Gazetted in October 2009, the Private Education Act provides for the establishment of the Council for Private Education to oversee the new regulatory regime and promote best practices among private education institutions to raise standards in the private education sector. In October 2016, the Council for Private Education was renamed as the Committee for Private Education (CPE) and was a part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG). With effect from 1 July 2026, it was announced that Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA), a new statutory board under the Ministry of Manpower and jointly overseen with the Ministry of Education, is established through the merger of SkillsFuture Singapore Agency (SSG) and Workforce Singapore Agency (WSG) and will now exercise the functions and powers under the Private Education Act 2009 and its subsidiary legislations.

Two schemes were implemented - the Enhanced Registration Framework (ERF) and a quality assurance scheme called EduTrust. Under the Enhanced Registration Framework, legal requirements pertaining to courses, managers, teachers, premises and advertisements are stipulated in the Private Education Act.

The EduTrust certification scheme provides a trust mark of quality. Private education institutions need to achieve higher and more comprehensive standards in their corporate governance and administration, academic processes, student protection and support services, and financial viability. The EduTrust certification scheme enables private education institutions to differentiate themselves as of a higher quality by achieving certification awards that correspond to their standards in key areas of management and student services.

All courses at the Singapore campus of James Cook University are registered with the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) (PEI Registration Number 200100786K) and our operations are governed by EduTrust.

For further information, please visit the Skills and Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) website.