Frequently Asked Questions

An SSF accredited six sigma certification is a highly standardized set of curriculum and examination system, which is designed to be ahead of others in terms of innovation and cost-effectiveness. SSF audit processes are also fair and standardized for any institute wanting to get accredited. The initial self-evaluation is free, the renewal fees for accreditation also does not apply until SSF releases next standardized version of its curriculum and exam (our standards align with future trends and are designed to follow a minimum 3 year life cycle and a maximum of 5 years).

Students/Candidates benefit further by our assurance that their certification remains valid for life-time, although all registered students may opt for exam only re-certification on newer standards at one-quarter the program cost (at time of re-certification) of their respective level from any of our ATIs. We also do not charge separate exam-fee for certification exams from students and ATIs are not allowed to do so either.

SSF Standards are free to refer and downloads with detailed guidelines are available against each of our standard from LSSYB till LSSMBB. Our Examination standards are also “open” (not open book, but the standard itself is open to be shared with our ATIs), as we validate examination system of ATIs rather than conducting our own “closed” door exam (most other Accreditation providers have separate exams than that of the institute or often “training only” certificates get issued to candidates especially if they do not opt for separate exam by the accreditation agency). To achieve all this, our examination system (rather mechanism), to proctoring guidelines to the detailed curriculum is all shared with the ATI, and the end result is a win-win for the candidate and the institute offering the training/program.

Anyone may cross-verify the accreditation status of an individual or an ATI aligned with SSF standards via following link. (For both ATIs and ATPs)

Validate Accreditation

It can take 1-2 months. We verify more that training curriculum hence the initial accreditation can be slow, as we validate the examination systems and proctoring processes in a comprehensive manner.

There are two levels of SSF six sigma accreditation for institutes and professionals seeking association with SSF. There are two types of ATIs (Accredited Training Institute) as well as ATPs (Accredited Training Professional) possible, please click the prior mentioned link or navigate via “Accreditation” in the main menu of our website for details.

Not at the moment, as we believe in a fusion of Lean and Six Sigma to create the best curriculum and industry acceptance. Though we may introduce these in the future.

Yes SSF supports online proctoring; You can download any of the composite SSF Lean Six Sigma Bodies of Knowledge (BOKs) from its respective section, each pdf details out the proctoring guideline in detail.

Six Sigma Foundation or SSF aims to be the No. 1 accreditation standard across all levels of Lean Six Sigma, and as such has some similarities and differentiators from IASSC or ASQ both. We do not intend to be seen as yet another standard for accreditation, but be the leaders in adapting to change, especially at the higher levels (Black Belt plus). We are in the process of gaining industry support and presence across mainly Asia at the present, with Europe and Australia on the horizon. We do not intend to be completely different from IASSC or ASQ, but there are differences in our BOK’s across most levels (for example we integrate and focus a lot more on Lean than the other two) and the most obvious difference is in the way we integrate and validated the examination system for our ATI’s, which can prove to be beneficial to candidates seeking accredited Lean Six Sigma certifications.

No It does not, as part of our Accreditation requirements, we expressly forbid charging students any separate exam fee by ATIs, however they can still charge for proctoring cost and other minor expenses. The training fee charged by an institute remains in the purview of an ATI.

The minimum updation cycle for releasing next version (or a refresh) to our existing BOK and exam guidelines is 3 years, while the maximum is 5 years; this is to keep our standards in-line with the industry requirements. However a candidate’s certificate remains valid for life-time, similar to any other professional degree/qualifications they earn.

We provide reference standards from Lean Six Sigma Yellow till Master-Black Belt levels. Our BOK downloads are available from the respective sections following the “Certifications” section in the Main Menu of our website.

Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certification requires answers to 40 questions in 60 mins (or 1 hr.),

Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification requires answers to 80 questions in 120 mins (or 2 hrs.),

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification requires answers to 120 questions in 180 mins (or 3 hrs.),

Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt Certification requires answers to 160 questions in 240 mins (or 4 hrs.)

Across all levels the answering-time per question remains at 1.5 mins per question.

Across all levels questions remain in MCQ, True/False pattern, answering may require calculator, look-up tables and/or stats software usage.

Only Yellow Belt can be an open-book exam, all levels past the yellow belt are closed book exams.

All levels of certification require a 60% score in their respective exam to get certified.

Only the Master Black Belt level has this as a mandatory requirement.