Accreditation Certificate and Branding

Issuance of the Certificate

WEQSC issues an Affiliation Certificate to each accredited school upon the Effective Date.

The Certificate is issued in electronic form bearing the WEQSC seal. A printed copy may be requested at cost.

The Certificate is the property of WEQSC, held by the school for the purposes of display. It must be returned to WEQSC upon the termination or expiry of accreditation, or upon request.

Contents of the Certificate

The Certificate states:

• The legal name of the school;
• The jurisdiction of registration;
• The qualification level or levels at which accreditation is held;
• The streams approved, where applicable;
• The accreditation reference number;
• The date of the Effective Date;
• The date of expiry of the current accreditation cycle;
• The WEQSC seal;
• A QR code linking to the public verification record.

Public Register

WEQSC maintains a public register of accredited schools at

/affiliation/public-register-of-affiliated-schools

. The register is the authoritative public record of accreditation.

The register records, for each accredited school: the legal name; the jurisdiction; the qualification level or levels of accreditation; the date of the Effective Date; the current status of accreditation (Active, Provisional, Suspended, or Terminated); and any public sanction in force.

Permitted Uses of the Certificate and Affiliation

An accredited school may:

• Display the Affiliation Certificate in a prominent location on its premises;
• State, in its prospectus, on its website, and in its marketing materials, that it is a WEQSC-accredited school, and state the qualification level or levels at which accreditation is held;
• Use the WEQSC-accredited badge, in the form provided in the onboarding package;
• Reproduce the accreditation reference number and the public register link in any document where such reproduction assists a reader to verify the accreditation.

Required Disclosures

An accredited school must display, on its website and in its prospectus, the accreditation reference number and the public register link, so that any prospective parent or student may verify the accreditation.

Where a school is placed on Provisional Accreditation, Suspension, or Termination, the school must cease displaying the Affiliation Certificate and any WEQSC badge within five business days of notice, and must publish a notice on its website stating the current status.

An accredited school must, in any communication to parents concerning the WISE programme, state plainly that WISE examinations are conducted under the WEQSC framework and that the resulting credentials are issued by WEQSC.

Branding Rules

The WEQSC name, the WEQSC seal, the WEQSC crest, the WISE name, and the WEQSC-accredited badge (together, the "Marks") are the property of WEQSC. Use of the Marks is permitted only as provided in this page.

The Marks must be reproduced only in the forms and colours provided in the branding assets issued to the school. No modification, distortion, cropping, or recolouring of the Marks is permitted.

The Marks may not be used in a manner that suggests a partnership, joint venture, agency, or franchise relationship between the school and WEQSC beyond the accreditation relationship established by the WEQSC framework.

Prohibited Representations

An accredited school must not:

• Represent itself as "accredited" by WEQSC, whether in those words or in any equivalent formulation, where accreditation is not in fact current;
• Represent that WEQSC has approved, endorsed, or recommended any course, programme, teacher, facility, or service of the school other than the WISE programme at the qualification levels at which accreditation is held;
• Represent that any credential issued by the school is a WISE credential unless it has been issued through the Institution Management Portal;
• Represent that a WISE credential guarantees admission to any tertiary institution or employment with any employer;
• Represent that its accreditation extends to any jurisdiction other than that in which it is registered, or to any premises other than those declared in its application, without prior written approval;
• Represent, whether in words, images, logos, emblems, or by implication, that WEQSC, WISE, or the WISE International Secondary Examination is a governmental body, a statutory body of, owned by, controlled by, or affiliated with the government of any country;
• Represent that accreditation with WEQSC confers automatic government recognition of any credential, or dispenses with the need for any equivalency, validation, or recognition procedure that the law or practice of any jurisdiction may require.

Mandatory Disclosure Statement

Every admission communication, advertisement, promotional material, website page, prospectus, brochure, notice, and printed or digital material issued by or on behalf of an accredited school that refers to WISE, WEQSC, the WISE International Secondary Examination, or WISE credentials must display the following disclosure statement clearly and legibly:

Withdrawal of the Certificate on De-Accreditation

Upon the termination or expiry of accreditation, the Affiliation Certificate ceases to be valid. The school must:

• Cease all display of the Certificate;
• Remove all Marks from its premises, website, prospectus, and marketing materials;
• Return the Certificate to WEQSC within thirty days;
• Publish a notice on its website stating that it is no longer an accredited school, and retain that notice for not less than twelve months;
• Continue to honour WISE credentials previously issued to its students, and not represent that such credentials are invalidated by the school's de-accreditation.

Conclusion

The Affiliation Certificate and the Marks are the visual representation of the accreditation relationship. Their use is governed by the rules set out in this page. All branding procedures not expressly set out in this portal must follow the Secretariat's official bylaws.