{"id":470,"date":"2024-06-25T23:11:30","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T23:11:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/?page_id=470"},"modified":"2026-09-16T21:33:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T21:33:22","slug":"what-accreditation-should-a-college-have-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/what-accreditation-should-a-college-have-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"What Accreditation Should A College Have In South Africa?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The accreditation a college needs depends on what it teaches. South Africa has three quality councils and separate registration systems, and some careers also need a professional body’s approval. Knowing which applies to your programme protects you from worthless certificates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registration, accreditation and NQF registration<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Term<\/th>What it means<\/th>Who<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Registration<\/td>The institution is legally allowed to operate as a private college or higher education institution<\/td>Department of Higher Education and Training<\/td><\/tr>
Accreditation<\/td>A quality council has approved the institution to offer a specific programme<\/td>CHE, Umalusi or QCTO<\/td><\/tr>
NQF registration<\/td>The qualification itself exists on the National Qualifications Framework<\/td>SAQA<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Which quality council for which programme<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Programme<\/th>Quality council<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Higher certificates, diplomas, degrees<\/td>Council on Higher Education (CHE)<\/td><\/tr>
School, adult education and NC(V)-type qualifications<\/td>Umalusi<\/td><\/tr>
Occupational qualifications, trades and N4 to N6 programmes<\/td>Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Careers with an extra layer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Career<\/th>Professional body that must approve the programme<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Nursing<\/td>South African Nursing Council (SANC)<\/td><\/tr>
Emergency medical care<\/td>Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)<\/td><\/tr>
Engineering<\/td>Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), for accredited degrees<\/td><\/tr>
Private security<\/td>Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

Public TVET colleges and universities are government institutions, but their programmes are still quality-assured by these councils.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To look up a specific college, follow our registration check steps<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n

Who accredits private colleges in South Africa?<\/h3>\n
\n\n

It depends on the programme: the CHE for higher education, Umalusi for school-level and NC(V)-type qualifications, and the QCTO for occupational qualifications.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Is SAQA an accreditation body?<\/h3>\n
\n\n

SAQA registers qualifications on the NQF. Institutions and programmes are accredited by the quality councils.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The accreditation a college needs depends on what it teaches. South Africa has three quality councils and separate registration systems, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_ba_keyfacts":"","_ba_provider_contact":"","_ba_provider_name":"","_ba_provider_type":"","_ba_provider_cat":"","_ba_writer":"thabo-mokoena","_ba_reviewer":"naledi-khumalo","iawp_total_views":23,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-470","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1551,"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/470\/revisions\/1551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bursariesafrica.co.za\/tvet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}