what is ISO 29990?

ISO 29990 is a quality management system standard for providers of education and training services. ISO 29990 provides a unified model for a quality and professional mode of operation, as well as a common reference point for both learning service provider (LSPs) and their clients for the conceptualisation, development and delivery of the specified programme.

Future landscape of ISO standards for education

Published in 2010 to provide a common reference for learning service providers in the
design, development and delivery of non-formal education and training, ISO 29990
has been on the market for some years now. ISO 29990 consists of elements addressing
services delivered by the implementing organization as well as management system
elements to support its activities. The standard is used in more than 50 countries and is
implemented by thousands of organizations and government agencies.
Recognizing the complexity and diversity of the global market for learning services,
ISO later published ISO 29993 to provide minimum requirements for learning services.
At the same time, it developed ISO 21001 in order to give the education sector its own
management system standard.
Organizations will be offered more flexibility with standards dealing with learning services on one hand and standards addressing management systems on the other hand.
This new standards offering will give educational and training providers new possibilities
and opportunities to mix and match as best suits their interests.
Figures are used in this document to give an overview of the standards available in the
field of learning services. Designed for the information of all interested organizations
and their stakeholders, this document presents the main characteristics of these different
standards. It also gives examples of how the different standards can be applied depending
on your organization’s individual situation and needs.

What standards does ISO have for services provided by educational organizations?

The following service standards are available or in development. Although their titles
specify “outside formal education”, most of the requirements they contain are equally
valid in formal education.
• ISO 29993:2017, Learning services outside formal education – Service
requirements, focuses on educational services in a general sense.
• ISO 29991:2014, Language learning services outside formal education –
Requirements, is aimed at organizations that provide language courses solely or
alongside other courses.
• ISO 29994, Learning services outside formal education – Additional requirements
for distance learning (under development).
The above standards can be combined with the following new standards, currently under
development, which will address various components of learning services.
• ISO 29992, Assessment of outcomes of learning services – Guidance (under
development). The focus of this standard is on assessment of the outcome of
learning.
• ISO 29995, Learning services outside formal education – Terminology (under
development). The focus of this standard is to facilitate comprehension of the
terms and definitions of learning services.

What standards does ISO have for the management of educational organizations?

The following ISO standard focuses on management systems specific to the education sector:

• ISO 21001, Educational organizations – Management system for educational organizations – Requirements with guidance for use, specifies management system requirements formulated with the specific needs of a variety of educational organizations in mind. It follows ISO’s “high level structure” for management system standards, making it easy to use in conjunction with other ISO management system standards.

Examples of different use cases

Depending on its objectives, strategies, contexts and external requirements (such as regulations or contractual arrangements), an educational organization can decide which standards it wants to implement. As a result, different combinations of standards can be used:

• ISO 29993 alone when the sole focus of the organization is on learning services

• ISO 29993 and ISO 21001 (or another management system standard) in replacement of ISO 29990

• ISO 29991 alone when the sole focus of the organization is on language learning services

• ISO 29991 and ISO 21001 (or other management system standard),

• etc.