Precedents database

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	11/10/2024
Standard	2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance
Keywords	ESG part 1, implementation in practice
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“10. The Register Committee understood from the analysis by the panel that only one external quality assurance activity, EQA Audit, covered all standards of the ESG Part 1 in full. Both provider accreditation and programme accreditation procedures did not cover ESG Part 1 in full.

11. The Committee learned that during the site-visit the panel was presented with the draft versions of the new Provider accreditation Manual and the new Programme Accreditation Manual and noted that further alignment with ESG Part 1 is expected to be ensured through these documents. In its statement on the report, MFHEA informed that the Provider Accreditation Manual has been published and in use as of January 2024 and the Programme Accreditation Manual will be in use as of January

2025.

12. The Register Committee took note and welcomed the actions taken by the agency. Nevertheless, the Committee could not confirm without a panel insight whether the new standards and procedures have been implemented in practice.

13. In its additional representation, MFHEA confirmed that its Provider Accreditation Manual came into force in January 2024 and that now all provider accreditation procedures follow the new methodology. MFHEA further informed that the Programme Accreditation Manual will be officially presented by the agency in November 2024 (see clarification of 2024-09-24) and the same will be in place for all programme accreditation procedures as of January 2025.

14. The Register Committee welcomed, once again, the actions taken by the agency in order to ensure that all MFHEA activities cover ESG Part 1 in full. Nevertheless, the Committee could not confirm how these changes have been implemented in practice without panel insight. Therefore, the Committee upheld its initial judgement that the agency complies only partially with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/07/2024
Standard	2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance
Keywords	Internal quality assurance
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“8. In its last decision for renewal of registration on EQAR (of 2020-03-16), the Register Committee found that AHPGS only partially fulfilled the requirements of the standard, as the ESG Part 1 was not properly addressed in their external reviews outside Germany.

9. The Committee understood that in order to address these issues, AHPGS revised its handbooks for reviews abroad. Nevertheless, the Committee understood by the analysis of the panel, that the Handbook for Institutional Evaluations does not address standards 1.7, 1.8 and 1.9 sufficiently.

10. Furthermore, the Committee understood from the analysis of the panel, that programme accreditation reports were in line with ESG Part 1, except one which did not follow AHPGS’s own criteria in full.

11. In a statement of the report (of 2024-05-17), AHPGS explained that in order to address the shortcomings underlined by the panel, it revised its handbooks for programme and institutional accreditation outside Germany.

12. The Committee welcomed the changes made by AHPGS. The Committee was, however, unable to conclude whether the adopted changes are implemented in practice without further panel insight and therefore they remain to be reviewed within the next external review of the agency. The Register Committee, therefore, concurred with the panel’s conclusion and found that the agency remains partially compliant with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	14/03/2025
Standard	2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance
Keywords	Part 1 insufficiently covered, inconsistency in addressing Part 1 standards in different procedures.
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“10. ANVUR conducts wide variety of external quality assurance procedures in its national higher education system. The Committee understood that some of the activities are applied in conjunction to each other (e.g. initial programme accreditation combines in certain elements with periodic institutional assessment of universities).

11. From the review panel report, the Register Committee learned that ANVUR aims to cover all the ESG Part 1 standards holistically through different combinations of their EQA activities taken together (e.g. ESG 1.9 is not assessed each time an initial programme accreditation is conducted but is instead included in the periodic institutional assessment of the university).

12. The Register Committee took note of the different combinations of ANVUR’s external quality assurance activities. It, however, learned that even in this case, few of the standards (e.g. ESG 1.6, ESG 1.7, ESG 1.8 and ESG 1.9) are not fully covered yet. The Committee learned from the analysis that the procedures which do not address all standards of the ESG Part 1 on their own (i.e. complementary activities such as the initial accreditation and periodic assessment) do not do so even in combination with at least one other self-standing activity (see remark on the ESG 2.1 in the EQAR Use and Interpretations of the ESG ).

13. The Register Committee further learned that there is a level of inconsistency in integrating ESG Part 1 in different external QA activities of ANVUR, for example ESG 1.9 being considered only in the initial accreditation of PhD programmes, but not in other procedures.

14. The Register Committee found that the agency is yet to effectively translate standards 1.1 – 1.10 of the ESG into all of its activities and demonstrate that the complementary activities jointly address ESG Part 1 fully. The Register Committee therefore concurred with the panel that ANVUR complies only partially with ESG 2.1.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	27/11/2024
Standard	2.1 Consideration of internal quality assurance
Keywords	ESG Part 1
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“8. In its last decision for renewal of registration (of 2020-03-16), the Register Committee found that VLUHR QA only partially fulfilled the requirements of the standard, as the ESG Part 1 was not sufficiently addressed in the main activities of VLUHR QA.

9. The Register Committee understood from the panel report that, since the last review, VLUHR QA has started employing a new framework for assessing programs in Flanders, which consists of eight quality features (QF). The new framework is stipulated by Flemish decree and must be implemented by the QA agencies evaluating programmes in Flanders.

10. The Register Committee learned from the panel analysis that the new quality framework still does not directly address certain elements of ESG 1.1, ESG 1.2 and ESG 1.4. There is no explicit mention that institutions must have a public quality policy (ESG 1.1) or processes for programme approval (ESG 1.2); nor it is addressed explicitly that “the internal processes of the university to ensure the monitoring of support processes for students at all stages of the lifecycle” (ESG 1.4).

11. The Register Committee also learned that VLUHR QA has addressed the missing elements only in the Guide for drawing up a self-evaluation report for higher education institutions. These elements are not covered in the Manual Programme Review, the main document followed by the external reviewers.

12. While the Register Committee understood that the new Flemish Framework addresses ESG to a higher extent than the previous one, the absence of ESG 1.1, ESG 1.2 and ESG 1.4 in the Framework and in the Manual raises concerns about the possibility of them being overlooked during the assessment. Therefore, the Register Committee found that VLUHR QA only partially complies to the standard and highlighted the panel’s recommendation on including the content of the Guide for drawing up a self-evaluation report in the Manual Programme Review.”

Full decision: see agency register entry