Precedents database

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	12/12/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	ministry involvement, organisational independence
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“20. The Register Committee noted the panel’s analysis that the members of the Executive Board, of the Board of Appeal, the agency’s auditor and the Head of Office are all appointed by the Ministry (following a public selection procedure).

21. The Committee further noted the panel’s concerns regarding a high involvement of the minister in oversight of the agency i.e, in appointing the Chair of the Executive Board, in maintaining authority to dismiss the Chair and all members of the Executive Board (if there are any infringements of legislation or internal rules of the agency).

22. Taking into consideration the panel’s analysis, the Register Committee expressed its concern that the organisational independence of the agency is constrained by its close link and dependency on the Ministry. The Committee underlined the panel’s recommendation to ensure that the agency becomes fully independent and is able to act autonomously without any influence from the Ministry or other authorities. The Register Committee concurred with the panel that SAAHE complies only partially with ESG 3.3.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	12/12/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	operational independence, decision-making
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“8. In its last decision, the Register Committee noted the strong role the German Bishops’ Conference (DBK) plays in the governance of the agency.

9. Despite the changes made by the agency to further its operational independence, the Register Committee noted that DBK maintains a significant role in the organisational structure of AKAST.

10. The Committee underlined the possible influence that may be exerted by the DBK Episcopal Commissioner in the decision making of the Accreditation Committee. Although the Episcopal Commissioner is present in the Accreditation Committee (AC) of the agency in an advisory capacity, there is still the possibility of undue influence considering the fact that the Episcopal Commissioner still issues a separate consent impacting the programme.

11. Furthermore as noted by the panel, it also seems possible for the episcopal commissioner to express, even unintentionally, a preliminary opinion on particular study programmes, not necessarily based on the findings of the expert panel during the AC meeting.

12. The Committee noted the concentration of power in one place, i.e., the current Chairperson of the Executive Board of AKAST holds the position of Chair of the Accreditation Committee and Chair of the Advisory Board of AKAST. Furthermore, the DBK nominates the Chairperson of the Executive Board.

13. Considering the strong influence of one main stakeholder in the running of the agency, the Register Committee underlined the risk to the agency’s operational independence, as well as to its independent decision-making. The Register Committee therefore concurred with the panel’s view that AKAST complies only partially with ESG 3.3.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	04/04/2024
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Organisational independence
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“12. In the previous renewal decision of IEP’s registration, the Register Committee noted that the agency’s organisational independence still continued to be compelled by the close link with the EUA.

13. The Register Committee understood that IEP has taken further steps to address the flagged issues raised in the previous decision. The Committee notes the panel’s analysis and the conclusion that while the EUA is providing resources to IEP, it does not have any role in the decision making processes within the IEP. Furthermore, the Committee notes that in order to better distinguish between EUA and the separate activities undertaken by the IEP, the agency has developed a new website and a distinguishable new corporate identity.

14. Furthermore, the Register Committee took note of the agency’s revised Terms of Reference in order to show the Steering Committee’s full ownership of the development and operation of the IEP.

15. The Register Committee therefore concurred with the panel's conclusion that IEP complies with the standard. The Committee, however, shared the panel’s view that the agency should make publicly visible the IEP Terms of Reference and other official documents that state the organisational independence of IEP from EUA.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	04/04/2024
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	operational independence, methodologies
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“15. In the decision for inclusion of CYQAA on EQAR (of 2019-11-05), the Committee raised concerns regarding the shortcomings related to the operational independence of CYQAA and the close interlinkage between the agency and the responsible ministry.

16. Despite some progress being made by consultation with key stakeholders on the appointment of Council members and the Minister, the Register Committee noted that the Council members are still appointed by the Council of Ministers, upon recommendation by the Minister responsible for higher education.

17. The Register Committee took note of the panel’s concerns regarding the operational independence of the agency, The Committee understood that CYQAA cannot hire its own staff and is fully relying on secondments from the central Government and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth.

18. The Register Committee further noted, as underlined by the panel, that despite being fully independent in defining its evaluation methodologies, CYQAA is still challenged by the limits set in the provisions of the national legislation regarding engaging stakeholders in the development of methodologies (see issue raised under ESG 2.2 in the external review report).

19. Following the panel’s analysis, the Register Committee expressed its concerns that the operational independence of CYQAA remains constrained by the close link and dependence on the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth regarding the appointment of the Council members, hiring of staff and engaging stakeholders in the development of methodologies. Therefore, the Register Committee concurred with the panel conclusion, and found that CYQAA remains to be partially compliant with ESG 3.3.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	14/03/2022
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Content of the thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“the content of the thematic publications mainly involved reflections on the agency’s own experiences in conducting EQA rather than analysis of the results of the EQA (an analysis which could be more appropriate to serve the internal quality assurance processes, ESG 3.6). The Committee agreed with the panel’s views that the agency could improve the content of the analyses so they are more meaningful for the wider academic and QA community”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Focused, coordinated by GAC
Decision of	12/12/2021
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of development in preparing thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“7. The panel notes that AKAST reliably contributes the experience gained from its own quality assurance procedures to the regular evaluation of the Key Points and that the agency is documenting the results of its ongoing student survey on its website.

18. The Register Committee welcomes AKAST’s plan to further develop a thematic analysis after an appropriate number of programme accreditation procedures have been completed, but underlined that such an analysis has not been finalised.

