IQ Academy (Pty) Ltd is a private distance/online education provider headquartered at 57A Western Avenue, Vincent, East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa. It has been operational since 2006, beginning as a largely correspondence institution that posted printed course materials to students nationwide, before evolving into a fully online distance-education provider delivering all programmes through its Virtual Campus, with a mobile-friendly platform requiring as little as 1GB of data. IQ Academy (Pty) Ltd, Company Registration No. 2006/033114/07, is registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) as a Private Higher Education Institution (PHEI) under the Higher Education Act, 1997, holding Registration Certificate No. 2012/HE07/001, valid until 31 December 2027. Its qualifications are recorded with the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and accredited by the Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (CHE). The institution also holds professional endorsements from bodies including the Association for Office Professionals of South Africa (OPSA), the South African Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (SAIOSH), Project Management South Africa (PMSA) and the Marketing Association of South Africa (MASA). Instruction is lecturer-supported, combining self-directed reading, multimedia content, quizzes, case studies and live online classes via Microsoft Teams, with formative and summative assessments per module. No verifiable evidence of a prior operating name of 'Fernwood Business College' was found on IQ Academy's official website or accreditation pages.
Qualifications & Programmes
- Higher Certificate in Local Governance — NQF Level 5, 120 credits, 1–2 years (distance/online)
- Higher Certificate in Public Administration and Management — NQF Level 5, 120 credits, 1–2 years (distance/online)
- Higher Certificate in Business Management — NQF Level 5, 120 credits, 1–2 years (distance/online)
- Higher Certificate in Human Resources Management — NQF Level 5, 120 credits, 1–2 years (distance/online)
- Over 30 non-formal short courses (skills programmes) across categories including Beauty, Bookkeeping and Finance, Business Management, Design, Education and Care, Engineering, Hospitality and Tourism, Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing, Office Management, Public Management, Safety Management and Supply Chain Management — e.g. Occupational Health and Safety Management, Office Administration, Logistics and Transportation Management, Early Childhood Development, Cybersecurity, Data Analytics, Fundamentals of Project Management, Fundamentals of Digital Marketing (durations/NQF status not stated on official pages)