Precedents database

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	22/06/2020
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	student involvement
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (22/11/2024)
RC decision	Compliance

“The review panel noted that “when the nature of the assessment in question so requires, every effort is made to include non-academic experts [...] as well as students who are experienced in quality assessment in higher education“ (ERR, p. 39). As the Register Committee found the analysis unclear as to whether students are consistently involved in all ACSUCYL’s review panels, the Committee asked the panel for further clarifications. The panel explained that all evaluation procedures within the scope of the ESG include one student member. The panel further added that students are regarded as equal members of peer review expert panels.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Panels composition
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In its 2016 decision on QQI's Substantive Change Report, the Register Committee flagged for attention the composition of QQI expert panels.The Register Committee noted that some specific QQI processes do not use traditional expert panels, but are based on desk assessments or dialogues by QQI staff, followed by subsequent decisions where applicable. The Committee noted that the decision-making bodies include all perspectives that are otherwise required to be on a panel.The Committee further noted that wherever panels are deployed their composition complies with the standard. The Register Committee therefore concluded that the flag was addressed and concurred with the panel's conclusion that QQI complies with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Involvement of students in panels.
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In its previous decision the Register Committee flagged CTI’s involvement of students in some of its review panels. The Register Committee noted that CTI works together with the French engineering students’ association, to ensures that CTI systematically nominates student experts in all its regular programme evaluations. The review panel also confirmed that in its CeQuInt evaluations, CTI’s panel include among its four experts also a student. ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	19/06/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Panels composition
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Agency (06/06/2019)
RC decision	Compliance

“The review panel learned that in cases where expert panels are employed for follow-up and case-based monitoring procedures their composition is not clearly defined. The Register Committee therefore asked the agency for further clarifications. The agency explained (see letter of 06/06/2019)) that its guidebook on follow-up procedures define the composition of panels for both follow-up and case-based monitoring procedures. The agency stated that it ensured that a student representative is included in the composition of the expert panel for both procedures.The Register Committee therefore concurred with the panel’s judgment that NCEQE is compliant with ESG 2.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Involvement of students in review committees
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In the previous review this standard was flagged due to the fact that the regular involvement of students on all review committees was yet to become practice.The Committee noted that steps have been taken in order to ensure regular involvement of students. Participation of students in evaluation procedures isguaranteed by the Basque Country Act 13/2012.The Register Committee therefore concluded that the flag has been addressed and concurred with the panel's conclusion that Unibasq (substantially) complies with the standard”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	06/12/2018
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	student involvement in pilot procedures
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Register Committee noted that there was no systematic inclusion of students in all expert groups for initial, paper-based accreditation as yet, but that the inclusion of students in these expert groups was currently piloted.[…] the Register Committee concluded that the flag has only been partially addressed so far, pending the pilot advancing to become a full regular part of the process.. The Committee further noted that there were no students included in the panel for the pilot on Combined Education and Research Evaluations, but appreciated that the panel was confident that students would be involved in case this activity became permanent.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	13/06/2018
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Nomination of students in expert panels
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (30/05/2018)
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee, however, noted that there might remain a residual risk of influence as long as higher education institutions could de facto exercise a veto right in the nomination of students to the NEAA pool of experts. While not impeding the agency's compliance with the standard (nor with standard 3.3) the Register Committee consider that NEAA should be mindful of that issue (also in regard to operational independence under standard 3.3).”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/12/2016
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Involvement of external experts
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“In its decision of inclusion Register Committee flagged the involvement of external experts in initial accreditation.The Register Committee noted that the accreditation panels of AI now include at least three members and consist of professional experts with higher education experience and a student for each procedure. ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	07/02/2022
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	training of experts & pool of experts limited
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The panel noted that FIBAA uses several videos and Power Point presentations to provide training for the experts, but critically remarked that there is not a face-to-face training and no clear obligation for experts to undertake such a training (or supervision on it) prior to an accreditation or certification procedure. The training is done on a voluntary basis. The review panel also underlined that the training materials for the English-speaking experts may not be as comprehensive as those received by German-speaking experts.

In its analysis the review panel also noted that the number of international experts in the pool of experts to be rather limited given FIBAA’s international profile and that there is minimal rotation and renewal among the experts.

Considering the above mentioned shortcomings, the Register Committee cannot follow the panel’s conclusion on (substantially) compliant but finds that FIBAA complies only partially with ESG 2.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	14/03/2022
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	monitoring expert training, experts trained by other agencies
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“19. In addition,the review panel noted that the proportion of experts who take part in training had increased, but not sufficiently in the panel's view. The panel also considered that the process for recruitment and selection of experts was largely informal.

