Last updated: August 2026 TL;DR: No single official body accredits Six Sigma certification the way, say, a university degree or a medical licence is accredited. Almost every Six Sigma training provider — including well-known names in the industry — is a self-declared certifying body. The one notable exception is ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB), which carries formal ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation from the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). Rather than hunting for a badge that most of the industry simply doesn’t have, the more useful question to ask any provider — including Lean Six Sigma Australia — is how transparent they are about that, and whether they can independently verify a certificate on request.
Table of contents
- Why this question keeps coming up
- Is there an official Six Sigma accrediting body?
- The one Six Sigma credential with formal ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation
- Why most Six Sigma providers call themselves “accredited” anyway
- What actually matters when you’re choosing a provider
- How to verify any Six Sigma certificate
- Where Lean Six Sigma Australia fits
- What our students say
- FAQ
Why this question keeps coming up
We get asked a version of this question fairly regularly, usually by someone who’s already holding a certificate — sometimes from us, sometimes from another provider — and their employer, a client, or a tender process wants proof that it’s “properly accredited” before it counts for anything. It’s a completely reasonable thing to ask. The honest answer just isn’t as simple as pointing to a logo, because the Six Sigma industry doesn’t work the way most people assume it does.
Is there an official Six Sigma accrediting body?
No. Unlike, for example, engineering, medicine, or law — where a small number of statutory or industry-wide bodies control who can call themselves qualified — Six Sigma has no single governing authority that every legitimate provider answers to. Anyone can develop a curriculum, call it Six Sigma, and issue a certificate for completing it. That doesn’t automatically make a certificate worthless — Six Sigma is a methodology (DMAIC: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control), not a licensed profession, and plenty of employers value it purely on the strength of what the holder can demonstrably do. But it does mean the word “accredited” gets used a lot more loosely in this industry than people expect. A handful of organisations function as reference points without being a single central authority: ASQ (American Society for Quality), IASSC (International Association for Six Sigma Certification), and the Council for Six Sigma Certification (CSSC) are among the more widely recognised names. But “widely recognised” and “independently accredited” are two different things, and it’s worth knowing the difference before you take a provider’s word for either.
The one Six Sigma credential with formal ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation
If you’re looking for a Six Sigma credential that carries genuine, independently verifiable accreditation, the clearest example is ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB). It’s accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB) against ISO/IEC 17024, the international standard for personnel certification bodies — the same style of accreditation used across professions where third-party verification genuinely matters. You can check this directly on ANAB’s own public accreditation directory, rather than taking any provider’s (including ours) word for it. It’s worth flagging that this accreditation currently applies specifically to the Black Belt level. ASQ’s Green Belt (CSSGB) and Yellow Belt (CSSYB) certifications are not listed under that same ANAB accreditation, and IASSC’s certifications — while widely used — work the other way around: IASSC accredits training providers to deliver its exams, rather than IASSC’s own certification being independently accredited by an outside body in the ANAB/ISO 17024 sense.
Why most Six Sigma providers call themselves “accredited” anyway
Because nothing stops them. In a field with no central licensing authority, a training organisation can — and often does — declare itself an “accrediting body” for its own certifications. That’s not necessarily a red flag on its own; it’s simply how an unregulated training market tends to describe itself. It only becomes a problem when a provider implies independent, third-party recognition it doesn’t actually have, or when there’s no way to check its claims against anything outside its own website. If you’re evaluating a provider and their “accreditation” claim doesn’t name a specific outside body you can independently check — ANAB, ISO/IEC 17024, or similar — it’s fair to assume it’s a self-declared standard, not an externally audited one. That’s true across this industry, not just for any one provider.
What actually matters when you’re choosing a provider
Given that a shiny “accredited” badge rarely means what it implies, these are more useful signals:
- Track record and longevity. How long has the provider actually been operating, and do they have a verifiable history of graduates?
- Transparency about recognition claims. Do they clearly explain what “recognised” or “accredited” means for their specific certification, or leave it vague on purpose?
- Employer and industry acceptance. Is the certification something hiring managers in your industry actually recognise and value, regardless of formal accreditation status?
- Independent verifiability. Can someone outside the organisation — an employer, a client, a tender assessor — confirm a certificate is genuine without just trusting the paper itself?
- Public reputation. What do independent review platforms, not just testimonials curated on the provider’s own site, say about the experience of actually completing the course and using the certificate afterward?
How to verify any Six Sigma certificate
Whatever provider issued a certificate — ours or anyone else’s — there are a few practical ways to check it holds up:
- Ask the provider directly. A legitimate training organisation should be able to confirm a named individual’s certification status on request, in writing, without treating the question as an inconvenience.
