Enhancing the Coverage and Connectivity of QA in the EHEA through DEQAR

ended

Quality assurance in line with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) plays a crucial role in promoting quality enhancement and trust as a basis for (automatic) recognition of qualifications. The Europe-wide Database of External Quality Assurance Results (DEQAR) ensures one-stop-shop access to reliable information on the quality of higher education or how it is managed, based on reports following the ESG. The database is instrumental for the recognition process, as information centres (ENIC-NARICs), higher education institutions and employers need an efficient way to establish whether a higher education institution was subject to external QA. The DEQAR CONNECT project thus focuses on two of the Key Commitments agreed for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), on quality and recognition. The project will expand DEQAR’s coverage of higher education institutions and programmes, and will enhance DEQAR’s connectivity with other tools and initiatives in the field of digitalisation, QA and recognition. Especially by the latter, the proposal complements a range of previous and ongoing actions supported by Erasmus+. To expand coverage, DEQAR CONNECT will provide support and peer-learning to EQAR-registered QA agencies. In terms of connectivity, DEQAR CONNECT will further explore means of integrating data on QA results into the recognition of qualifications as well as in digital credentialing. Transversal activities will help mainstream the results and feed them into the EHEA policy making fora. DEQAR CONNECT will broaden the knowledge base on external quality assurance in the EHEA and contribute to making recognition more efficient, seamless and ultimately automatic. The project’s direct beneficiaries include quality assurance agencies, recognition information centres (ENIC-NARICs) and national authorities in the EHEA, while also higher education institutions, students and employers will reap the wider benefits.