20. The Register Committee welcomed the newly introduced systematic monitoring of experts' training and prior experience, as explained in ZEvA's representation. The Committee agreed that ZEvA may of course rely on experts who were previously trained by other agencies operating in Germany.

21. At the same time, the Committee considered that 50% was not a very ambitious goal for the share of formally trained experts. Moreover, the Committee had some doubts whether prior experience should be considered entirely equal to a formal training.

22. While the Register Committee welcomed that the involvement of students was now ensured and that ZEvA is taking steps to enhance the formal training of experts, the Committee considered that the level of formal expert training remained weak to date. The Register Committee was therefore unable to concur with the panel, but considered that ZEvA only partially complies with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	18/03/2021
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	student involvement
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Agency (09/10/2020) Panel (25/10/2020)
RC decision	Compliance

“ the Register Committee noted that students were not always listed among the peer-review experts. The Register Committee has therefore asked the panel whether it was aware of such exceptions and whether it was given any explanation.

The panel explained that the involvement of students was piloted only in 2018 and that it became part of THEQC’s procedure in the academic year 2019-20 (following the set-up of the agency’s Student Commission in October 2019). The panel was assured by those that it spoke to, including the student representatives, that it was now THEQC’s policy to include students on all review panels.

The Register Committee welcomed the panel’s explanation, but noted that students were not listed among the peer-review team members in a number of evaluations carried out in 2019 (e.g. Alanya University, Atashehir University, Şırnak University, Hakari University, Ataşehir Adıgüzel Meslek Yüksek Okulu, Muş Alparslan).”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Focused, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	19/06/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Student involvement in panels
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Register Committee noted that QANU has, since its last review, taken steps towards the inclusion of students in the assessment of research units/PhD programmes. QANU agreed with VSNU, KNAW and KWO (the organisations who developed the Standard Evaluation Protocol for these assessments) to include students on the experts panels in the form of a pilotscheme, starting in

2019. The Register Committee found that QANU has so far finalised one assessment of a research unit/PhD programme in 2019 (report published as of 15 March 2019), but that the expert panel for that review did not include a student.While the Register Committee recognised and welcomed the clear stepstaken by QANU so far, it considered that the involvement of students on research unit/PhD assessment panels is so far at the stage of a pilot and notyet implemented in practice. The Committee was therefore unable to concur with panel’s conclusion of (substantially) compliant but found that QANU stillcomplies only partially with ESG 2.4. The Register Committee further underlined the review panel’s recommendation to ensure that students become a constituent element of the research units/PhD programme assessments panels. The Committee further added that students involvement should not be limited to the assessment of specific aspects, but that they are to be fully involved along all expert panel members.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	22/06/2020
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	student involvement; Mismatch between number of experts enlisted in the reports and number of experts required according to agency’s review methodology; Unavailability of some reports
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Register Committee flagged AKKORK’s involvement of students in its previous decision of inclusion. The panel received confirmations during its multiple interviews that all of AKKORK’s peer review expert groups now included a student member.

The panel’s findings nevertheless show inconsistencies in the number of experts, listed by AKKORK in its published reports and the number of experts expected to be involved according to AKKORK’s own methodology. In particular, the review panel expressed concerns about the use of single experts for professional-public accreditations, although it was told that not all panel members were in fact listed in the prepared reports. The panel therefore concluded that while the formal procedure in the composition of review panel was met on paper, the practice differed. The Register Committee noted from AKKORK’s additional representation that its procedures are published, but noted that the above raised concerns were not addressed and remain unresolved. The Register Committee noted from the statement by the agency - in its further information on the report and additional representation - that the links have been checked and all review panel members are now listed in the published reports. Following a check of the agency’s website, the Register Committee found that a number of reports still have broken links (see the agency’s Register of programmes, under the Russian version of its website). ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	student involvement
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The review panel confirmed that students are now engaged in all AEQES evaluation panels, as full members of the panels, except for follow-up evaluations.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/03/2023
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Student involvement in panels
Panel conclusion	Non-compliance
Clarification request(s)	Agency (14/02/2023)
RC decision	Partial compliance

“Further efforts made by the

agency to engage students in the review panels - in particular

students have participated in the first reviews by the time the Register Committee analysed the application. While the panel’s

conclusion of non-compliance did reflect accurately the situation at the

February 2022’s site visit, the Committee concluded that the agency is now

partially compliant with the standard. The Committee, however, underlined

that further evidence of the actual involvement of the students in the panels

will be needed and has to be thoroughly analysed in the next review of HAHE”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	16/03/2020
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	learners in non-traditional higher education provision
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (22/11/2024)
RC decision	Compliance

“While the panel underlined the different status of "listeners", as opposed to “students”, who enrol into these programmes, the Register Committee considered that the institutions and programmes in question were part of the higher education system and their accreditation thus within the scope of the ESG; this was also NCPA's own assessment at eligibility stage.