- Look for a public verification registry. Some providers run a searchable database of active certificate holders. If one exists, use it rather than relying on the certificate PDF alone.
- Check for third-party digital credentials. Providers that issue credentials through platforms like Credly or Accredible give you a badge that’s independently hosted and verifiable outside the provider’s own website.
- Check the accreditation claim against the source. If a provider claims ANAB, ISO/IEC 17024, or similar accreditation, that claim should be checkable on the accrediting body’s own public directory — not just stated on the provider’s marketing pages.
- Ask what happens if the provider disappears. A genuinely independent registry or third-party badge survives even if the training company doesn’t. A verification system hosted entirely on the issuer’s own website doesn’t.
Where Lean Six Sigma Australia fits
We’d rather be straightforward about this than let a vague claim do the talking. Lean Six Sigma Australia is not independently accredited under ISO/IEC 17024 — and, as covered above, that puts us in the same position as the large majority of Six Sigma training providers globally, including most of the household names in this space. What we can offer instead is a genuine track record: training professionals since 2016, a 90% course completion rate, personalised trainer support through every belt level, and a certification that’s trusted by employers across the Asia-Pacific region. If you or your employer need to confirm someone holds a current Lean Six Sigma Australia certificate, contact us directly with their name and certificate details and we’ll verify it for you. If formal ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation is a hard requirement for your role or organisation, ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt is currently the option that meets that specific bar — and we’d rather tell you that plainly than have you find out after enrolling somewhere that implied otherwise. If it’s the certification level rather than the accreditation question you’re weighing up, our guides to Six Sigma certification and Lean Six Sigma certification break down what each belt level actually qualifies you to do, or you can browse our full certification range directly.
What our students say
Accreditation and course quality are two different questions, and it’s worth being just as straightforward about the second as the first. Accreditation status tells you whether an outside body has audited the certifying process; it doesn’t tell you whether the course itself is any good. For that, the people who’ve actually completed it are the better source:
“The course content was highly practical and immediately relevant, while the support provided throughout was prompt and effective.” — Rochelle J, Green Belt graduate
“I found the course content to be well-structured, practical, and easy to follow. The support provided throughout the course was prompt and helpful.” — Lydia Y, Green Belt graduate
“The course content was practical, well-structured, and directly applicable to real business challenges. The support throughout the program was excellent.” — Kylie B, Black Belt graduate
You’ll find these and more student testimonials on our reviews page. We’d also point out the same caveat that applies to any provider’s own testimonials, ours included: they’re one useful data point, not a substitute for independently checking a provider’s accreditation claims the way this article walks through above.
FAQ
Is Six Sigma certification accredited?
Not in the way most people assume. There’s no single official accrediting body for Six Sigma as a whole. The main exception is ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, which is accredited by ANAB against ISO/IEC 17024.
What does “ANAB accredited” mean?
ANAB is the ANSI National Accreditation Board. When it accredits a certification program against ISO/IEC 17024, it means an independent third party has audited that certification body’s processes against an international personnel-certification standard — rather than the certifying organisation simply asserting its own legitimacy.
Which Six Sigma certification has ISO/IEC 17024 accreditation?
ASQ’s Certified Six Sigma Black Belt (CSSBB) is accredited by ANAB under ISO/IEC 17024. This accreditation does not currently extend to ASQ’s Green Belt or Yellow Belt certifications.
How can I verify someone’s Six Sigma certification?
Ask the issuing provider directly, check whether they run a public verification registry, look for a third-party digital badge (e.g. via Credly or Accredible), and if they claim outside accreditation, confirm it on the accrediting body’s own public directory rather than the provider’s website alone.
Is Lean Six Sigma Australia certification recognised by employers?
Yes — it’s used and accepted by employers across the Asia-Pacific region, though like most Six Sigma providers, it isn’t independently ISO/IEC 17024 accredited. We’re upfront about that distinction rather than implying otherwise.
Why isn’t every Six Sigma provider independently accredited?
Because the industry has no central licensing authority requiring it. Any organisation can develop a Six Sigma curriculum and issue certificates for it, which is why checking a provider’s track record and verification process matters more than a claimed accreditation badge.
What do Lean Six Sigma Australia graduates say about the course?
Graduates consistently describe the course content as practical, well-structured, and directly applicable to real workplace problems, with prompt, helpful trainer support throughout. See the full testimonials on our reviews page — though as with any provider’s own testimonials, they’re evidence of course quality, not a substitute for checking accreditation claims independently.