2026 UPDATE
The ISO 21001 project has matured considerably since our original 2019 coverage. ISO 21001:2018 has been withdrawn and replaced by ISO 21001:2025, Educational organizations — Management systems for educational organizations — Requirements with guidance for use. The second edition continues the effort to adapt management-system principles to schools, universities, training organizations and other providers of education and learning services. Responsibility resides with ISO/TC 232, Education and learning services.
The supporting infrastructure is also expanding. In June 2026 ISO published ISO/PAS 25171:2026, providing guidance for auditing ISO 21001 management systems, including suggested questions, evidence and measures for evaluating conformity. The development is
significant: what began as an effort to translate lessons from industrial quality management into education now has a second-edition requirements standard together with dedicated auditing guidance and an increasingly mature conformity-assessment framework.
ISO Focus: Education Enterprise | M. Anthony & Richard Robben
Update: 2019-07-03
“The Attributes of the Arts and the Rewards Which Are Accorded Them” | Jean Baptiste Siméon Chardin (1766)
“Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.”
–G.K. Chesterton
Since 2013 we have been following developments in an International Organization for Standardization committee: ISO 288 – Educational organizations management systems – Requirements with guidance for use; a committee spun off from the committee that develops the more widely known ISO 9000-family of quality management standards prepared for industries and global regulatory agencies. The global Secretariat is South Korea; with 40 participating member nations and 11 observing nations. The status of this project can be tracked at the link below (You will need login credentials)
It is noteworthy that the US education industry is not a participant in this global standard which will likely have implications for standards setting for all aspects of educational organizations including the management of Massive Open Online Courses which we have covered in previous posts.
Click on image
The ISO/TC 288 has reached a milestone with its May 1st of the First Edition of ISO 21001:2018 (Click on image). A Spanish translation is still ongoing under the auspices of PC 288, once it will be delivered, ISO/PC 288 will be disbanded. Another ISO Committee — TC 232 — is currently requesting to have its scope modified (enlarged) to be able to standardize subject pertaining to formal education too (its current scope is limited to non-formal learning and education). The result of this request is expected for the end of December. Should it be granted, TC 232 will be able to take care of ISO 21001 maintenance (e.g. revision of the standard) in the future.
We are happy to discuss any ISO consensus product any day at 11 AM Eastern Time. We also walk through the developmental status of all international standards once per month. See our CALENDAR for the next teleconference; open to everyone. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our homepage.
Issue: [13-100]
Contact: Mike Anthony, Christine Fischer, Jack Janveja, Rich Robben
Category: Academic Interest, Management, Finance & Administration, International Standards
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