The QCTO is the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, the public body that quality-assures occupational qualifications in South Africa. It was established in 2010 under the Skills Development Act and it sits alongside Umalusi and the CHE as one of the three quality councils, each covering a different part of the qualifications system.
Official contact channels
- Telephone: 012 003 1800
- Email: [email protected]
- Physical address: 256 Glyn Street, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0083
- Postal address: Private Bag X278, Pretoria
- Fraud and ethics hotline: 0800 006 563, run independently
The fraud hotline is deliberately not a QCTO number. It is operated by an outside firm so that reports do not land on the desk of the people they might concern. Use it for corruption and ethics reports, and the ordinary switchboard for everything else.
Services and responsibilities
- Registering and maintaining occupational qualifications and part qualifications
- Registering skills programmes and publishing which are open for delivery
- Accrediting skills development providers and assessment centres, and publishing the list of accredited ones
- Overseeing external integrated summative assessment and the certification that follows
- Publishing notices, circulars, policies and guidelines for providers and employers
The published lists are the part worth using before you phone. QCTO distinguishes qualifications that are currently registered from those that have passed their registration end date, and skills programmes open for delivery from those that have not. A provider offering something in the expired column is the single most common problem a learner discovers too late.
Office and address information
- Offices at 256 Glyn Street, Hatfield, Pretoria, 0083
- Postal address: Private Bag X278, Pretoria
- A public entity established under the Skills Development Act, Act 97 of 1998
- Reports to the Minister of Higher Education and Training
- Publishes its budget, strategic plan, annual performance plan and annual report
Before travelling to Hatfield, note that most QCTO business is transacted in writing. Accreditation, qualification and certification matters run through submissions and published processes rather than over a counter.
Applications and escalation
- Accreditation, qualification and certification enquiries: 012 003 1800 or [email protected]
- Corruption, fraud or ethics reports: the independent hotline on 0800 006 563
- Verifying a provider: check the published list of accredited skills development providers and assessment centres before enrolling
- The QCTO accounts to the Department of Higher Education and Training
- Funding for occupational training is a matter for the relevant SETA or the National Skills Fund, not the QCTO
Keep quality assurance and funding apart. The QCTO decides whether a qualification and its provider are legitimate; a SETA or the National Skills Fund decides whether training gets paid for. A learner who was never registered against a real qualification has a QCTO problem, not a funding one.
Sources
- QCTO contact details and published listings, qcto.org.za, read 3 September 2026