Independent accreditation and certification
Independent accreditation and certification are results of stakeholders’ acknowledge of education institutions quality and quality assurance compliance with the education standards.
The education programs accreditation lets the education institution:
- increase the main stakeholders’ confidence in effectiveness and efficiency of an education institution;
- strengthen competitive advantages thanks to organization possibilities enhancement;
- provide society’s and professional community’s acknowledgement of high level of quality and education activity quality assurance;
- engage the education institutions staff into the work on quality provision, to increase its level of quality culture adherence;
- strengthen the leader role, what leads to constant quality improvement of education services, processes and results of education activity;
- provide the mechanism in order to demonstrate responsibility towards to the stakeholders;
- increase confidence level of supervisory bodies representatives and therefore to increase the volume reduction possibility of audits;
- increase the compliance level with the ENQA European quality assurance standards.
On the basis of reviewer’s report AKKORK Accreditation Council makes its decision on accreditation. The possible decisions are:
|
№ |
Decision |
Term of
accreditation |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Accreditation at high standards |
5 years |
|
2 |
Full accreditation |
3 years |
|
3 |
Accreditation with condition |
1 year |
|
4 |
Denial of accreditation |
The main criteria is the assessment of education quality. It is defined on the basis of evaluation of the learning outcomes in the defined education programme.
The evaluation of quality assurance supplements assessment of the education quality. Quality assurance defines the ability of the education institution to maintain and improve the education quality of the defined education programme during the period which it is accredited for.
As a result of the assessment according to the criteria are defined the marks for each of the criteria which characterize the confidence degree of the reviewers that the education programme can maintain and improve the quality and quality assurances during the accredited period.
The positive decision on accreditation is made only in the case when the education quality criterion and the quality assurance criterion are 3, 4 or 5. In the case when one of the quality assurance criteria has «2», the decision “Denial in accreditation” is made.
Acquiring the “Accreditation at high standards”, it means the highest assessments in education quality and quality assurance means that the programme significantly overcomes the (basic) standards and demonstrates the best practices in all or in separate criteria. This programme can be taken as benchmark.
| Variants of accreditation decision | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| № | Education quality assessment | Quality assurance assessment | Accreditation decision | Comments | |
| Education quality (EQ) | Quality assurance (QA) | ||||
| 1. | 2 | 3, 4 or 5 | Denial in accreditation |
EQ is low. |
Level of the QA is acceptable, good or high, that allows significantly increase the education quality. |
| 2. | 3 | 2 | Denial in accreditation | EQ is acceptable. HEI has to undertake urgent measures during the next 1,5years to significantly increase and further maintain the education quality. The reviewers are not sure that the HEI could fulfill the following measures as the maintenance of the QA is on a low level. | The level of QA is low. QA does not give students possibilities to achieve the most part of the declared learning outcomes.. HEI has to improve the QA during 1year up to acceptable level. During the next 2 years it needs to undertake the urgent measures to significantly increase the quality assurance. |
| 4 | Denial in accreditation | EQ is good, but is achieved thanks to art of the teachers and enthusiasm of the students.HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain EQ and undertake measures to further improve EQ. However reviewers are not sure that the HEI will be able to undertake those measures as the QA provision is low. |
|||
| 5 | Denial in accreditation | QA is high, but is achieved thanks to art of the teachers and enthusiasm of the students. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain EQ, measures for further improvement of EQ are not obligatory. However reviewers are not sure that the HEI will be able to undertake those measures as the QA provision is low. |
|||
| 3. | 3 | 3 | Accreditation with conditions for 1year |
EQ is acceptable. HEI needs in the following 1,5years to undertake the measures to significantly increase the education quality. During the next 1,5years HEI needs to undertake measures to maintain and further improve the education quality. |
The level of the QA is acceptable. HEI during the next 1,5years needs to significantly increase the QA provision. During further 1,5years to undertake measures to maintain and improve the education quality assurance. |
| 4 | Accreditation with conditions for 1year |
The level of the QA is good. HEI during the next 3 years is able to maintain the level of QA and undertake measures to further improvement of QA. |
|||
| 5 | Accreditation with conditions for 1year |
The level of QA is high. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain QA, measures for further improvement of QA are not obligatory. |
|||
| 4. | 4 | 3 | Accreditation with conditions for 1year |
EQ is good. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain EQ and/or undertake measures to further improve EQ. However reviewers are not sure that the HEI will be able to undertake those measures as the QA provision is only at acceptable level. |
The level of the QA is acceptable. HEI during the next 1,5years needs to significantly increase the QA provision. During further 1,5years to undertake measures to maintain and improve the education quality assurance. |
| 4 | Full accreditation for 3 years | EQ is good. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain EQ and/or undertake measures to further improve EQ. Reviewers are sure that the HEI will be able to undertake those measures as the QA provision is at good level. |
The level of the QA is good. HEI during the next 3 years is able to maintain the level of QA and undertake measures to further improvement of QA. |
||
| 5 | Full accreditation for 3 years | EQ is good. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain EQ and/or undertake measures to further improve EQ. Reviewers are sure that the HEI will be able to undertake those measures as the QA provision is at high level. |
The level of QA is high. HEI during the next 3years needs to maintain QA, measures for further improvement of QA are not obligatory. |
||
The best
solution for educational institutions is to cooperate with
AKKORK on the long term basis, in which the program accreditation and
accreditation of the university as a whole could be done on
a regular basis when the term the previous accreditation ends.
In the course of independent accreditation conduct AKKORK applies multistandard approach, what lets the education institutions pass the following accreditation programs:
- International accreditation
- E-learning system accreditation
- The internal quality system certification of education process management
