Each course can be certified with a minimum of one Holistic Competency (HC) and a maximum of fourteen HCs. Courses submitted to the International Holistic Competency Accreditation Scheme will be reviewed by educational experts and industry leaders from international partners, corporations, and community partners from all around the world.
The International Holistic Competency Accreditation ensures a basic level of quality in competency education, and it also ensures your courses will be recognised for the true achievements they deserve, which will organically help to improve the quality of your accredited courses.
Employers have long sought evidence of applicants' soft skills and career-related literacies, and this accreditation provides an internationally recognized credential established by professors, community partners, and industry experts. It will strengthen students' internship, job, and further study applications, making them more competitive in local and global job markets.
Certifying the course will not only benefit students' careers, but it will also aid in their personal development. Teachers can follow best practices in holistic competency design to foster a deeper understanding and self-awareness in their students. This increased engagement will lead to both academic and personal benefits for the students.
For teachers, the accreditation process serves as a valuable professional development opportunity as it involves engaging in discussions about pedagogy and assessment strategies, as well as receiving mentorship and feedback from other experts. It is also great to be part of a community.
The course accreditation criteria in the International Holistic Competency Foundation are based on the following five areas:
Download the IHCF Accreditation Criteria Guidelines
Sample Application (Provisional) with Instructions
Course coordinator completes an online application form for their course to be certified for holistic competency or competencies in Provisional Accreditation Stage 1. For this stage, the application must clearly state the following:
Our credential team consisting of education experts will then review your submission and ensure it meets the 11 essential indicators that must be fulfilled in Stage 1 (please refer to the descriptions in “Certification Criteria”). Then, the team will notify course coordinators of any necessary changes.
We will also provide recommendations and support on how you could bring holistic competency or competencies rated on lower levels of attainment to the higher levels. This could be in the form of sample rubrics for reference, or validated instruments for measuring attainment of different competencies.
Following the adjustments to the course and assessments, the application will then be sent to the competency credential committee, consisting of experts from industries, community partners and university faculties, for review and approval.
Once passed, the course will be issued an official and international recognised Provisional Accreditation that is valid for 2 years on the competency or competencies in which the coordinator has applied for.
Full accreditation must be sought in order for a course to continue to be accredited with those holistic competency or competencies in which they have applied for in Stage 1. Additional competency or competencies can also be sought for accreditation at this stage. In order to get full accreditation, applicants must apply around 6 months before the end of the 2-year provisional accreditation (i.e. between 18 and 21 months).
In addition to the fulfilment of standard criteria in Stage 1, the course must demonstrate it has proper mechanisms for ensuring the quality of the course through
Our credential team will review your submission and ensure that essential evidence is provided in which at least one indicator for each criterion must be fulfilled.
Again, recommendations and support may be provided to help applicants better fulfill the requirements on each criterion.
After all necessary adjustments are made, the application will then be sent to the competency credential committee for review and approval.
Once confirmed that the course meets the requirements for Stage 2, it will be awarded Full Accreditation that is valid for 3 years. All the information must be submitted together with relevant evidence through the online IHCFoundation website application platform.
For more information about the accreditation criteria and process, please click here to download the IHCF Course Accreditation Guidelines (PDF)
If your course provides students the opportunities to develop their competencies such as creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, leadership (see more below), you can formally accredit it. Register your course with us, the process is fast, simple and internationally recognised.
Provisional Accreditation Stage 1: | USD$350 per course |
Full Accreditation Stage 2: | USD$350 per course |
The application fee must be paid in full before the application is submitted to the credential team. The applicant will receive an email for payment after submitting the application online.
If you wish to have multiple courses accredited, please contact us at applications@IHCFoundation.net for information on the application fee.