While the panel considered that, in light of the small number of these accreditations, a stricter judgement had “overstretched” the relevance of the matter, the Register Committee considered that this was not only a matter of numbers. The practice at the time of review meant that two types of accreditations did not fully comply with the standard.

In its additional representation, NCPA explained that it had revised the corresponding regulations and now required the presence of a “listener” (i.e. a student/learner enrolled in a further professional education programme, see above) on the expert panels. [...]

The Register Committee therefore considered that the issue has been addressed and was now able to concur with the panel’s conclusion that NCPA complies with the standard.

”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Involvement of students in panels.
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee noted that the agency has a wide range of experts involved in institutional, departmental and programme evaluations and that higher education institutions can make reasoned objections concerning the composition of the Expert Evaluation Committees (EEC - panel of experts conducting external evaluation).According to the analysis of the review panel, there is room for a more substantial role of students in evaluations, which is currently limited to a few issues (review report p. 41).While the panel found the arrangement for the appointment of EEC transparent, the panel also underlined that CYQAA should publish the procedures and criteria for the selection of all categories of experts and to explicitly define and communicate the criteria for the selection of student experts.In its additional representation the agency stated that it has published on its website the procedures and criteria for the selection of all categories of experts, including students. The agency further explained that the involvement of student experts is not restricted by the law or limited by CYQAA, and that the agency endeavours to support students’ participation in evaluation processes. The agency further included details about a recent training workshop organised for student experts in preparation for an external review. CYQAA added that the review panel extract referring to the participation of students on limited matters referred to a few students and that the review panel concluded that ‘all groups of experts feel that they participate on an equal footing’ (review report p. 41).14.The agency further argued that students are equal to the rest of the panel members, that they follow the same terms of reference, have the same responsibilities (defined in the “Guidelines for the Membersof External Evaluation Committees”), receive the same information, directions and clarifications and have the same rights and obligationsas the other panel members.15.Having considering the clarification provided by the agency, the Register Committee was able to follow the panel’s conclusion of (substantial) compliance with ESG 2.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	05/11/2019
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	absence of student reviewers in panels for NCE procedures and overseas accreditations
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (21/10/2019)
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The involvement of students was flagged when A3ES was admitted to the Register. While the panel’s conclusion was that A3ES was substantially compliant withthe standard, the Register Committee noted that students were not involved in prior accreditation of study programmes (NCE) and international assessment teams. The Register Committee sought clarification from the panel in that regard. Inits response the panel explained that NCE was a compliance-check procedure based on juridic judgement and it involved only experts knowledgable in law. Furthermore, the panel considered A3ES arguments not to involve students in international assessment teams as reasonable andas exceptional cases that do not indicate that A3ES deviates significantly from the quality standards expected under 2.4.The clarification from the panel thus confirmed that students are not part of the panels for prior accreditation of study programmes (NCE) nor part of the panels for overseas compliance check. The Registered Committee considered that this arrangement did not meet the requirements of the standard and that students should be involved as expert panel members in all activities that involve an assessment by a panel of experts. Also for new study programme concepts and for existing programmes implemented in a new setting abroad, students may add a valuable additional and specific perspective to the process. Given the absence of student reviewers in panels for NCE procedures and overseas accreditations, the Register Committee concluded that the flag was not fully addressed and was unable to concur with the panel’s conclusion. The Register Committee concluded that A3ES only partially complies with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/07/2024
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	Training of experts
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“13. The Register Committee understood that the panels involve students and other stakeholders on equal bases. Furthermore, the Committee learned that despite the regular (online) trainings offered by the agency, very few people have enrolled for this online trainings.

14. The Register Committee therefore followed the panel’s conclusion that the agency continues to comply with the standard. The Committee, however, shared the panel’s view that the agency should find ways into making training opportunities more attractive for the reviewers to attend.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	04/04/2024
Standard	2.4 Peer-review experts
Keywords	students
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“17. In its past decision, the Register Committee noted PKA’s intention to ensure students are part of the peer-review expert groups in the opinion-giving process and to contribute as equal partners.

18. In its 2023 review report, the panel noted improvements related to the wider engagement of different stakeholders’ groups. In the case of opinion-giving procedure, panels are now composed of members of relevant sections or experts appointed from the academic teachers expert group and a student.

19. The Register Committee thus concluded that the agency has addressed the issues raised in the previous report and therefore can follow the panel’s judgment of compliance.”

Full decision: see agency register entry