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ISO 14001:2026 Transition today!

ISO Standards are Changing Are you Ready?

Access to Course Content:12 Months from the date of enrolment
Competency Units: Exemplar Global QM26 Transition – Quality Management Systems
Exemplar Global QM26 Quality Management Systems
Certificate Type: Certificate of Attainment

This course has prerequisites

To qualify for this course students must hold and provide evidence of previous competency - View all prerequisites here.

ISO 9001 is under review - Publication Due Mid-September 2026

Here is what you need to know, and what it means for your work.

If you already hold a qualification in ISO 9001:2015, you do not need to start over. This course focuses on what has changed in ISO 9001:2026, why those changes matter, and what they mean when you audit, advise or implement a QMS.

ISO 9001:2026 is an update to the 2015 edition, not a complete rewrite. The overall QMS model and clause structure remain familiar. The main changes are found in a number of specific requirements that have been added, expanded, strengthened or clarified, and this course walks you through every one of them, clause by clause.

The biggest shifts are the arrival of quality culture and ethical behaviour as explicit requirements, the separation of risks and opportunities into two distinct sets of actions, and reinforced requirements for planning and controlling change. Clause 3 now carries its own terms and definitions, and Annex A has been rebuilt to give clause-specific guidance for Clauses 4 to 10.

This is not an introductory course. It assumes you know ISO 9001:2015 and moves straight to what is different, so you can update your practice without re-covering the fundamentals or interrupting your work.

On successful completion you will be issued with an Exemplar Global Certificate of Attainment (TPECS).

Who is the ISO 9001:2026 Transition Course for?

Built for ISO 9001 practitioners

This course is built for people who already work with ISO 9001 and now have to explain, audit, or implement a revised edition of it. If your current qualification is based on ISO 9001:2015, this course helps you understand what has changed and how to apply the revised requirements.

This course is right for you if you are:

  • An auditor with ISO 9001:2015 scope: You need to know how the 2026 revision changes the evidence you look for, the questions you ask, and how you assess conformance, clause by clause.
  • A QMS consultant or advisor: Your clients are already asking what ISO 9001:2026 means for their system. This gives you the clause-level detail to answer with confidence.
  • A quality manager holding an ISO 9001:2015 qualification: You are responsible for the QMS and need to know which requirements changed, which were strengthened, and what that actually triggers.
  • An integrated systems professional: You manage ISO 9001 alongside other standards and need a clear picture of how the 2026 revision sits with the rest of your management system scope.

This course assumes prior knowledge of ISO 9001:2015. If you do not hold an eligible ISO 9001 qualification, the full ISO 9001:2026 Quality Management Systems Specialist course is the right starting point instead.

What is included in the ISO 9001:2026 Transition Course?

ISO 9001:2026 keeps the QMS model and clause framework of the 2015 edition. The revision strengthens and clarifies requirements to align with updated ISO management system terms and to make interpretation more consistent. These are the areas where the change is most visible:
  • Quality culture and ethical behaviour, introduced as explicit considerations in leadership, awareness, and the environment for the operation of processes
  • Risks and opportunities, now separated into distinct requirements with their own actions rather than one combined response
  • Planning of changes, with reinforced requirements to implement, monitor, evaluate and review changes to the QMS
  • Terms and definitions, now included directly in Clause 3, with ISO 9000 retained as the normative reference
  • Annex A, restructured to give clause-specific explanatory guidance for Clauses 4 to 10, and Annex B removed
The course applies five change classifications throughout, so you always know the nature and significance of what you are looking at. These describe how the wording or presentation of the standard changed. They do not by themselves indicate whether new actions are required.

What you'll learn

Thirteen lessons take you from a structured summary of the revision through to clause-level application. Each lesson compares the 2015 and 2026 editions clause by clause. You’ll see additions, wording changes and relocated text, including changes as small as a single word.

Understanding what changed

You start with the full clause-by-clause map: which clauses carry an Addition, which were Expanded, Strengthened or Clarified, and which are Unchanged. That includes the ones people assume changed and did not, such as Clause 5.1.2 Customer focus, Clause 7.1.1, Clause 7.1.2 People, and Clause 7.4 Communication. Knowing where not to look saves as much time as knowing where to.

Quality culture and ethical behaviour

This is the change most likely to catch practitioners out. Clause 5.1.1 now sets explicit leadership expectations for promoting quality culture, ethical behaviour and opportunity-based thinking. Clause 7.3 adds a requirement for people working under the organisation's control to be aware of both. Clause 7.1.4 recognises that the process environment can be influenced by them. You will work through what evidence of that looks like in practice.

