Welcome to the website of the European Consortium for Accreditation in higher education (ECA).
ECA aims for the mutual recognition of accreditation and quality assurance decisions. The members of ECA believe that this will contribute to the recognition of qualifications in higher education and the mobility of students and graduates in Europe. It will also prevent the necessity of multiple accreditations for joint programmes and institutions operating across borders. Other aims of ECA are:
- mutual learning and disseminating best practices in accreditation;
- providing transparent information on quality and supporting internationalisation of institutions and students.
Highlights
ECA members have signed 12 bilateral mutual recognition agreements and 4 letters of intent:
http://www.ecaconsortium.net/conference/documents2.php
ECA members have accomplished the following achievements:
- Commitment to a code of good practice.
- Commitment to a set of principles for the selection of experts.
- Cooperative projects meant to facilitate mutual recognition by increasing mutual understanding and trust.
- ECA members and ENIC/NARICs in six countries have signed a joint declaration on the "automatic" recognition of accredited qualifications.
- Commitment to principles for accreditation procedures regarding joint programmes.
- ECA members have agreed to regard each others accreditation tools and instruments as compatible and free of substantial differences. This agreement towards mutual recognition can be seen as paving the way for the signing of mutual recognition agreements.
More details on the work of ECA can be read in the Barcelona conference publication (please see downloads below).
ECA has also signed a cooperation agreement with the Network of Central and Eastern European Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEEN). The aim of the agreement is to understand and to work towards the acceptance of the accreditation procedures of the respective member agencies.
The documents mentioned above can be downloaded here.
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