Italy

• Governmental membership
  Italy has been a Governmental Member of EQAR since June 2018.

  Map: EHEA countries by governmental membership

• General information on higher education

  Higher education in Italy is offered by universities (including polytechnics), arts and music higher education institutions (alta formazione artistica e musicale - AFAM), higher schools for language mediators (scuole superiori per mediatori linguistici - SSML) and higher technical institutes (ITS).

• National external quality assurance requirements

  Quality assurance in higher education is carried out through internal institutional evaluation and external evaluation by the national quality assurance agency. The system for external review (AVA) was put in place in 2013 and revised in 2016 (see Ministerial Decree 987/2016).

  • Institutional accreditation
    Takes place every five year.

  • Programme accreditation
    Takes place every three year.

• EHEA key commitment

  Fully aligned with the ESG

  A fully functioning quality assurance system is in operation nationwide, in which all higher education institutions are subject to regular external quality assurance by an agency that has successfully demonstrated compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the EHEA (ESG) through registration on EQAR

  Map: implementation of the EHEA key commitment

• Cross-border quality assurance

  Not recognising foreign agencies as part of the national external QA requirements

  Map: recognition of cross-border quality assurance

• European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

  European Approach not available to higher education institutions

  Map: availability of the European Approach for QA of Joint Programmes

• Permalink
  https://data.deqar.eu/country/82
• Further information

  • Law no. 240 of 20/12/2010 on the organization of universities, academic staff and recruitment (in Italian)

  • Ministry responsible for higher education

  • Italy - European Higher Education Area

  • ENIC NARIC

  • Normative requirements on quality assurance (in Italian)

Registered agencies operating in Italy