Changes to risks and opportunities

ISO 9001:2015 treated risks and opportunities as one combined action. The 2026 edition separates them. Clause 6.1.2 introduces an explicit requirement to determine, analyse and evaluate risks affecting conformity, consistency and customer satisfaction, with proportionality tied to impact on intended QMS results. Clause 6.1.3 is a new standalone subclause doing the same for opportunities, through to evaluating the effectiveness of the actions taken.

Planning and 

Clause 6.3 Planning of changes expands the existing requirements to focus on effective implementation and intended results, adds information and communication considerations, and requires the effectiveness and results of changes to be monitored, evaluated and reviewed. Clause 7.1.6 strengthens organisational knowledge by linking it to intended QMS results and explicitly requiring knowledge to be retained, applied and shared.

What changes in the audit itself

Clause 9.2 introduces an explicit requirement to define audit objectives for each internal audit. Clause 9.3 adds changes in interested party needs and expectations as a management review input and separates the review of actions addressing risks from those addressing opportunities. Running through Clauses 7 to 10 is a consistent shift in documented information wording, from information being retained to being available as evidence, which changes what you ask for and when.

For the full lesson-by-lesson breakdown, see the Modules tab above.

What is inside this course

Thirteen lessons, structured clause by clause. Each lesson identifies what is new or significantly revised, what has been clarified or strengthened, what remains unchanged but may require different application, and the practical implications for implementation, auditing and transition planning.

Lesson Summary of course content
Introduction Who this course is for, how it is structured, and how to navigate the transition from ISO 9001:2015 to ISO 9001:2026.
Understanding the changes in ISO 9001:2026 The purpose of the revision, the five change classifications used throughout, how they have been applied, and how differences are highlighted in the clause extracts. Followed by From Summary to Application, which sets out how each clause is presented: summary of changes, clause context, what this looks like in practice, and the key takeaway.
Foreword and Introduction The intent and positioning of the 2026 revision. The Foreword confirms the sixth edition replaces ISO 9001:2015 and incorporates Amendment 1:2024. The Introduction is restructured to give greater visibility to interested party requirements, opportunity-based thinking, continual improvement, Annex A and ISO 9002.
Clause 1 Scope Terminology updated from this International Standard to this document, and the applicability wording restructured without changing the purpose or scope of ISO 9001.
Clause 2 Normative references Clarifies how referenced documents can form part of the requirements of ISO 9001, and retains ISO 9000 as the normative reference for quality management fundamentals and vocabulary.
Clause 3 Terms and definitions A significant change. ISO 9001:2015 carried no terms of its own and pointed to ISO 9000. The 2026 revision introduces selected quality management system terms and definitions directly within ISO 9001, while ISO 9000 continues to provide the broader fundamentals and vocabulary.
Clause 4 Context of the organization Climate change incorporated directly into the context requirement and examples broadened to include political and environmental conditions, strategic direction and resources. Clause 4.2 strengthened to require organisations to determine which interested party requirements will be addressed through the QMS. Clauses 4.3 and 4.4 reordered and simplified.
Clause 5 Leadership Clause 5.1.1 introduces explicit leadership expectations for promoting quality culture, ethical behaviour and opportunity-based thinking, and strengthens improvement to continual improvement. Clause 5.1.2 Customer focus is unchanged. Clauses 5.2 and 5.3 restructure the quality policy and the assignment of responsibilities and authorities.
Clause 6 Planning The most substantial set of changes. Clause 6.1.2 separates actions to address risks and adds an explicit requirement to determine, analyse and evaluate them. Clause 6.1.3 is a new standalone subclause for opportunities. Clause 6.3 expands change planning to cover implementation, communication, and monitoring and review of results.
Clause 7 Support Infrastructure guidance now covers on-site, remote and hybrid work arrangements. The process environment recognises the influence of quality culture and ethical behaviour. Clause 7.1.6 strengthens organisational knowledge, and Clause 7.3 adds an explicit awareness requirement for quality culture and ethical behaviour. Documented information wording shifts from retained to available.
Clause 8 Operation Clause 8.1 replaces outsourced processes with externally provided processes, products or services. Clause 8.3 expands design and development to recognise iterative cycles, broader interested party involvement and evolving inputs. Clause 8.4 expands external provider communication and recognises verification at the provider's premises. Remaining subclauses clarify wording and documented information.
Clause 9 Performance evaluation Clause 9.1 expands customer satisfaction guidance, recognising complaints and social media as information sources. Clause 9.2 introduces an explicit requirement to define audit objectives for each internal audit. Clause 9.3 adds interested party needs as a management review input and separates the review of risk and opportunity actions.
Clause 10 Improvement The former Clause 10.3 has been removed as a separate clause and consolidated into Clause 10.1, which now adds processes and future needs and expectations to the listed improvement actions. Clause 10.2 repositions customer complaints into a supporting note and updates the documented information requirement.
Conclusion and knowledge check A summative review of the changes from ISO 9001:2015 to ISO 9001:2026, followed by the final knowledge check confirming understanding of the amendments and their practical application.

