Qualiopi reading guide V10: what's coming and how to prepare before it's published

The decree that takes Qualiopi from 32 to 33 indicators has been in force since 4 August 2026, but the document auditors will actually use to apply it — the reading guide — is not yet out. A version 10 is expected in the coming weeks, with no guaranteed publication date and a framework effective date set at 1 November. Here is what we already know, what remains uncertain, and how to avoid being caught off guard.

The reading guide, the linchpin of the audit

The national quality framework sets out Qualiopi’s 7 criteria and indicators, but is deliberately worded in general terms. It is the reading guide, published by the Ministry of Labour, that spells out for each indicator the expected level of evidence and the concrete examples auditors may request. It is binding on certification bodies: an auditor cannot demand more than what the guide in force describes, which makes it as much a defence tool as a preparation one.

But this guide only makes sense when tied to a specific version of the framework. Decree n° 2026-728 of 1 August 2026, which rewrites the annex of the founding 2019 decree, therefore mechanically makes part of the V9 reading guide obsolete on the points it amends — even though V9 remains, for now, the only binding document.

Why a version 10 is needed

The new 33-indicator framework adds an indicator 33 dedicated to apprenticeship and strengthens the wording of several existing indicators, without renumbering them: indicator 12 on handling reports of violence, harassment and discrimination, indicator 27 on subcontracting and umbrella employment, and the indicators covering how apprentices are welcomed. Each of these changes calls for a clarification of the expected level of evidence — exactly the role the reading guide has played since it was created. Without V10, organisations and auditors alike have only the legal text of the decree to rely on, which is more austere and far less illustrated with examples than a reading guide.

What we already know, and what remains uncertain

At this stage, only the text of the decree is binding, and it lets us anticipate the general direction of the future guide:

• The seven-criteria structure is not changing. The decree amends and adds indicators within the existing criteria, without touching their overall architecture.
• Existing indicators are not being renumbered. The new indicator 33 is added at the end of the list rather than shifting the numbering — a choice that limits the rework needed on tracking tools organisations already have in place.
• The most discussed points of the decree (reporting violence and discrimination, subcontracting, welcoming apprentices) are the ones for which clarification through the guide is most expected, since these are the indicators where interpretation has historically varied most between organisations and auditors.

What the decree does not say, however — the precise list of expected evidence, model examples, the degree of tolerance on any given point — will only be known once the guide itself is published. Offering more precise expectations at this stage would be speculation rather than verified information.

The risk of a tight timeline

Between a publication hoped for in September or October and an effective date of 1 November, the window to absorb the content of the V10 guide and adjust documentation could be counted in weeks, or even days for organisations waiting for its release before acting. This is not just a matter of comfort: research on the cost of regulatory compliance shows that time spent understanding and applying a new requirement genuinely weighs on an organisation’s activity. A study by Trebbi and Zhang, published through the National Bureau of Economic Research, estimates that the average US firm spends between 1.3% and 3.3% of its wage bill on regulatory compliance tasks — a burden that last-minute scrambling only makes heavier (see the study). Handling now what can already be handled, based on the text of the decree, reduces the work left to do under pressure once the guide is out.

How to stay informed without waiting until the last minute

Once published, the reading guide will be made available free of charge by the Ministry of Labour — be wary of any offer selling it as a paid product. In the meantime, two habits are enough to avoid being caught off guard:

• Add a line to your regulatory watch log explicitly noting that V10 is pending, with a review scheduled as soon as it comes out.
• Regularly check the official sources for vocational training watch — the Ministry of Labour and France compétences first — rather than relying on unofficial relays whose content may anticipate, or even distort, the actual text.

Preparing without waiting for the final text

Nothing stops you, in the meantime, from starting to document the points the decree already makes certain: drafting the reporting procedure required by the strengthened indicator 12, formalising subcontracting agreements in line with indicator 27, or setting up the system for apprentices to evaluate their own training under indicator 33. This logic of anticipation, even before the most detailed implementing text appears, echoes a long-standing observation in the sociology of organisations: faced with a new regulatory or professional requirement, organisations within the same sector tend to converge early on shared practices, out of caution as much as through peer exchange — a mechanism described as early as 1983 by DiMaggio and Powell under the name institutional isomorphism. An organisation that builds its procedures on the decree rather than waiting for the guide is better positioned once it appears: it adjusts documents already written rather than starting from a blank page.

Take action

The Complete Kit Certif (€297, 14-day guarantee, documents in French) provides model procedures and evidence tables for the 32 indicators of the framework that applies until 31 October 2026. It does not yet include the text of decree no. 2026-728: the changes presented here are to be carried over into your procedures. If you are setting up your training organisation, the ebook Create your training organisation in 30 days (€67) lays the administrative groundwork from the start, and the Complete Pack (€347) brings both resources together to navigate the shift to the 33-indicator framework without starting from scratch.