Cross-border QA in the EHEA

The ESG are the basis for all quality assurance activities (i.e. evaluation, audit, accreditation, certification) in the EHEA, and thus also for cross-border quality assurance.

Allowing higher education institutions to work with a suitable quality assurance agency that best fits their needs may help strengthen the institution’s own responsibility for quality, ensure a better engagement of institutional actors and foster self-reflection.

The recognition of accreditation, evaluation or audit procedures by a foreign QA agency working in compliance with the ESG (as demonstrated through EQAR-registration) would avoid the often unproductive duplication of efforts, or even fatigue, where both a national and a foreign agency review the same programme or institution, asking sometimes the same questions, even if for a different purpose (see RIQAA 2014).

Further information on cross-border QA can be found on the following pages:

• Background
• Key considerations for cross-border QA
• Mapping system openness to EQAR-registered agencies
• Cross-border QA activities by EQAR-registered agencies