ISO 9001:2026, published on 16 September 2026, applies to a school, college or university as it applies to any organisation: it sets requirements for a quality management system covering the processes that deliver its services, academic and administrative, and it is certified by an accredited certification body after an audit. ISO 21001:2025 is a different standard, written by ISO/TC 232 for educational organisations, with requirements centred on learners and other beneficiaries. An institution can hold either or both. This page explains how the 2026 changes land in an educational setting, where ISO 21001 fits without conflating the two, and how a school certified to ISO 9001:2015 transitions.
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What ISO 9001:2026 covers in an educational organisation
ISO 9001:2026 covers whatever processes the institution puts inside the scope of its QMS under 4.3, and in Philippine schools and universities that scope is usually one of three: administrative services only, academic and administrative processes together, or the whole institution including research and extension. The standard does not tell an institution which to choose; it requires the scope to be justified, available as documented information and honest about what is excluded.
The narrowest common scope is the administrative one: admissions, registration, records, fees, procurement, facilities, human resources and student services. It is the easiest to certify and the least interesting to students. The academic scope adds curriculum design and review (8.3), the delivery of instruction and assessment (8.5), the release of grades and credentials (8.6) and the handling of academic nonconformities such as grade disputes and assessment errors (8.7). The institution-wide scope adds research administration, community extension and, where applicable, laboratories, clinics and enterprises. Whichever scope is chosen, the 2026 edition’s changes fall on the same places: leadership, planning and performance evaluation, with a stronger emphasis on culture, ethics and opportunities than the 2015 edition had. The full list of changes is on the clause-by-clause register.
ISO 9001:2026 or ISO 21001:2025?
ISO 9001:2026 is the generic quality management system standard; ISO 21001:2025 is the management system standard for educational organisations, and the two are neither interchangeable nor in competition. ISO 21001 was published in its second edition in July 2025 by ISO/TC 232, Education and learning services, replacing ISO 21001:2018 and its 2024 amendment. It shares the harmonized structure with ISO 9001 and can be implemented and certified alongside it.
| Question | ISO 9001:2026 | ISO 21001:2025 |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Requirements for a quality management system, applicable to any organisation | Requirements for a management system for educational organisations (an EOMS), with guidance for use |
| Who wrote it | ISO/TC 176/SC 2 | ISO/TC 232 |
| Whose needs it centres | The customer, and relevant interested parties | Learners and other beneficiaries, including staff, parents and society |
| Typical scope in a school | Administrative and, if chosen, academic processes as services | The educational organisation’s mission, vision, learning outcomes, learner support and responsibilities to beneficiaries |
| Certification | By certification bodies accredited for ISO 9001 | By certification bodies accredited for ISO 21001 |
| Recognition | Universally recognised across sectors, including by procurement bodies, funders and partners outside education | Recognised within education; less familiar to non-education stakeholders |
| Relationship | The generic system into which sector requirements can be integrated | Designed to be compatible with ISO 9001 and usable alone or with it |
The practical choice depends on what the institution wants the system to do. An institution whose main need is disciplined administration, credible processes for partners and funders, and a certificate that a government agency, a bank or an industry partner recognises without explanation usually chooses ISO 9001. An institution whose main need is to organise itself around learning outcomes and learner support, and whose stakeholders are chiefly within education, may choose ISO 21001. Institutions that want both take ISO 9001 as the base and integrate ISO 21001’s learner-centred requirements, which the shared structure makes straightforward. What no institution should do is describe an ISO 9001 certificate as an ISO 21001 certificate, or the reverse; they are audited against different texts by bodies accredited for different standards.
This page is about ISO 9001:2026. Where a paragraph below refers to learners, it does so because the student is the customer under ISO 9001, not because ISO 21001’s requirements are being imported.