19. Considering the limited development of thematic analysis, the Register Committee can follow the review panel conclusion that AKAST complies only partially with ESG 3.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	28/06/2022
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	separate research or bilbiometric analyses do not qualify as thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“38. The panel considered that HCERES' recent activities have been focused on research and bibliometric analysis; analyses drawing on the results of evaluations within the scope of the ESG have not been produced regularly since the summary reports that HCERES/AERES used to produce following earlier evaluation campaigns.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	25/10/2022
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Consistent publication of thematic analyses
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee learned that IQAA has published several thematic analyses since the last review. The panel, however, could not see

any formal plan for drafting and publishing these analyses.The Committee considered that despite the absence of a more formal planning the agency has developed a practice and demonstrated a clear vision for conducting analyses based on its EQA processes.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Focused, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	19/06/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Introduced policy for thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee learned that QANU approved a new policy for thematic analysis in October 2018, which defines explicit aims and objectives for various analysis. The panel stressed that QANU acknowledged its responsibility for producing thematic analysis as a way of contributing to the further development of the university research sector in the Netherlands. The panel further added that QANU has demonstrated capacity to use the experiences it gathered, to reflect on them, to share them and to publish outcomes through thematic analysis. Following the evidence and analysis provided by the panel, the Register Committee concurred with the panel’s conclusion that QANU now complies with ESG 3.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	22/06/2020
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	absence of regular analysis based on agency’s findings
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The panel specifically recommended that the agency “publishes reports of thematic analysis every year”. While the standard requires that such analyses be published "regularly”, it does not impose a specific cycle.

The Register Committee therefore underlined that this recommendation should rather be considered a suggestion.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/11/2020
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of systematic approach to thematic analysis; Quality of analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The review panel found that BAC’s thematic review report provided a limited analysis, and was rather descriptive by simply summarising the content of inspection reports. Overall, the review panel felt there were still significant weaknesses in BAC’s approach to thematic analysis. In its additional representation, BAC agreed with the assessment of the panel and committed to prepare more meaningful thematic analysis that will serve to improve key areas related to the agency’s work by January 2021.While the Register Committee acknowledged the agency’s work towards improving its thematic analysis, the Committee remarked that such changes have not yet been implemented.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	22/06/2020
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of systematic approach to thematic analysis; Absence of regular analysis;
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Register Committee noted that the agency has produced two analyses since its last review in 2014, both written in Russian but only published on the English version of AKKORK’s website. According to the panel, the last publication, however, does not meet the requirements of a thematic analysis. In particular, the panel noted the great qualitative difference between the publications, indicating a missing systematic approach to the publication of thematic analysis. The Register Committee underlines the panel’s recommendation that the agency should establish a clear process to address all of its activities in thematic analyses. ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Producing effective thematic analysis reports
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In its decision of 2015 to admit QQI to the Register, the Register Committee flagged for attention the production of thematic analyses by QQI.The Register Committee understood from the panel's report that QQI has been proactive and effective in producing a range of thematic analysis reports, which are considered useful in the sector for improving quality and quality assurance, even though not having completed full cycles in all external quality assurance activities.The Register Committee therefore considered that the flag has been addressed and concurred with the panel's conclusion that QQI complies withthe standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Producing effective thematic analysis reports
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“When evalag’s registration was last renewed, the Register Committee noted that the current review should address whether evalag produced analyses of the general findings of all reviews carried out by the agency. The review panel described clearly how evalag conducts thematic analyses based on the findings from its reviews. The Register Committee therefore concluded that the flag has been addressed.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In the previous review the panel found that Unibasq had yet to produce a system-wide analysis and there was a lack of sufficient resources which is why this standard was flagged.The panel recognised that Unibasq has made clear progress in this area in recent years. The reports that agency produces show a clear shift from the evaluation of the procedures to a genuine thematic analysis (see page 24 of the report).The Committee concluded that the flag has been addressed and concurred with the review panel’s conclusion that Unibasq complies with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Producing effective thematic analysis reports
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“At the time of its previous review in 2014, the Register Committee noted that AQ Austria was working on its first thematic analysis report on the development of quality assurance in Austria, and has not yet produced documentation to evidence substantial compliance. In its 2019 review report the panel’s findings show that the agency has since produced a number of reports focused on the results of QA processes and related issues in higher education. While the Register Committee underlined the recommendations of the panel for a further development of the thematic analysis, the Register Committee concluded that the flag has been satisfactorily addressed.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/04/2019
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Implementation of thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Register Committee considered the panel's analysis as well as SQAA's statement on the panel report, referring to its recently published “methodology and procedure for drafting and disseminating system-wide and thematic analyses”. While the Committee welcomed the steps taken by SQAA to swiftly address the panel's recommendation, their actual implementation remains to be analysed within the next external review of SQAA.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by GAC
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	systematic approach to analyses and publishing
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“When AQAS last had its registration renewed, the publication of thematic analyses was flagged. Considering the review report, the Register Committee concluded that AQAS carried out a number of relevant internal analyses and produced relevant reports, e.g. the overarching report produced based on its accreditations in Moldova. These were, however, carried out on an ad-hoc basis, internal and not published as required by the standard. In its statement on the review report, AQAS explained that it had published a first set of thematic analyses on its website. While the Register Committee welcomed the efforts taken to date, it was not yet possible to conclude whether thematic analyses are produced regularly.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of thematic analyeses
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“While a number of thematic analyses have been published since the last external review of the agency, the panel found that the analyses have been paused since the merger of FINHEEC into FINEEC. The panel also noted that FINEEC has not yet initiated thematic analyses of the accreditations of engineering degree programmes due to the small number of finished accreditations. ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/12/2016
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of systematic approach/lack of resources
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The panel stated that ACPUA has focused on thematic reports during its first year of existence, however the constraints on human and financial resources have hindered the agency’s activity in this area in recent years. Considering the increased number of external quality assurance activities carried out by ACPUA in recent years, the Register Committee underlined the panel’s recommendation to allocate sufficient resources to the activities supporting thematic analysis and ensure their implementation in a more systematic way”

Full decision: see agency register entry