Indicator 1 — Public information about your services
You must publish accessible, comprehensive and up-to-date information about every service you offer: prerequisites, objectives, duration, access arrangements and lead times, prices, contacts, teaching methods, assessment arrangements and accessibility for people with disabilities. Anyone must be able to check this information before enrolling.
Applies to: OF · CFA · VAE · CBC
Indicator 1 is the first thing the auditor examines — often before even reaching your premises, by browsing your website, brochures and programme sheets. It is a "core" indicator that applies to every category of provision (training, apprenticeship, VAE, skills assessment), and a gap here is classed as a major non-conformity. In other words, it sets the tone for your whole initial audit.
What the auditor actually checks on the day
The auditor cross-references your public materials with the list of required mentions in the official reading guide. For every service offered to the public, they check for:
- the prerequisites (or an explicit "no prerequisites" statement);
- the objectives of the service;
- the duration and delivery format (classroom, remote, blended);
- the access lead time — the typical delay between an enquiry and the start of the service;
- the prices, or how to obtain a quote;
- the contacts (a named person, the disability officer);
- the teaching methods and assessment arrangements;
- accessibility for people with disabilities and the adjustments available.
They also check consistency across channels: a price shown on your website must match the PDF programme and the quote. Contradictory or stale information (last year's calendar, undated satisfaction rates) is flagged immediately.
Achieving compliance, step by step
- List your publication channels: website, LinkedIn page, PDF catalogue, programmes sent by email, marketplace listings. Each must carry consistent information.
- Create a programme-sheet template containing every mandatory mention. This is your pivot document: every new service is described with it, without exception.
- Write a realistic access-lead-time statement, e.g. "enrolment within 2 to 4 weeks of quote approval". Avoid promises you cannot keep.
- Cover the disability aspect: appoint a disability officer, publish their contact details and describe your welcome process (needs analysis, mobilising Agefiph or specialised resources).
- Date your materials and schedule a periodic review (at least annual) of everything you publish.
- Check that the information is genuinely accessible: a prospect must find these details without having to ask. If you only sell bespoke in-company training, the information may travel in the commercial proposal — but it must still be complete.
Field advice
A consultant's first reflex: play "mystery shopper". Open your own website the way a funding body (an OPCO, the Caisse des Dépôts) would, and tick off the required mentions. This ten-minute test reveals 80% of the gaps.
Second point of vigilance: providers without a website. The framework does not require one — it requires the information to be published. A systematically distributed PDF catalogue, a dedicated page or a complete marketplace profile can suffice, provided the target audience can genuinely reach it.
Finally, do not confuse indicator 1 with indicator 2: the first covers descriptive information about your services, the second covers published performance figures. They often share the same media, but the auditor assesses them separately. A polished showcase site with no prerequisites or lead times is still a major non-conformity — the most frequent finding in initial audits of new entrants, and the easiest to avoid.
The evidence the auditor expects
- P.1Screenshot or live review of the website showing the mandatory mentions for each service
- P.2Programme sheets or catalogue with prerequisites, objectives, duration, prices, access lead times and assessment arrangements
- P.3General terms of sale and a standard quote stating prices and access arrangements
- P.4Accessibility page or section with the disability officer's contact details
- P.5Commercial proposals or standard emails sent to prospects for bespoke services
- P.6Procedure or proof of periodic updates to published materials (dated versions, annual review)
Common mistakes in audits
- Missing access lead times or prerequisites on programme sheets (forgetting the explicit "no prerequisites" mention)
- Contradictory information between the website, the PDF catalogue and quotes (different prices or durations)
- A disability section reduced to one generic sentence, with no named officer and no described process
- Undated or obsolete materials (expired calendar, old address, stale unattributed rates)
- Information available only on request while the service is open to the public
- Omitting teaching methods and assessment arrangements — the most commonly neglected mentions
FAQ — indicator 1
+Is a website mandatory to pass Qualiopi indicator 1?
No — the framework does not impose any particular channel. You must however prove that complete information genuinely reaches your audience: a distributed PDF catalogue, a brochure, a platform listing or a detailed commercial proposal. A website remains the simplest way to demonstrate publication.
+What should the "access lead time" mention contain?
State the typical delay between the beneficiary's request and the actual start of the service, for example "2 to 4 weeks after quote approval". For CPF-funded courses, remember the statutory 11 working days between enrolment and the start of training.
+Does indicator 1 apply to bespoke in-company training?
Yes. For bespoke work, the information can be carried by the commercial proposal or the programme sent to the client rather than a public catalogue. It must still contain every expected mention: objectives, prerequisites, duration, price, access arrangements and lead times, disability accessibility.
+Is a non-conformity on indicator 1 blocking for certification?
Indicator 1 carries a major non-conformity. In an initial audit it prevents the certificate from being issued until the gap is closed: you have 3 months to send corrective actions to the certification body. Hence the value of locking this indicator down before the audit.