Where the 2026 changes land in a school or university
For an institution with a working ISO 9001:2015 system, the 2026 changes concentrate in nine places, most of them in leadership and planning rather than in classroom or office procedure. The table lists each change with its reference and its meaning in an academic setting, so that a quality office can map the work before it starts.
| ISO 9001:2026 reference | What changed | What it means in a school, college or university |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Climate-change determination now in the base text | The institution records whether climate change is relevant to its QMS; for campuses that suspend classes for typhoons and floods, it usually is |
| 4.2 c) | New: decide which interested-party requirements the QMS addresses | A written decision covering students, parents and guardians, faculty and staff, employers of graduates, regulators and accreditors, partner institutions, alumni and the community |
| 5.1.1 i) and NOTE 2; 7.3 e) | New: top management promotes quality culture and ethical behaviour; everyone aware of it | The board, president or principal and deans state what they expect on academic integrity, fairness in assessment, conflicts of interest and treatment of students, and faculty and staff can describe it |
| 5.1.1 k) | Strengthened: promote opportunity-based thinking | New programmes, delivery modes, partnerships and research directions treated as evaluated opportunities |
| 5.2.1 e); 5.2.2 d) | Strengthened: policy takes context into account and supports strategic direction; policy is implemented | The quality policy connects to the institution’s vision, mission and strategic plan, and decisions can be traced to it |
| 6.1.2 with NOTE 1; 6.1.3 | Strengthened and new: risks and opportunities determined, analysed and evaluated separately; disruption named | Class suspensions, faculty shortages, enrolment swings, connectivity failures and regulatory changes analysed as risks; new programmes and modes analysed as opportunities |
| 6.3 c), e), f), g) | Strengthened and new: changes planned with information, communication, monitoring and review | Curriculum revisions, new learning management systems, calendar changes and reorganisations planned with who is told, how effectiveness is checked and when results are reviewed |
| 7.1.6 | Strengthened: knowledge retained, applied and shared | Course materials, assessment banks, accreditation evidence and institutional memory protected across faculty turnover |
| 8.2.1 e) and NOTE | Strengthened: contingency information including disruptions; websites, social media and FAQs recognised as channels | Students and parents told what happens when classes are suspended, moved online or rescheduled, through the channels the school actually uses |
| 9.1.3 e), f); 9.3.2 c), g), h) | Strengthened and new: effectiveness of actions on risks and on opportunities evaluated and reviewed separately; changes in interested-party needs reviewed | Management review looks at whether continuity measures worked, whether new programmes delivered, and what students, parents, employers and regulators now expect |
Two informative NOTEs added in 2026 describe education closely. The NOTE to 7.1.3 acknowledges that work may be done on site, remotely or in combination, which covers online and blended delivery. The NOTEs to 8.3.1 and 8.3.3 say that design and development can proceed in cycles of review, verification, validation and feedback, and that inputs are not always fully defined at the start; this is how curriculum development actually works, and the 2026 standard now says so.
Quality culture and ethical behaviour in academic settings
Clause 5.1.1 i) requires top management to promote quality culture and ethical behaviour, and NOTE 2 explains that these are reflected in shared values, attitudes, practices and actions. In an educational institution the subject matter is well defined: academic integrity, fairness and consistency in assessment, honest reporting of outcomes, conflicts of interest in admissions and grading, research ethics, and the treatment of students and colleagues.
Auditors test the requirement through interviews rather than documents. A faculty member will be asked what the institution expects when a student submits work that is not their own, what happens when a grade is challenged, how a conflict of interest in a thesis panel is handled and whom they would tell about a colleague’s misconduct. A registrar’s clerk will be asked about altering a record on request. Under 7.3 e), every person doing work under the institution’s control, including part-time faculty, contractual staff and student assistants, must be aware of the organisational quality culture and ethical behaviour, which puts the content into faculty orientation, staff induction and the student handbook rather than into a code that sits on a shelf.
Most Philippine institutions already have an academic integrity policy, a code of conduct for faculty and a student handbook, and most have a research ethics committee. The 2026 requirement does not ask for new documents; it asks whether leadership promotes what those documents say, whether people know it, and whether practice matches. The gap Sterling finds most often is between the handbook and the corridor: policies that are complete and behaviour that varies by college. Closing it takes leadership statements, a route for raising concerns that faculty and students trust, visible consequences and time. The quality culture and ethical behaviour page sets out how the evidence is built.
