The Organisational Learning Standard
The international standard for how organisations learn. Requirements and guidance for building, assessing and recognising the learning-driven organisation.
Developed by the Stirling Centre · Powered by ICXI
What a learning-driven organisation looks like. And how to prove it.
Its requirements cover the culture that makes people willing to learn, the mechanisms through which learning happens, and the outcomes that show it worked.
The standard is owned and governed by the Stirling Centre for Strategic Learning and Innovation, at the University of Stirling Innovation Park in Scotland, and is supported and powered by ICXI. The second edition was published in 2026.
Every requirement applies to every organisation, met in a way that fits its size, sector and context. Assessors judge whether an approach works where it is used, not whether it resembles the practice of a large organisation.
49 requirements in 9 clauses, worth 1,000 points. 6 core requirements that must each reach 50% for certification. And 96 survey statements in which your people say whether it works.
Culture, mechanisms, outcomes. And the engine running through them.
Learning is both an input and an outcome. The requirements follow the three subsystems of the Learning-Driven Organisation Model, each working at individual, team and organisation-wide level.
Shared vision for learning
A shared, compelling picture of what the organisation wants to become through learning, which people understand, believe in and see their own place in. 100 points.
Learning climate and leadership
People feel safe to learn, leaders model and champion learning, and the everyday climate rewards curiosity, challenge and reflection. 150 points.
Learning policy, strategy and governance
Learning directed by a clear policy and strategy, governed with defined accountability, shaped by stakeholders and open to everyone. 100 points.
Learning environment and infrastructure
Physical and digital environments that make learning accessible, flexible and personal, with systems that are secure, connected and ethical. 100 points.
Individual and team learning
People develop through coaching, experience and peers, and teams think, reflect and learn together across boundaries. 100 points.
Knowledge, innovation and learning loops
Knowledge flows to where it is needed, ideas are welcomed and tested, and the organisation learns from its own thinking as well as its actions. 100 points.
Measurement, feedback and review
The organisation listens, measures what matters, makes learning visible and uses what it finds to steer strategy. 50 points.
Learning outcomes and impact
Credible evidence that learning improves work, performance, innovation, careers, customer experience and the organisation’s contribution to society. 200 points.
AI-enabled learning and future readiness
Artificial intelligence adopted purposefully and responsibly, with the literacy and confidence people need to use it well, and an eye on what comes next. 100 points.
Evidence shows what is in place. Your people show whether it works.
- Strand 1Your evidence on 49 requirements
Policies, records, examples and results, requirement by requirement. Jasper, ICXI’s AI assessor, guides you one requirement at a time and explains anything you are unsure about. Each approach is scored from 0% to 100% on how far it is defined, deployed, reviewed and effective.
- Strand 2The voice of your people
The OLS Survey: 96 short statements on learning culture, mechanisms, outcomes and readiness for AI, answered anonymously by your staff. Results are never reported for groups small enough to identify anyone.
- Side by sideAn independent assessor reads both
Where what your people say differs from what the documents show, the assessor explores the difference and records why.
- You receiveTwo reports
The assessment of your evidence, with your score, clause by clause, and a Learning Profile of what your people told you.
Four levels. Two of them certified.
The level is set by the total score, the clause thresholds and six core requirements. Averaging past a weak clause is not possible: an organisation is recognised at the highest level whose conditions it meets.
Below 500 points. Working towards OLS: the organisation has begun, and the assessment shows where to go next.
500 to 749 points. OLS Recognition for structured commitment and measurable progress.
750 to 899 points, every clause at 60% or more and every core requirement at 50% or more. OLS Certified.
900 points or more, every clause at 75% or more and every core requirement at 50% or more. OLS Certified, with enhanced surveillance.
Core requirements: the learning vision, leadership for learning, the learning policy, the learning strategy, governance and accountability, and measuring learning. Each must reach at least 50% for certification.
Certified by ICXI and the Stirling Centre. Or by BSI. You choose.
Once your reports are complete, you decide who certifies you. Organisations reaching Level 3 or Level 4 can be certified either way.
ICXI and the Stirling Centre
Your certificate is issued at Level 3 or Level 4 once the Stirling Centre has read and reviewed both of your reports.
The Stirling Centre checks every report before it reaches you.
BSI, the British Standards Institution
The Stirling Centre introduces you to BSI, which certifies you to its own process and fees.
You pay BSI directly.
From the first commitment to the next level.
- Leadership commitment
Top management endorses the standard, sets aspirations and explains the purpose.
- Baseline
A gap analysis against Clauses 5 to 13, with the OLS Survey as a baseline.
- Plan and implement
Actions, owners and timescales for each priority; capability built and feedback loops in place.
- Readiness review
A self-assessment confirms readiness and the gaps that remain.
- Certification
An independent assessment determines the recognition level.
- Sustain and progress
Surveillance and benchmarking keep improvement going, towards the next level.
Asked often. Answered plainly.
What is OLS:2026?
Who is it for?
What are the two strands?
Is the staff survey anonymous?
Who certifies OLS:2026?
How does it relate to other standards?
Become a learning-driven organisation.
Start with a baseline: your evidence on the 49 requirements and the voice of your people, read side by side.