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Family guide

Accreditation and recognition

Four different systems sit behind the badges on a school's website. This guide explains what each one certifies, what none of them promise, and how to verify a claim in a few minutes.

Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished July 2026Last reviewed July 2026

In short

  • Accreditation, programme authorisation, national inspection and membership are four separate things.
  • Every one of them can be verified against the issuing body's own public register.
  • Status is granted for a period and for specific programmes, so check the date and the scope.
  • None of these confirm that a school is right for your child. They confirm that it meets a defined standard.

Four systems, four meanings

Accreditation

A periodic external review of the whole school against published standards, usually involving self-study and a visiting team. It speaks to governance, safeguarding and improvement processes as much as to teaching.

Programme authorisation

Permission from an awarding organisation to deliver a specific curriculum or qualification to a specific age range. It is programme-by-programme, not school-wide.

Licensing and inspection

The host country's own approval to operate, and in many places a published inspection rating. This is the system with legal force locally.

Membership

Belonging to an association of schools. It can indicate a network and shared standards, but it is not the same as being reviewed against them.

Verifying a claim

Five steps, all of which rely on sources outside the school's own marketing.

  1. Note exactly what is claimed

    A logo on a website can mean full accreditation, candidate status, membership, or nothing more than a subscription. The words next to it matter.

  2. Check the body's own register

    Accrediting and awarding bodies publish searchable lists of the schools they cover. That register, not the school's website, is the primary source.

    Confirm the status and the date. Candidate status and full authorisation are different things, and status can lapse.

  3. Check the local regulator separately

    In most countries a private school also needs a licence from a ministry or authority, and in some it is inspected and rated. That is a distinct system from international accreditation.

  4. Match the claim to the programme your child would take

    Authorisation is usually granted for a specific programme and age range. A school authorised for one diploma programme is not automatically authorised for the others.

  5. Ask the school for the report

    Inspection and accreditation reports are often public. A school comfortable with its findings will send you the document rather than describe it.

What a badge tells you

Accreditation and authorisation do

  • Confirm the school met a published external standard at a stated date
  • Indicate that safeguarding, governance and review processes were examined
  • Support recognition of qualifications by universities and other schools
  • Give you a document you can read rather than a claim you must trust

They do not

  • Rank one school above another
  • Guarantee teaching quality in your child's year group today
  • Cover programmes or age ranges outside the stated scope
  • Remain valid indefinitely without renewal

Recognition matters most when a child will move again. If a later transfer is likely, read the transfer guide alongside this one, since qualification recognition is where accreditation has real practical effect.

A short verification in practice

Worked example

Reading one line on a website

A school states that it is an accredited international school offering a well-known diploma. Two checks follow. First, the accrediting body's register: is the school listed, with what status, and when was it last reviewed. Second, the awarding organisation's register: is the school authorised for that diploma, and for which age range.

Either check can come back differently from the claim. Candidate status appears as accreditation. Authorisation for one programme is presented as authorisation for all. The registers resolve it in under five minutes, and no school should mind being asked.

Accreditation and authorisation are granted by the issuing bodies, and their registers are the record. Where status matters to you, check it there and ask the school for its most recent report.

Find Schools

Continue reading

Compare curricula

How the main systems differ, and which qualifications they lead to.

Questions to ask an international school

Wording you can use to ask about status and reports.

How school information is maintained

Our sourcing rules, and why we point you to primary registers.

School visits and tours

What to ask on site about inspection findings and improvement plans.

Last reviewed: July 2026

Accreditation, authorisation and inspection systems differ by body and by country, and statuses change. Always confirm current status on the issuing body's own register.

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