Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Many quality audits confirm that procedures exist without testing whether processes deliver conforming products and services. Audit programmes drift towards the same departments each year, supplier audits repeat certification checks, and findings are written in ways that auditees can dispute. This course applies ISO 19011:2026 and the certification audit model to the full audit cycle, from programme design and team leadership to evidence grading and reporting. Participants work through evidence from several sectors and leave with a risk-based QMS Audit Programme, a worked audit plan and a model audit report.
Course Objectives
- Design a risk-based audit programme covering internal, supplier and certification audit needs using ISO 19011:2026
- Lead an audit team through planning, evidence gathering and reporting against ISO 9001:2026 criteria
- Trace audit trails across linked processes using the process approach and the PDCA cycle
- Grade findings as major or minor nonconformities or observations and defend the grading with objective evidence
- Plan and conduct second-party audits of suppliers and outsourced processes
- Evaluate the effectiveness of corrective action and close findings on objective evidence
Target Audience
- Quality managers responsible for the organisation's audit programme
- Supplier quality managers accountable for approving and auditing external providers
- Senior internal auditors leading audit teams across management systems
- Integrated management system leads responsible for combined quality, environmental and safety audits
- Compliance and assurance managers relying on QMS audit results for oversight
Course Outline
Day 1: Audit Principles and the QMS Audit Landscape
- ISO 19011:2026 Principles of Auditing and Remote Audit Definitions
- First-, Second- and Third-Party Audits: Purposes and Criteria
- ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 Certification Audit Stages and Surveillance Cycle
- ISO 9001:2026 Requirements Read Through an Auditor's Lens
- Audit Programme Maturity Review of an Existing QMS
Day 2: Audit Programme Management and Audit Methods
- Risk-Based Audit Programme Design Under ISO 19011 Clause 5
- Auditor Competence Criteria Drawn from ISO/IEC 17021-3:2017
- Process Approach Auditing with the Turtle Diagram
- PDCA-Based Audit Trails Across Linked Processes
- Remote and Hybrid Audit Methods and ICT Evidence Controls
Day 3: Leading and Conducting the Audit
- Audit Plan Construction: Objectives, Scope, Criteria and Timetable
- Evidence Sampling Plans and Sample Size Justification
- Auditee Interview Technique: Open, Probing and Closing Questions
- Objective Evidence Recording in Audit Working Papers
- Nonconformity Statement Structure: Requirement, Evidence and Finding
Day 4: Complex Audit Situations and Audit Risk
- Major and Minor Nonconformity Grading and Observation Handling
- Supplier Audit Planning and Outsourced Process Controls
- Corrective Action Effectiveness Review and Root Cause Verification
- Audit Team Leadership, Disputed Findings and Impartiality Threats
- Combined Audits of ISO 9001, ISO 14001:2026 and ISO 45001:2018 Systems
Day 5: Audit Case Work and the Audit Programme
- Logistics Provider Case Study: Evidence Evaluation and Finding Grading
- Healthcare Support Services Case Study: Reconstructing a Process Audit Trail
- Audit Report Drafting and Closing Meeting Presentation
- Risk-Based QMS Audit Programme Build for an Own Organisation
- Peer Review Panel and Audit Programme Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Audit Programme Management
- Audit Team Leadership
- Process-Based Auditing
- Evidence Sampling
- Nonconformity Grading
- Supplier Quality Auditing
- Audit Reporting
- Corrective Action Verification
Why Attend This Course
- Leave with a risk-based QMS Audit Programme, a worked audit plan and a model audit report ready for use
- Write findings that auditees accept because each one is anchored to a requirement and objective evidence
- Direct audit effort to the processes and suppliers where quality risk is highest rather than to a fixed rotation
- Test audit judgements against auditors from other sectors working with the same standards
Conclusion
An audit adds value only when its programme targets real risk and its findings rest on evidence that stands up to challenge. This course moves from audit principles and certification audit logic, through programme design and process-based methods, to the grading, supplier and team leadership situations that test an auditor's judgement. The final day brings these together in a risk-based QMS Audit Programme built by each participant, giving Core Concept participants a structured basis for the next audit cycle they plan or lead.