At the seminar two research projects on impact of accreditation and external QA were presented. One was commissioned by the German accreditation agency ZEvA and focused on the impact of programme accreditation in the past 5 years in the state of Lower Saxony. The other study was commissioned by INQAAHE and carried out by CHEPS. Here the focus was on the impact of QA on cross-border HE. Representatives of universities (EUA), employers (BusinessEurope) and students gave their views on the impact of accreditation and QA. There was a consensus that more impact studies are needed which should particulalrly focus on the relationship between internal and external QA, how external QA can improve the teaching and learning process, and how it can enhance trust in higher education. There was also a call addressed to QA and accreditation agencies to make it better visible for the public what the effects are of external QA and accreditation.

ECA intends to facilitate the need for coordinated research on impact in a close dialogue with higher education institutions and its stakeholders. Working group 2 of ECA will make a plan for continued work on the impact of accreditation and QA.

The seminar presentations can be downloaded here.