Interested parties: students, parents, faculty, employers, regulators and accreditors
Clause 4.2 requires the institution to determine its relevant interested parties and their relevant requirements, and the new 4.2 c) requires it to decide which of those requirements the QMS will address. In Philippine education the list is long and the decision matters, because an institution cannot address every requirement of every party through its QMS and should say which it does.
Students are the customer under ISO 9001 and their requirements run from accurate programme information (8.2.1 a)) to fair assessment and timely credentials. Parents and guardians are interested parties whose requirements, particularly in basic education, are often communicated through the school more than to it. Faculty and staff have requirements on workload, resources and treatment that bear directly on 7.1.4, the environment for the operation of processes. Employers of graduates and partner institutions have requirements on outcomes and on the recognition of credentials.
The regulators are interested parties in every scope. For higher education institutions, the Commission on Higher Education sets policies, standards and guidelines for programmes and, under CHED Memorandum Order No. 46, s. 2012, its policy-standard on outcomes-based and typology-based quality assurance, expects institutions to have internal quality assurance mechanisms and assesses institutional sustainability. CHED’s quality assurance framework and ISO 9001 certification are distinct; ISO 9001 certification is not a CHED requirement, and an ISO 9001 certificate is not a substitute for programme compliance or for voluntary accreditation through bodies such as PAASCU. For basic education, the Department of Education regulates public and private schools, and a number of DepEd’s own regional and schools division offices hold ISO 9001:2015 certificates for their services. For state universities and colleges, Executive Order No. 605, s. 2007 directs SUCs, with the rest of the executive branch, to adopt ISO 9001 quality management systems under the Government Quality Management Program, and the FY 2023 Performance-Based Bonus guidelines recognised AACCUP accreditation as an equivalent to ISO 9001 certification for the QMS accountability of SUCs. An institution’s 4.2 c) decision should name each of these bodies and state what the QMS does about their requirements: programme standards addressed through curriculum design and review (8.3), reporting requirements addressed through records (7.5), accreditation evidence addressed through organisational knowledge (7.1.6).
Customer communication and customer property in education
Two clauses in Clause 8 carry most of the day-to-day weight in a school. Clause 8.2.1 covers communication with students and parents, including, at item e) as reworded in 2026, information on contingency actions and disruptions; the NOTE recognising websites, social media, FAQs and training as channels reflects how Philippine schools actually communicate class suspensions. Clause 8.5.3 covers customer property, and its NOTE names personal data among the examples.
Under 8.2.1 e), an institution should be able to show what students and parents are told when classes are suspended for a typhoon, when a course is cancelled for lack of enrolment, when a faculty member leaves mid-term, when the learning management system fails during an examination, or when a schedule changes. The information belongs in the student handbook and on the channels the school uses, which for most Philippine schools means its website and its official social media pages. The evidence is the published information and the record of the specific communications when a disruption occurs.
Under 8.5.3, customer property in a school includes students’ personal data and records, submitted work, theses and creative outputs where the student holds the intellectual property, original documents lodged for admission, and property held on campus. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Republic Act No. 10173) governs personal data separately; ISO 9001 requires the institution to identify, protect and safeguard the property, to report loss or damage to the student and to keep records. The transcript that cannot be found and the thesis that was lost in a server migration are both 8.5.3 nonconformities, whatever the data privacy position.
Curriculum design and development (8.3) and the iterative NOTE
Clause 8.3 applies to the design and development of programmes and courses wherever the academic scope is included, and its requirements did not change in 2026. What changed is that the NOTEs to 8.3.1 and 8.3.3 now say that design can run in cycles of review, verification, validation and feedback and that inputs can evolve, which describes curriculum development as it is practised: a programme is designed against a regulator’s policy, standard and guideline, delivered, reviewed against outcomes, and revised.
For an institution that has struggled to fit 8.3 to academic work, the NOTEs give a licence to describe the real cycle: inputs from regulator standards, industry advisory boards and outcome data (8.3.3); controls at curriculum committee and academic council (8.3.4); outputs in the form of approved syllabi and assessment plans (8.3.5); and changes controlled through the revision process (8.3.6). The 2026 edition also asks, at 6.3, that a curriculum change be planned with its communication, the monitoring of its effectiveness and the review of its results, which is how a serious institution treats a revised programme anyway.
