Trusted Standard
The Trusted Standard is a straightforward, user-friendly and comprehensive quality standard intended to help you run your organisation more effectively and efficiently. It offers a flexible approach to quality which enables your organisation to work at its own pace.
It helps you to take a systematic look at what you do, to identify areas where you are doing well, and then decide exactly where improvements are needed. It helps you to plan, budget and allocate the necessary resources for making these improvements over a realistic time period. Trusted Standard promotes continuous improvement through self assessment and externally assessed quality mark.
Being able to prove that your organisation is well run, well managed and committed to providing effective services is important for internal and external stakeholders. Furthermore, when applying for funding and tendering for contracts, your ability to demonstrate quality through the Trusted Standard and Trusted Charity accreditation marks, offers reassurance for those funding your services and using them.
Previously known as PQASSO, Trusted Standard is regularly reviewed to ensure it is current, continues to stretch organisations and meets the needs of the voluntary sector. Hence, the 4th edition of Trusted Standard reflects the feedback from voluntary sector organisations about sector priorities.
Trusted Standard covers 11 quality areas. The first 10 quality areas address how your organisation is run and the quality of services for users. Quality area 11 is about the outcomes and impact you achieve for your service users, your organisation, its people and the wider community.
The Trusted Standard has two levels and organisations choose whether to work towards Level 1 or Level 2. Organisations initial self assessment against their chosen level which can then be followed by external accreditation.
External accreditation is carried out by Trusted Standard Licensed Assessors – experienced people from the voluntary and community sector who are trained and supported to carry out assessments of organisations against the Trusted Standard.