The MQA, as delegated quality assurance function by the Quality Council for trade and Occupations (QCTO), has a responsibility to maintain quality of training assessments throughout the mining and minerals sector. One way of doing this is to establish a criteria for the accreditation of providers and registration of assessors and moderators. Applicants as training providers can fall into one of two categories:

• Accredited Training Provider or
• Programme Approval Provider

Training providers may be accredited/programme approved by the MQA Quality Assurance, provided that the body seeking accreditation/programme approval:

• is registered as a provider in terms of the applicable legislation at the time of application for accreditation
• has a recognised Quality Management System) which includes but is not limited to:
  • quality management policies, which define that which the provider wishes to achieve
  • quality management procedures, which enable the provider to practise its defined quality management policies; or
  • review mechanisms, which ensure that the quality management policies and procedures defined are applied and remain effective.
• has the necessary assessment system in place including registered assessors with the MQA
• has the necessary moderation system in place including registered moderator with the MQA
• has  aligned learning materials
• has not already been granted accreditation by or applied for accreditation to another QA
• provided the training provider is accredited by the relevant QA

Accreditation will only be granted if the MQA is satisfied that all the criteria for accreditation have been met. Upon receiving full accreditation, each provider will be issued a certificate by the MQA. The certificate should be prominently displayed at the provider’s premises. When accreditation is granted, the training providers will be entitled to include the following phrase on relevant documentation such as marketing brochures: “Accreditation granted as a Training Provider by the Mining Qualifications Authority”.