We started by asking what would be the best choice of Learning Provider qualification for Lead Auditors, Consultants, and others wishing to audit, implement, or maintain ISO Management Systems to a high standard.
deGRANDSON Global's ISO Certifications
ISO 17024 Certification
IRCA Approved vs. ISO 21001 Certified - which is better?
What About EXEMPLAR Approvals
7 Reasons why we think ISO 21001 Certification is the 'Gold Standard' for e-Learning
ISO 21001's Recognition and Acceptance
Since August 2015, we have held Certification as a Learning Provider from BQAI, an accredited Certification Body. We now have ISO Certification for three Standards, namely...
We are the world's only ISO Auditor Training Provider to hold this challenging set of independently-audited management system standards.
The obvious choice is ISO 17024, Conformity assessment – General requirements for bodies operating Certification of persons, offering the possibility of auditors having accredited Certification for their auditor training. And this standard was mentioned in ISO 19011:2010 as a possible step towards competency in auditing.
But that was the end of it. We found one company offering accredited certification training some years ago based in Australasia, but nothing since. No organization is promoting such Certification, and, more importantly, no accreditation body requires such training for the lead auditors of the CABs they audit. So, there is no demand from the marketplace from CABs, accreditation boards, industry, commerce, or elsewhere.
Social media around ISO 9001 and other Standards is constantly carping on about auditors making findings based on opinion, freely interpreting standard requirements based on their own preferences, consultants who don't understand the requirements of updated Standards, and still implementing systems near-identical to those they implemented 10-15 years ago, etc. ISO 17024 offers a way of significantly improving things.
However, until such time as ISO 17024 accredited certification is mandatory, the current situation where, effectively, professional training of auditors is optional will persist. From a training organization's viewpoint, ISO 17024 accreditation is a non-starter. So, the question becomes:
This is a question prospective ISO auditors frequently ask themselves when selecting a suitable training course. It was also the question we at deGRANDSON asked when we established the business in 2011. With the recent amalgamation of IRCA with their parent CQI (it will be CQI/IRCA from now on), we decided to compare IRCA Certification with ISO 21001 Certification, both from the training organization's viewpoint and the Learner's viewpoint. Below is what we found.
IRCA Approval vs ISO 21001 Certification Side-by-Side Comparison |
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Criteria |
IRCA Approval | ISO 21001 Certification |
Courses Approved | Yes | Yes |
Approved Training Providers/Educational Organization (EO) | Yes | Yes |
Published ATP/EO approval criteria | No | Yes |
Internationally recognized ATP/EO approval criteria | No | Yes |
Initial Auditing of Providers | Yes | Yes |
Annual Auditing of Providers | No | Yes |
Independent 3rd-party Auditing | No | Yes |
Low ongoiongoing for ATP/EO | No | Yes |
Recognized internationally | No | Yes |
Free Register of Auditors | No | Yes |
No ongoiongoing for auditor registration | No | Yes |
Curriculum approval & monitoring | No | Yes |
Trainer/instructor approval & monitoring * | No | Yes |
Learning environment approval & monitoring * | No | Yes |
Monitoring delivery of learning services | No | Yes |
Ongoing evaluation of learning goals and scope | No | Yes |
Ongoing evaluation of the learning service | No | Yes |
Ongoing evaluation of the learner experience | No | Yes |
ISO Certification | No | Yes |
deGRANDSON's Courses are delivered online by a Learning Management System (LMS), so no trainer/instructor is involved, and the learners create their own learning environment (which could be the back of a bus going to work). And so, our opinion has not changed. We still consider that, for all learners and our business, ISO 21001 is the superior choice.
Same story as with IRCA; they're just badges and do not demonstrate compliance with the internationally recognized ISO Standards for educational organizations.
Since about 2011, the standard for certification bodies, ISO 17021, has required that the certification bodies themselves take responsibility for deciding on the competence of the lead auditors and the other auditors they select for their audit teams.
And that competence is based on a suitable combination of training, technical expertise, knowledge of relevant standards, and auditing experience - no mention of a register.
Learning services
Management of the Learning Service Providers
Overall, ISO 21001 is the one for us - it is recognized and accepted worldwide by L&D Directors, CABs, and Accreditation Boards. We consider that IRCA and EXEMPLAR 'certification', both of which have been around and well-respected for more than 30 years, are not the best options for the 2020s. Instead, we believe that, these days, ISO 21001 certification is a superior option.
This is because it offers both the LearnLearner and the Sponsor, who often pays for the LearnLearner, assurance as to the performance and capabilities of the chosen training organization. That is, of course, until, if ever, the market decides that personal Certification as per ISO 17024 is a better option. But that's a story for another day.
We have chosen ISO 21001 certification because, unlike IRCA and Exemplar badges (which, in our opinion, are commercially compromised), it is based on independent third-party assessment. It is a 'university grade "standard used globally by schools, colleges, and universities to demonstrate competence.
We provide on-demand, self-paced Courses in ISO 9001, ISO 13481, ISO 14001, ISO 17025, ISO 27001, ISO 45001, Risk Management, Data Protection, and more.