VTCT are proud to announce that we have been awarded ISO9001 registration. ISO9001 is an accredited international standard for quality management, designed to help organisations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product or service.
Back in 2017, we identified that to give the organisation an advantage when tendering for new business and also to boost organisational effectiveness, implementing a Quality Management System registered to ISO9001:2015 would be of benefit.
“A quality management system is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis.” (www.asq.org)
VTCT already had a Quality Management System in place, a good foundation for success. This system was reviewed internally to identify where processes and procedures could be further improved, such as document control, staff induction and training, and creating a plan for regular audits in the future.
The project was headed up internally by VTCT’s Strategy and Projects Manager, Mike King. We also enlisted the help of NPT Management systems, based locally to our Eastleigh head office. Neil Peattie, Principal Consultant, helped to guide us through the process and his wealth of knowledge and support was critical to our success.
As an organisation, we quality assure our qualifications, therefore we wanted to show our centres that we, in turn, take quality seriously. Our centres and learners are at the heart of what we do, and only by providing quality qualifications backed up with robust quality assurance will we achieve our Mission: To provide a direct line of sight to a job, enhancing knowledge and skills, improving career prospects. Ultimately supporting our Charitable object: for public benefit, through the advancement of education.
This certification is reviewed annually, to ensure we are still meeting the standard. As Mike says “If you stand still, you won’t stay compliant” so as an organisation we understand the importance of making sure every single colleague understands and adheres to our Quality Management System. Our Compliance Manager Paul Mills will conduct internal audits of all procedures throughout the year to check for on-going compliance.
We now operate to a standard that is nationally recognised, which will assist us in the future when we tender for new business. But, more importantly for our centres and ultimately our learners, we will be better able to provide improved service and customer satisfaction.
The next step for VTCT is the 27001 accreditation for Information Security, which will further demonstrate our commitment to managing information safely and securely.