The FET Colleges Act (Act 16 of 2006) governs Department of Education TVET Colleges and makes quality mandatory but does not specify how this will take place. The College has implemented a comprehensive Quality Management System (QMS) to co-ordinate internal processes and thereby manage the quality of "Teaching, Learning and Services".  An effective QMS ensures that our internal processes harmonise with each other, for the good of all stakeholders.

The lesson of the last 50 years or so of formal quality management is that quality must follow a process-oriented approach. Accordingly, each of the key processes within the College has been identified through staff participation in workshops. The processes defined in precise detail, with extensive involvement of a broad range of staff. This was led by the College's own Quality Manager, who is an experienced project manager and a qualified quality systems auditor.

Our internal Quality Management System was developed primarily with direct guidance and facilitation from German Government development agency GTZ. GTZ made a world authority on quality available to a number of Colleges in the country, including ourselves and two other Colleges in the Western Cape. Peter Kleinsorge has a lifetime of experience in industry and originated the training courses for the German Association for Quality. He was also part of the European Union project that assisted the South African government in establishing the SETAs (Sectoral Education and Training Authorities). He guided certain of the SETAs with their development of world-class quality systems, which is helps ensure that the QMS  is compatible with SETA requirements.

GTZ development assistance emphasizes internal capacitation of the College staff rather than providing a consultant that walks away with the expertise at the end of the project, so there has been considerable effort given to developing the quality awareness, and related skills, of staff within the College.

The Royal Danish Embassy in South Africa, through the DANIDA SESD (Danish International Development Assistance : Support to Education and Skills Development) project, has provided the Western Cape Education Department with a range of development, most recently including quality management initiatives, particularly as it affects TVET Colleges.

The College of Cape Town is a member of the South African Quality Institute, the national body that co-ordinates quality. We were only the second TVET College in the country and the first in the Western Cape to gain membership of the Institution.