Disruption, climate and remote delivery
Three 2026 provisions describe the Philippine academic calendar as it is lived. Clause 6.1.2 NOTE 1 names the ability to deliver during and after a disruption as a matter for risk analysis; clause 4.1 requires a determination of whether climate change is relevant; and the NOTE to 7.1.3 recognises remote and hybrid work.
An institution’s risk register under 6.1.2 should analyse and evaluate the disruptions that actually happen: typhoon and flood suspensions, heat-related suspensions, power and connectivity failures, faculty shortages in specific disciplines and enrolment swings. The actions must be proportionate to the potential impact on the intended results of the QMS, which for a school means the completion of learning and the fair assessment of students. The climate-change determination under 4.1 is, for most Philippine campuses, a short reasoned paragraph concluding that it is relevant, with the register showing the consequences; the climate change page explains what the determination requires and what it does not. Remote delivery is covered as infrastructure under 7.1.3 and as environment under 7.1.4, and the 2026 NOTE to 7.1.3 removes any argument that the standard assumes a classroom.
Transition path for a school certified to ISO 9001:2015, and first-time certification
An institution holding an ISO 9001:2015 certificate keeps it, because 2015 certificates remain valid until they are transitioned or until the transition period ends on 30 September 2029, and plans a transition audit with its certification body at a scheduled surveillance audit, at recertification or as a special transition audit once the body’s accreditation has been extended to the 2026 edition. That extension happens body by body during 2027 under the milestones in Global ACI’s transition requirements.
Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) took over the roles of IAF and ILAC on 1 January 2026 and published the transition requirements for ISO 9001:2026 (Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M)) on 16 September 2026. The milestones are: accreditation bodies ready to assess certification bodies by 31 March 2027; certification bodies’ transition declarations by 30 June 2027; accreditation-body decisions completed by 30 September 2027; from 31 March 2028 initial certifications only to ISO 9001:2026, which matters for a school certifying for the first time; all transitions completed by 30 September 2029, after which ISO 9001:2015 certificates and accreditations are no longer valid. The transition audit may be conducted remotely by ICT, covers the changed requirements, changes to the institution’s context and any other changes needed, and may carry additional audit time where the body justifies it.
The sequence for a school is the standard one, timed to the academic calendar: gap assessment against the ISO 9001:2026 standard (Sterling Revise™ delivers it in one week and reports the number of gaps and the effort in the second, before the institution commits to more); leadership decisions on 4.2 c), the policy under 5.2.1 e) and expectations under 5.1.1 i); wording updates across policy, registers, procedures, checklists and the management review agenda, with every reference to “10.3” removed; a term of operation with the updated processes; an internal audit and a management review to the 2026 edition; then the certification body’s audit. The transition checklist sets out the steps. An institution certifying for the first time should build to the 2026 edition now, whichever edition its first certificate cites (from 31 March 2028 it can only be the 2026 edition), and can follow the certification service page for the sequence. Any offer of an “ISO 9001:2026 certificate” without an audit should be declined and verified through the certificate verification guide.
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Frequently asked questions
Can a school be certified to ISO 9001:2026? Yes, once its certification body’s accreditation has been extended to the 2026 edition, which under Global ACI’s transition requirements happens body by body during 2027 (accreditation bodies ready by 31 March 2027, decisions completed by 30 September 2027). Schools certified to ISO 9001:2015 keep valid certificates until they are transitioned or until 30 September 2029; schools certifying for the first time should build to 2026 now.
Should a university choose ISO 9001 or ISO 21001? ISO 9001:2026 is the generic QMS standard, recognised by stakeholders outside education; ISO 21001:2025 is the management system standard for educational organisations, centred on learners and other beneficiaries. Institutions that need external recognition usually choose ISO 9001; those organising around learner outcomes may choose ISO 21001; many take ISO 9001 as the base and integrate ISO 21001. They are certified separately.
