Certification scheme
CQI and IRCA
The Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and its International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) certify auditor training courses run by approved training partners, and register individual auditors in grades from Associate to Principal Auditor.
1 Course levels
CQI and IRCA certified training comes in three levels:
- Foundation — for people new to quality or auditing
- Practitioner — includes internal auditor courses and transition training
- Professional — includes lead auditor courses and auditor conversion courses
Courses are delivered by Approved Training Partners (ATPs). Many UK course titles carry the scheme name and a course reference — for example BSI’s “CQI and IRCA Certified ISO 9001:2026 Lead Auditor Training Course (PR381)” or NQA’s “CQI and IRCA ISO 9001 Lead Auditor Training (A18022)”.
2 Typical auditing course lengths
From CQI and IRCA’s own course table (read 3 October 2026):
| Course | Approx. length | Exam |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation (auditing) | 7 hours | — |
| Practitioner: Internal auditor | 14 hours | — |
| Practitioner: Transition | 14 hours combined (7 hours per module) | — |
| Professional: Lead auditor | 40 hours | 2-hour written examination |
| Professional: Auditor conversion | 24 hours | 1 hour 40 minutes written examination |
3 IRCA auditor grades
Completing a course is training; registering with IRCA recognises you as an auditor. Grades:
| Grade | Who it is for | Main audit requirement (summary) |
|---|---|---|
| Associate Auditor | Passed an IRCA auditor course but not yet the audit experience for a higher grade | None |
| Internal Auditor | Conduct internal “partial system” audits | At least 5 internal audits of at least 3 hours each, after the course |
| Auditor | Conduct full-system audits as a team member or sole auditor | At least 4 audits covering the whole audit cycle, 20+ days in total with 15+ on site |
| Lead Auditor | Competent in full-system audits and experienced in leading teams | As Auditor, plus 3 full audits as team leader (15+ days, 10+ on site) — 7 audits in all |
| Principal Auditor | Senior audit professionals, often now in training, consultancy or management | Evidence of an extensive auditing career (several routes) |
Audits must have been done after the course and within five years of applying; remote audits are accepted. Some schemes add work-experience requirements. IRCA certification lasts five years; to recertify you show recent audits (for example, Auditor: eight audits in five years including three full-system audits and 13 days on site) and at least three completed CPD objectives.
4 Disciplines
IRCA lists 14 certification schemes, including quality (ISO 9001), environment (ISO 14001), OH&S (ISO 45001), information security (ISO/IEC 27001), business continuity (ISO 22301), energy (ISO 50001), food safety (ISO 22000 / FSSC 22000), IT service management (ISO/IEC 20000-1) and medical devices (ISO 13485), plus aerospace, maritime, pharmaceutical, social systems and RBA.
Other schemes: PECB · Exemplar Global · IBITGQ
S Sources
Facts on this page last checked 3 October 2026.
- CQI and IRCA, Are you taking advantage of CQI and IRCA certified training? — https://www.quality.org/article/are-you-taking-advantage-cqi-and-irca-certified-training
- CQI and IRCA, Become an Approved Training Partner (course table) — https://www.quality.org/approved-training-partners
- CQI and IRCA, IRCA Grades — https://www.quality.org/IRCA-grades
- CQI and IRCA, Auditor / Lead Auditor / Internal Auditor / Principal Auditor grade pages — https://www.quality.org/article/auditor
- CQI and IRCA, IRCA recertification — https://www.quality.org/irca-recertification
- CQI and IRCA, IRCA certification schemes — https://www.quality.org/schemes
- Batalas, ISO 9001 Lead Auditor course — https://www.batalas.co.uk/courses/iso-9001-lead-auditor/