Implementation walkthrough
How to implement ISO 29993: video walkthrough
A walkthrough of running learning services outside formal education to ISO 29993, from the first information a learner sees to the evaluation of the service.
Key takeaways
- ISO 29993 covers learning services outside formal education.
- It serves learners directly and sponsors such as employers.
- Requirements follow the learner's journey rather than a management system cycle.
- Each service needs a needs analysis and an approved design record.
- Learning material, staff and the learning environment are controlled in delivery.
Service requirements for lifelong learning
ISO 29993 is the international standard that sets service requirements for learning services outside formal education. ISO describes its reach as every type of lifelong learning, vocational and in-company training among them, whether outsourced or run in-house. It covers the services a learning service provider offers to learners directly and to sponsors, such as employers, who acquire the service on the learners' behalf. Those services share three features: the goals of learning are defined, the service is evaluated, and it involves interaction with the learner, face to face, through technology or a blend of both.
Unlike ISO 9001 or ISO 21001, it is not a management system standard; its requirements follow the order a learner or sponsor meets a service. This short film walks through how a provider implements it.
From first information to evaluation
Decide which learning services the certificate will cover: the courses and programmes, delivery formats, locations, sponsor types and the intended certification scope. A gap analysis then checks each service against the requirements, in the order they apply.
Implementation works through the service journey: general information about the provider and its services that describes them as they actually are; proposals that record the client's request, the needs, the learning goals, the delivery plan and the commercial terms; information before acquisition that states goals, target group, prerequisites, format, assessment and price; a needs analysis sized to the service; a design record with learning goals, content, methods, materials, time plan and assessment plan approved before first delivery; joining information for enrolled learners; and delivery with competent staff, controlled learning material and a suitable learning environment, whether a room or a platform. Assessment of learning and evaluation of the service close the loop. Services then run to the standard before an independent certification body audits them and decides.
Sterling's expert and experienced consultants support service design and implementation with your team under Sterling OS™, with the records held in Effivity. ISO 29993:2017 is the first edition, confirmed by ISO in 2023.
ISO 29993 at a glance
- Purpose
- Service requirements for learning outside formal education, from the information a provider gives and the needs it analyses to design, delivery, assessment and evaluation
- Relevant to
- Corporate training providers, e-learning and edtech businesses, language schools, coaching and professional-development providers, and in-house academies
- Edition
- ISO 29993:2017, the first edition, reviewed and confirmed by ISO in 2023; no transition is due
- Certification
- Audited and decided by an independent certification body; where accredited certification is offered, confirm the accreditation and its scope
- Sterling's role
- Service design with your team, Effivity, training, internal audit and certification readiness, then Sustain™
- Cost and timing
- Total investment for an ISO 29993 service system depends on the current maturity of your processes, the scope, locations and number of employees. The process typically takes 3 to 5 months
ISO 29993: questions people ask
Is ISO 29993 a management system standard?
No. It sets service requirements for learning services outside formal education, organised around what a learner or sponsor experiences, from first information to invoicing. It has no clause for leadership, risk planning, internal audit or management review; if you want those, pair it with ISO 21001 or ISO 9001.
ISO 29993 or ISO 21001: which does a training provider need?
They answer different questions. ISO 29993 examines whether each learning service is described, proposed, analysed, designed, delivered, assessed, evaluated and invoiced as it should be. ISO 21001:2025 is a management system standard for educational organisations, on the clause 4 to 10 structure shared with ISO 9001, and asks whether the organisation is led, planned, audited and improved as a system. A provider that wants both a credible service and a well-run organisation implements the two together, and we map the overlap so nothing is done twice.
Does ISO 29993 cover e-learning, virtual classrooms and blended courses?
Yes. ISO describes the learning in scope as face-to-face, mediated by technology or a blend of both, where the goals of learning are defined, the service is evaluated and there is interaction with the learner. For an edtech business, the scoping question is which of your offers fit that description. If much of your delivery is remote, look also at ISO 29994:2021, which sets requirements for distance learning.
We run an internal academy for our own employees. Does ISO 29993 apply?
It can. The standard covers in-company training whether outsourced or run in-house, and where the provider sits inside an organisation that also delivers other goods or services, it applies to the learning services only. The business units that commission training act as sponsors, which gives the academy a clear way to agree needs, goals and evaluation with them.
Can a school, college or university be certified to ISO 29993?
ISO 29993 is not aimed at schools, colleges and universities teaching within a formal education system, although ISO notes that it can serve them as a tool for reflection and self-evaluation. For the institution's own management system, ISO 21001 is the standard written for the purpose.
Keep exploring
Related to this video
The complete guide
Everything on ISO 29993
Start with the ISO 29993 page, or go straight to the guide you need.
On the ISO 29993 page
- What are the main ISO 29993 requirements?
- How do you get ISO 29993 certified?
- How much does ISO 29993 certification cost?
- How long does ISO 29993 certification take?
- Who needs ISO 29993 certification?
- How ISO 29993 builds trust with learners and the sponsors who pay
- Frequently asked questions about ISO 29993
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