Does ISO 9001 cover teaching or only administration? It covers whatever the institution puts in its scope under 4.3. Many Philippine institutions start with administrative services; those that include academic processes apply 8.3 to curriculum design, 8.5 to delivery and assessment, 8.6 to the release of grades and credentials, and 8.7 to academic nonconformities such as grade errors.
Is ISO 9001 certification required by CHED or DepEd? No. CHED’s quality assurance policy (CMO No. 46, s. 2012) expects internal QA mechanisms and assesses institutional sustainability; ISO 9001 certification is distinct from CHED compliance and from accreditation. DepEd regulates schools separately, and a number of its own regional and division offices hold ISO 9001:2015 certificates. State universities and colleges are directed to adopt ISO 9001 under Executive Order No. 605, s. 2007.
What does “quality culture and ethical behaviour” mean for a school? Under 5.1.1 i), leadership promotes academic integrity, fair assessment, honest reporting, management of conflicts of interest and proper treatment of students and colleagues, and under 7.3 e) every faculty and staff member can describe what the institution expects of them. Auditors test it through interviews, so the evidence is consistent answers and consistent practice, not a new code.
Are student records customer property under ISO 9001? Yes. Clause 8.5.3 covers property belonging to customers while under the institution’s control, and its NOTE names personal data. Student records, submitted work, theses and original documents must be identified, protected and safeguarded, with loss or damage reported and recorded. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 applies to personal data separately.
How does the 2026 edition treat online and blended learning? The requirements on infrastructure (7.1.3) and environment (7.1.4) are unchanged; the 2026 NOTE to 7.1.3 states that work may be on site, remote or a combination, which covers online and blended delivery. Disruptions to delivery are analysed under 6.1.2 NOTE 1 and communicated to students under 8.2.1 e).
Read next
The ISO 9001:2026 playbook; the clause-by-clause register; quality culture and ethical behaviour; planning of changes for curriculum and system changes; technology, remote work and AI for online delivery; and the training page for faculty and staff awareness and internal auditor courses.
Sources
ISO 9001:2026, Quality management systems — Requirements, sixth edition, published 16 September 2026 (ISO catalogue stage 60.60): clauses 4.1, 4.2 c), 4.3, 5.1.1 i) and k) with NOTE 2, 5.2.1 e), 5.2.2 d), 6.1.2 with NOTE 1, 6.1.3, 6.3 c) to g), 7.1.3 NOTE, 7.1.4, 7.1.6, 7.3 e), 7.5, 8.2.1 a) and e) with NOTE, 8.3.1 NOTE, 8.3.3 NOTE, 8.3.4 to 8.3.6, 8.5, 8.5.3 NOTE, 8.6, 8.7, 9.1.3 e) and f), 9.3.2 c), g) and h). ISO 9001:2015 for the comparison. ISO 21001:2025, Educational organizations — Management systems for educational organizations — Requirements with guidance for use, second edition, published July 2025 by ISO/TC 232, replacing ISO 21001:2018 and ISO 21001:2018/Amd 1:2024 (ISO catalogue). Global ACI-TECH-3-TR 2029-09-30 (M), Transition Requirements for ISO 9001:2026, version 1.0, issued 4 September 2026 and published by Global ACI (Global Accreditation Cooperation Incorporated) on 16 September 2026 (verified on global-aci.org and in the document on 18 September 2026): transition period ending 30 September 2029; milestones of 31 March 2027, 30 June 2027, 30 September 2027 and 31 March 2028; transition-audit provisions. CHED Memorandum Order No. 46, s. 2012, “Policy-Standard to Enhance Quality Assurance (QA) in Philippine Higher Education through an Outcomes-Based and Typology-Based QA” (cited as current in CHED Memorandum Order No. 16, s. 2025). Department of Education, news release of 9 October 2018 on ISO 9001:2015 certification of DepEd Region VIII and the Schools Division Offices of Bacoor City, Laoag City and Ilocos Norte. Executive Order No. 605, s. 2007 (LawPhil). AO 25 Inter-Agency Task Force Memorandum Circular No. 2023-1, Annex 3, for the recognition of AACCUP accreditation as an equivalent for SUCs. Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
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