Qualiopi indicator 2: the new requirement to publish your calculation methods (decree of 1 August 2026)

A success rate displayed without explaining how it was calculated has long been a classic weak spot for indicator 2 at audit. Decree n° 2026-728 of 1 August 2026, which updates the National Quality Framework as of 1 November 2026, turns that weakness into an explicit requirement: providers will now have to communicate not only their result indicators, but also the method used to calculate them. Here is exactly what this text changes, why it is more than a formality, and how to prepare without waiting for your next audit.

What decree n° 2026-728 changes for indicator 2

Indicator 2 under criterion 1 has always required publishing measured results: satisfaction rate, success rate for the targeted certification, exam attendance rate depending on your activity. Our full guide to indicator 2 breaks down which indicators to use depending on your provider profile.

Decree n° 2026-728, published in the Official Journal on 4 August 2026 and which takes the framework from 32 to 33 indicators from 1 November 2026, adds a requirement to this indicator: providers must now specify the calculation methods behind their result indicators, or rely on a recognised system such as InserJeunes or InserSup where their activity allows it. Twelve indicators are amended by this text, indicator 2 among them; our detailed timeline of the reform lists every change.

In practice, an isolated figure will no longer be enough. The auditor must be able to find, next to each published indicator, the formula used to obtain it: the reference population, the period covered and the calculation rule applied.

Why this transparency requirement matters

A figure without a method is a suspicious figure. This intuition is not new in information economics: as early as 1970, economist George Akerlof showed, in his foundational paper The Market for “Lemons”: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, how information asymmetry between seller and buyer erodes trust and pushes buyers to distrust unverifiable signals (see the paper). A prospective trainee comparing several training providers is in exactly that situation: they cannot personally verify a 92% success rate, but they can assess the credibility of the method that produced it. By requiring the publication of calculation methods, decree n° 2026-728 reduces this asymmetry and makes comparisons between providers more reliable — an objective consistent with the very purpose of indicator 2, which is to inform the beneficiary’s choice.

For the provider, this change is also a form of protection: documenting your calculation method before the audit avoids awkward questions on the day, and prevents former trainees from disputing figures they consider inflated.

How to document your calculation methods

Compliance comes down to a few simple steps, to handle before the audit that applies to you:

1. List your published indicators: satisfaction rate, success rate, exam attendance rate, drop-out rate — whatever you already publish for indicator 2.
2. Write a calculation sheet for each indicator, with three minimum elements: the numerator (what is counted), the denominator (the reference population) and the period used (per session, calendar year, rolling twelve months).
3. Specify the data source: satisfaction questionnaire, results provided by the certifying body, extraction from your management software. Our article on calculating the satisfaction rate details a reproducible calculation method for that specific indicator.
4. Display the method next to the figure itself, or link to a dedicated, easily accessible page from your website or catalogue — the proximity between the result and its method is what the auditor looks for first.
5. If you rely on InserJeunes or InserSup, say so explicitly: the decree recognises these systems as a valid calculation method in themselves, with no need to rephrase them.
6. Update this sheet with every new results campaign, so the published method always matches the figures published at the time of the audit.

The mistakes that will cost you a finding from 1 November 2026

Several practices, tolerated so far in the absence of an explicit requirement, will become clear-cut findings:

• a published rate with no indication of method whatsoever, neither on the website, nor in the catalogue, nor as an appendix to a file;
• a vague method such as “calculated on our sessions” with no precise period or reference population;
• an inconsistency between the displayed figure and the described method — a success rate calculated on a single session presented as representative of the whole year;
• failure to update the method when the calculation approach has changed from one campaign to the next, with no traceability of that change.

A good practice is to handle this compliance work alongside a full Qualiopi self-assessment: indicator 2 is classed as a minor non-conformity in the current reading guide, but it is regularly flagged at audit, and a finding stacked with others weighs into the certifying body’s final decision — see our overview of indicators carrying a major non-conformity to gauge its relative weight.

Timeline: which audits does this requirement apply to

The updated framework applies to audits conducted from 1 November 2026 onward: initial audits, surveillance audits and renewal audits. If your next audit is scheduled before that date, you remain under the current requirements for indicator 2; if it takes place after, the publication of calculation methods will be checked. Given the preparation time generally needed to properly document a calculation method for each indicator, it is worth starting now rather than waiting for your audit notice, especially since this same documentation work fits naturally alongside preparing the rest of the 33-indicator framework.

Take action

Documenting the calculation method behind your result indicators is a quick project once you already have the figures: one sheet per indicator, a clear method, an update with every campaign. The Kit Certif Complet (€297, 14-day guarantee) includes templates for building and documenting your result indicators, along with the evidence expected for the full set of Qualiopi indicators. The ebook “Set up your training organisation in 30 days” (€67) lays out good practices from the moment you create your organisation, and the complete Pack (€347) bundles both.