Accreditation
The accreditation procedure consists of three consecutive steps: the self evaluation, the external assessment and the accreditation. These steps are generically described below.
1. Self evaluation
The first step in the accreditation procedure is the self evaluation. The institution and/or the programme is responsible for carrying out a self-evaluation of the programme(s) concerned. This process is concluded with a self-evaluation report. The self-evaluation report contains a description and evaluation of the programme. This is done according to at least the standards (and criteria) of the relevant Dutch assessment frameworks for the higher education accreditation system or the Flemish accreditation framework.
The programme's different specialisations and/or locations, if present, are described and evaluated separately. In addition, the self-evaluation report indicates and substantiates the level and orientation of the programme.
2. External assessment
The second step in the accreditation procedure is the external assessment by a panel of experts. Those experts will be responsible for the external assessment of the programme. They use the relevant assessment framework to assess the quality of the programme. The external assessment focuses on learning outcomes.
The panel writes down their (objective) findings, (subjective) considerations and conclusions in their assessment report.
3. Accreditation
The third step in the accreditation framework is accreditation itself. The institution submits an application for accreditation of a programme to NVAO. NVAO uses the evaluation criteria in the accreditation framework to evaluate the assessment report and the overall conclusions expressed in it, the panel composition and the methodology used. This means that NVAO verifies whether the programme offers generic quality.
Subsequently, NVAO takes an accreditation decision and lays down its findings in an accreditation report. Finally, the panel's assessment report and NVAO's accreditation report (including the accreditation decision) are published by NVAO.
Decision-making
- if the assessment report provides insufficient information regarding the programme, NVAO can decide to reject the report. This means that the report doesn't provide sufficient information regarding the fulfilment of the accreditation criteria, i.e. the report is unclear. Since NVAO cannot decide whether the programme offers generic quality, it has no other choice than to reject the report;
- if the assessment report provides sufficient information regarding the programme but offers insufficient basis for NVAO to decide whether or not the programme fulfils the accreditation criteria and/or offers generic quality, NVAO can take additional measures. NVAO can first interview (selected) members of the assessment panel. If this doesn't provide sufficient additional information, the institution can be requested to provide an additional assessment within a period set by NVAO or NVAO can decide to undertake a verification procedure. The verification procedure consists of an extra external assessment by an assessment panel convened by NVAO;
- if the accreditation decision is positive, the programme is accredited. This means that the programme is included in the relevant official register (i.e. the CROHO in the Netherlands or the Higher Education Register in Flanders). This registration means that the degree awarded by the programme is recognised by the national authorities. Additionally, accredited programmes can receive public funding and the students enrolled in these programmes can receive student support (e.g. grants). However, public funding and student support are normally not available for programmes offered by private institutions;
- if the accreditation decision is negative, the programme looses accreditation. This means the programme is deleted from the relevant official register and can no longer be offered. There is however a possibility of temporary recognition during a recovery periode.
Documents
Accreditation Framework (Flanders)
Definitions of dropout rates, success rates, student-teacher ratio, qualifications of teaching staff and education intensity
NVAO guideline for final projects assessments by panels during the external assessment process for accreditation (The Netherlands)
Requirements regarding panel composition within the framework of the accreditation system
