Accreditation Documents: Physical vs Digital

Accreditation requires extensive documentation. Knowing what must be kept physically and what can be digitised saves time, space, and money.

Physical Documents Still Required

Original foundation decrees, diplomas, land and building certificates, and signed legal agreements must be kept in physical form. Assessors may request to see originals during onsite visits. These cannot be replaced by digital copies.

Digital Documents That Speed Up the Process

Most operational documents can be digitised — lesson plans, attendance records, meeting minutes, assessment results, teacher portfolios, and student achievement records. Storing these in a structured digital repository makes retrieval instant during assessments.

Recommendation

Use a document management system (DMS) to organise digital files by standard category. Scan all physical documents to create a backup. Label each file with the corresponding instrument item number so assessors can cross-reference easily. A hybrid approach — physical originals for legal docs, digital for everything else — is the most practical strategy.