SIQA

Support for the enhancement-oriented implementation of the quality assurance key commitment

The SIQA project, coordinated by ARACIS, will support the work of the Bologna Thematic Peer Group C on Quality Assurance (TPG C on QA) during 2025-2028, building on the achievements and best practices from the IMINQA project that supported the work of the TPG C during 2022-2025.

  • The project will focus on providing support to TPG C members, through a collaborative approach, in addressing the remaining implementation gaps in EHEA countries of the third key commitment: “promoting a quality culture in higher education, fostered by fit-for-purpose quality assurance processes in line with the ESG (Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA)”, and on other commitments related to quality assurance, such as cross-border QA (CBQA) and the use of the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programs (EA).

Enhancing the EQAR Knowledge Base

One of the objectives that EQAR will lead, will be updating, enhancing and expanding the EQAR Knowledge Base, with the ultimate goal of enhancing the applicability and usefulness of the EQAR Knowledge Base for monitoring the implementation of a range of Bologna process tools and commitments related to QA, including the key commitments of external QA in line with the ESG.

Analysis of implementation and best practices

Another task for EQAR (together with ENQA and the TPG C members) is to support the TPG C members to amend legislative frameworks to allow the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes (EA) by conducting an analysis of implementation and best practices.

Building on other project outcomes, a comprehensive analysis will be conducted to identify gaps in the implementation of the EA, examine their underlying causes, and propose potential remedies. This analysis will be carried out through a combination of desk research and input from EHEA member states.

Project Consortium

Project coordinator:

  • ARACIS

Project partners:

  • EQAR
  • ANQA
  • CTI
  • Hcéres
  • ENQA
Project objectives

The general objectives of the project are:

  • Organisation of thematic peer-support activities and transnational dialogue and exchange, within regular TPG C members meetings. Support the TPG C members in fostering the implementation of the ESG through thematic analysis and by discussing the 2027 version of the ESGs and the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (EA). Actions to enhance the provision of transparent and up-to-date country-level information on the state of implementation of the ESG, through the development of the EQAR Knowledge Base.
  • Exchange best practices, foster transnational dialogue, and stimulate peer learning and mutual understanding among EHEA countries, in the field of quality assurance, through study visits among TPG C members.
  • Advance the work of national authorities and quality assurance agencies in meeting Bologna Process commitments on the international dimension of quality assurance by further addressing the implementation of the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (EA), facilitating and enhancing the implementation of cross-border quality assurance (CBQA), and exploring approaches to QA of trans-national education. This will be underpinned by actions to enhance the provision of transparent and up-to-date country-level information on the state of implementation of the EA, and openness to CBQA, through the development of the EQAR Knowledge Base.
  • Provide peer-learning on “innovative” EQA practices and to provide space for discussion on “EQA 2.0”, both for mature systems that may need some innovative perspectives and younger systems that could already make the leap to innovation.
Timeline

The project will start in June 2025 ad will last three years.