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• Transitional evaluation 2009-2012
• Accreditation 2009
• Quality assessment of study programme groups
• Institutional accreditation

Trends in the system of external evaluation of quality of higher education in Estonia 2009 - 2012

In Estonia, pursuant to the Universities Act, the Institutions of Professional Higher Education Act, and the Private Schools Act, a new national system of quality assurance of higher education will be implemented as of 1 January 2010:

• In order to be granted the right to conduct studies at the higher education level (the so-called education license of the new generation), private, public, and state institutions of higher education shall submit a request, attaching to it the information on the quality, resources, and sustainability of studies to the Ministry of Education and Research. The request shall be processed through the Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency. In the case of a positive result, the right to conduct studies shall be approved by a regulation of the Government of the Republic in an Annex to the Standard of Higher Education.

• External evaluation carried out by an independent accreditation agency (the Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency or, with its approval, a competent foreign quality assessment agency):

 Institutional accreditation of a higher education institution is an external evaluation during which the internal quality assurance system of the educational institution and its functioning are assessed, including the fulfilment of tasks the educational institution has been entrusted with and the conformity of its management, administration, study and research environment to the objectives and development plan of the educational institution.

 Assessment of the quality of a study programme group is evaluation of the conformity of the study programmes belonging to the study programme group and the instruction provided on the basis thereof to legislation as well as to national and international standards, including the level of the corresponding theoretical and practical instruction, the research and pedagogical qualification of the teaching staff and research staff, as well as the sufficiency and sustainability of resources for the provision of instruction.

Pursuant to law, institutional accreditation and quality assessment of study programme groups can be requestedand carried out as of 1 January 2010, provided thatthe relevant institution of higher education has been granted the right to conduct studies at least in one study programme group at the higher education level. As the Government of the Republic will issue the first education licenses in the end of 2009, the actual implementation of institutional accreditation and assessment of quality of study programme groups will probably be postponed until 2011.

The main differences of the new system compared to the previous one are as following:

1. All institutions of higher education must request an education licence from the Government of the Republic to obtain the right to conduct studies in a specific study programme group and at a specific level of education. The education license received for the study programme group extends state recognition to all study programmes in that group.
2. There is no accreditation of a single study programme; assessment committees, comprised of international experts, give feedback to the entire study programme group at least once in every seven years.
3. Institutional accreditation, or an external evaluation of the functioning of the organisation as a whole and its system of quality assurance, is going to be the main instrument for quality assurance.
4. The purpose of an external evaluation of higher education is feedback, not the application of sanctions. 

Until 31 December 2009, requests for accreditation submitted before 1 September 2008 are processed under the conditions and pursuant to the procedure in force at the time of submitting the request. The functions of the Higher Education Quality Assessment Council are performed by its de facto (not de jure) successor the Assessment Council of the Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency.