deliver each course well.

Documented information

Curricula, course outlines, attendance lists, assessment records and feedback forms, kept current and easy to find.

Nonconformity

Something that does not meet a requirement, such as a course module skipped without agreement or a missed assessment deadline.

Continual improvement

Using learner feedback and results to change the course, the room, the materials or the process before the next intake.

The requirements are the same for every sector. The examples below show how a small education business can meet them without heavy paperwork.

1. 01

   Understand your context (clause 4)

   Write down who your learners and clients are, what they expect and what changes around you, for example a shift towards online or part-time formats.

2. 02

   Set a quality policy and objectives (clauses 5 and 6)

   Leadership states what quality means for the institution. Objectives must be measurable, such as the share of learners who complete a course or the time taken to answer an enquiry.

3. 03

   Assess risks and opportunities (clause 6)

   List what could disrupt delivery, for example a trainer leaving mid-course, and what you could gain, for example a new course format. Decide on actions.

4. 04

   Define and control processes (clause 8)

   Describe how a course goes from idea to enrolment, delivery and assessment. Name who is responsible at each step and what record is kept.

5. 05

   Ensure resources and competence (clause 7)

   Keep trainer profiles up to date, plan further training and make sure rooms, platforms and materials suit the course.

6. 06

   Monitor and improve (clauses 9 and 10)

   Collect learner feedback, review results once a year and record what you changed because of them.

Zertify issues ISO certificates based on an online self-assessment. You answer 30 yes/no questions about how your organisation works and pass with 20 of 30. SICE reviews every assessment before the certificate is issued. The certificate itself is issued by G6 Agency AG under licence from SICE. It follows within 4 hours after you pass and pay.

The price is CHF 599 (€599) in the first year, then CHF 399 (€399) per year including the yearly online re-audit. The certificate is valid for 3 years. The yearly subscription renews automatically and you can cancel at any time to the end of the current year in your customer account. If you cancel, the certificate ends with the paid year. Prices include 8.1% Swiss VAT for customers in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. You do not need an account to buy.

Every certificate can be verified publicly by number and QR code, so a client or tender office can check it in seconds. There is no on-site audit. The alternative is the classic route with an on-site audit by a certification body, which you can compare in our guide.

• Start the free self-assessment
• See pricing
• Compare the certification routes

The self-assessment is short, but your answers should reflect how you really work. Before you begin, gather a course overview, your trainer list with qualifications, an example of a learner feedback form and the name of the person responsible for quality.

If you find gaps, close them first. Write down a quality policy, name your objectives and agree how complaints are handled. These steps are small, and they make your answers honest and your system useful beyond the certificate.

Smaller institutions often ask whether the standard fits their size. It does. ISO 9001 scales with the organisation, and our guide for small and medium businesses explains how.

• ISO for small and medium businesses
• How it works