Quick quizzes throughout

A short quick quiz follows each clause section, covering the Introduction and Overview and Clauses 3 through 9. These reinforce understanding of the change and prompt you to consider how the clause applies in practice before moving on.

Final knowledge check

The course concludes with a knowledge check on the ISO 9001:2026 changes. A minimum result of 80% is required to complete the course.

Certificate of Attainment

On successful completion you will be issued with an Exemplar Global Certificate of Attainment (TPECS).

A focused, clause-by-clause online course for experienced ISO 9001:2015 practitioners. It covers what changed in the 2026 edition, why it changed, and what it means for how organisations implement their QMS and how auditors assess conformance. The focus is not on re-teaching fundamentals.
Any auditor, consultant or quality professional who holds a qualification based on ISO 9001:2015 and wants to maintain currency with the updated standard. On completion you receive an Exemplar Global Certificate of Attainment.
You must hold and provide evidence of Exemplar Global QM Quality Management Systems, or the IRCA equivalent, issued against the ISO 9001:2015 revision. If you do not hold an eligible qualification, complete the full ISO 9001:2026 Quality Management Systems Specialist course instead.
It is an evolutionary update, not a rewrite. The QMS model and clause framework are unchanged. The revision introduces quality culture and ethical behaviour as explicit considerations, separates risks from opportunities into distinct requirements, strengthens the management of change, brings selected terms and definitions directly into Clause 3, restructures Annex A to give clause-specific guidance, and removes Annex B. The course provides the complete clause-by-clause breakdown.
Yes. The Plan, Do, Check, Act model remains the foundation of the quality management system approach. ISO 9001 also continues to follow the harmonized management system structure and still provides generic QMS requirements rather than prescribing product or service performance criteria.
The former Clause 10.3 Continual improvement has been removed as a separate clause and its requirements incorporated into Clause 10.1, which now also adds processes and future needs and expectations to the listed improvement actions.
Approximately 8 hours, completed fully online at your own pace. You have 12 months access from the date of enrolment.
No. All relevant clause extracts are included within your course materials, with the differences between the 2015 and 2026 editions highlighted.
A short quick quiz follows each clause to reinforce understanding as you go, and the course ends with a knowledge check on the ISO 9001:2026 changes. A minimum result of 80% is required to complete.
Yes. Successful completion earns an Exemplar Global Certificate of Attainment (TPECS), recognised internationally.
This course is for people who already hold an ISO 9001:2015 qualification and need the clause-by-clause changes only. The Specialist course teaches the revised standard in full and has no prerequisite, so it is the right choice if you are new to ISO 9001 or cannot evidence an eligible prior qualification.

This course has prerequisites

To qualify for this course students must hold and provide evidence of previous competency:

  • Exemplar Global QM Quality Management Systems (or IRCA equivalent) issued to the ISO 9001:2015 revision.

To qualify for this course students must have a previous competency against ISO 9001:2015 and provide evidence in the form of the above certificates.

You will be required to upload a PDF copy of your certificate upon commencement of this course for validation. Should your existing qualification not meet these requirements, our training and development team will be in contact with you to discuss the next steps.

If you are unsure if you meet these requirements please contact our support team for verification pre-enrolment.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Students who do not meet the prerequisite criteria will be required to complete the full ISO 9001:2026 Quality Management Systems Specialist course to attain a qualification.

This course is currently undergoing certification and will be available shortly.

Register Your Interest Enquire about this course

Course details:

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    Microcredential
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    Approx 8 hours full-time study*
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    Exemplar Global Internationally & Industry Recognized
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    Standard: ISO 9001:2026
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    This course has prerequisites

* All ATOL courses are delivered in such a way you can work through them at your own pace, the actual time to complete the training may change depending on the individual learners' experience and/or learning style