CBSE Guideline

1. All schools must regularly visit the CBSE website to be updated about various policies and schemes including the latest updates on School Quality Assessment and Accreditation (SQAA).

2. All schools will have a maximum timeline of three years within which they should apply to the CBSE for School Quality Assessment & Accreditation.

3. The list of empanelled agencies is available on the CBSE website. The Board would provide the complete list of agencies (added or blacklisted). Hence, schools should refer to the CBSE website from time to time.

4. Schools intending to get accredited must ensure that they have a website with an ‘Accreditation Corner’.

5. Schools should upload the 'Mandatory Disclosure Form' on their website before 31st December 2012. The 'Mandatory Disclosure Form' is available on the CBSE website under Academic/Accreditation.

6. Schools should also check their data and continuously update their status, website details, etc. on the CBSE website.

7. Schools, upon deciding to undergo the SQAA, should form a School Assessment Committee (SAC) with its principal as the head of the team.

8. The decision to form the School Accreditation Committee and resolve to undergo School Quality Assessment and Accreditation (SQAA) should be appropriately approved by the Management Committee of each school.

9. The school intending to undergo Accreditation should fill in the 'Form of Intent' and submit it to the CBSE. All agencies listed on the CBSE website are equally authorized to carry out the SQAA assessment. The CBSE will allocate an agency from those empanelled with them.

10. The school should normally expect a confirmation letter from the allotted agency within two weeks of filling in the Form of Intent. In case of non-receipt of any response within three weeks, it should then send a reminder to the CBSE to expedite the matter.

11. Once the school receives an acknowledgment from the CBSE/agency, it should then fill in the online SQAA Instruments after going through the SQAA Manual and submit it to the authorized agency.

12. The agency, upon receiving the SQAAF (Instrument 1), shall conduct the internal scoring. All schools that get an initial score of 50 and above would qualify for the PAT visit for SQAA.

13. The agency shall inform the SAC team head, i.e., the Principal, for finalizing the PAT visit dates by email/phone (the dates are then fixed).

14. The school should make arrangements as per the PAT visit schedule for coordinating the availability of students, teachers, etc., apart from access to physical infrastructure, documents, etc. required by the school to be produced for verification to the team members.

15. The schools should act professionally and not resort to any unwanted actions which are not desirable as per the broad mandate of the CBSE. The schools should use the visit of PAT as a learning visit and constantly make notes of suggestions, feedback, etc., for improving the school quality irrespective of the result of SQAA.

16. After the visit, the schools would be given a 'School Quality Enhancement Report' (SQER) which should be thoroughly reviewed, and necessary actions taken accordingly for improving the quality of teaching and learning at the school.

17. A school that gets a score of 75% or above (overall) and a minimum of 50% in each domain shall be declared 'Accredited' by CBSE. The school's name shall then be listed on the CBSE website under the list of accredited schools. The school may use the terminology 'affiliated and accredited CBSE School' instead of only using “affiliated to CBSE”. The school should not make any other false or over-reaching claim.

18. The validity period of SQAA accreditation is three years. A fresh application for renewal should be made before the expiry of the three-year period to enjoy the privilege of being an 'Accredited School of the CBSE' continuously.

19. In case of any query or feedback, the school should contact the Section Officer (Accreditation) via email at [email protected].