Qualiopi certification body: certifying skills development providers in France

What a Qualiopi certification body does

Qualiopi is the French quality certification for providers of skills development activities. A Qualiopi certification body does not grade a course or rank a provider. Its job is narrower: to establish, on the basis of evidence, whether an organisation meets the national quality framework (référentiel national qualité) for the categories of activity it offers. The resulting certificate is what opens access to public and pooled funding in France.

Since 1 January 2022, Article L. 6316-1 of the French Labour Code has reserved that funding for certified providers. The funders concerned are the skills operators (OPCOs), the Transitions Pro associations, the State, the Regions, the Caisse des dépôts for the personal training account (CPF), France Travail and Agefiph.

Qualiopi certification is issued by certification bodies accredited by COFRAC against ISO/IEC 17065, or by labelling bodies recognised by France compétences.

Gardiant Certification will issue Qualiopi certification once it has obtained its accreditation. Its role is confined to auditing and deciding: it offers no consulting, no training and no compliance support, as set out in its impartiality statement.

Who needs it: the four categories of activity

Article L. 6313-1 of the French Labour Code defines four categories of activity that contribute to skills development. The certificate lists the categories that were audited; a provider adding a new one has to have its scope extended.

• Training activities: the auditor compares the published offer and course programmes with the way sessions actually run.
• Skills assessments (bilans de compétences): the auditor looks at how each phase is conducted and how the beneficiary's confidentiality is protected.
• Accreditation of prior experiential learning (VAE): the auditor focuses on the support given to candidates and on how they are presented to the body awarding the target qualification.
• Apprenticeship training: the auditor checks the indicators specific to apprenticeship training centres, including the new indicator 33.

Version 10 of the national quality framework

Version 10 was introduced by Decree No. 2026-728 of 1 August 2026, published in the Journal officiel on 4 August 2026. It governs every audit carried out from 1 November 2026 and contains 7 criteria and 33 indicators, one more than before.

The new indicator 33 applies to apprenticeship only. Apprentices assess the content and the teaching they receive, separately from the general satisfaction survey, and the results are shared with teaching teams. The auditor checks that this assessment takes place, that it feeds continuous improvement and that its effectiveness is measured periodically.

Not every indicator applies to every provider. The Ministry's interpretation guide for version 10 separates common indicators, audited for every category of activity, from eleven specific indicators, which apply only to the categories named: 3 and 16 (training, apprenticeship and VAE), 7, 8, 13 and 28 (training and apprenticeship), and 14, 15, 20, 29 and 33 (apprenticeship only). Indicator 12 is a common indicator but covers only courses lasting more than 2 days. Before the audit, the auditor sets the list of indicators that apply to the scope. Leaving one out wrongly, or including one without reason, undermines the whole assessment.

How the auditor assesses an indicator

1. Document review

   The auditor reads what the provider has put in writing: the published offer, programmes, agreements, assessment materials. A single document is never enough to reach a conclusion.

2. Interviews

   Management, trainers, designated contacts and, where possible, learners are interviewed. The head of the organisation, or a permanent employee they have authorised, must attend every audit and prove their identity and role before it starts. The aim is to confirm that people do what the documents say, not merely that they know about it.

3. Observation

   Observation takes place mainly on site: a session, a monitoring tool, the premises. For distance learning, the guide provides for the auditor to observe a virtual classroom or to have access to the digital learning environment.

4. Sampling

   The auditor selects activities in each category within the requested scope, with their learner files and trainers. Evidence must exist for the sample, not just for a case the provider has picked, and the assessment is proportionate to the nature of the course.

Nonconformities: where the line falls

Every applicable indicator leads to a finding. A minor nonconformity means the requirement is only partly met: an arrangement exists but is not applied across the whole sample, or evidence is missing for part of the scope. The guide allows this finding for sixteen indicators only: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 28, 30 and 33. A major nonconformity means the requirement is not met, for instance when no needs analysis is carried out. For the other seventeen indicators, even partial failure is a major finding.

Deadlines come from the ministerial order of 6 June 2019 as amended on 31 May 2023. After a minor nonconformity, the provider submits an action plan within 6 months. A major nonconformity must be cleared within 3 months, or the certificate is suspended or withdrawn. At the initial audit, no certificate is issued while a major finding remains open.

The auditor explains each finding and the indicator it relates to, but never says how to fix it. That restraint is what keeps the certification body independent.

Audit duration and format

Audit duration is calculated for each organisation, from its volume of activity, number of sites and the categories of activity covered, and stated in the quote; fees are quoted case by case. How the audit is conducted, including the observations planned for distance learning, follows the applicable rules and is set out in the audit plan.

A new entrant, in its first year as a training provider or adding a new category of activity, cannot be assessed against past delivery on some indicators. For indicators 2, 3, 11, 13, 14, 19, 24, 25 and 26, the auditor checks at the initial audit that the process is formalised; whether it works in practice is verified at the surveillance audit. The general sequence of an audit is described on the certification process page.

From request to decision at Gardiant Certification

1. Request and review

   Gardiant Certification will check that it has the competence required for the scope and that there is no conflict of interest, then send a quote within 2 working days.

2. Agreement and scheduling

   As a rule, 4 to 6 weeks will separate signature of the agreement from the audit. The provider will be able to object to an auditor, giving reasons.

3. Audit and report

   The auditor will present the findings at the closing meeting; the written report will follow within 10 working days.

4. Decision

   Someone who took no part in the audit will review the file and decide, no later than 3 weeks after the audit, provided any major nonconformity has been cleared.

The certificate and the Qualiopi mark

The certificate states the category or categories of activity certified. The Qualiopi mark belongs to the French Ministry of Labour; its logo is used under the Ministry's usage charter and always alongside the categories covered. The certification status of training providers appears in a public list released as open data on data.gouv.fr.

The rules are set out on the certificate and logo use page and the suspension and withdrawal page. Challenges to a finding or a decision follow the complaints and appeals procedure.