Overview of QA Standards

The Quality State Standards are classified into five review areas:​

• HEI’s Organization and management
• Resources
• Curricula
• Teaching, learning, assessment and research
• Students and their assistance

The institutional review is a multi-steps course of action comprising self-evaluation, preliminary evaluation based on documentation, review visit and preparation of evaluation report.

The process starts with the HEI’s self-evaluation by preparing the self-evaluation set of documents delivered to AQAHE. AQAHE brings together HEI’s self-evaluation documents with additional information to set up the self-evaluation dossier. Additional information embraces evidences gathered from AQAHE’s data base and HEI’s staff and students’ questionnaires, which are managed, stored and elaborated by AQAHE. Review experts may ask for further information during the visit on site in case it is deemed necessary for the review process.

After that, a group of external reviewers of AQAHE and QAA start off the evaluation process by scrutinizing the papers of self-evaluation dossier.

The third step is the visit at the HEI during which experts come together with HEI’s staff, students and other HEI’s representatives. The visit intention is check-up and confirmation of data, facts and information in diverse areas which have been spotted by the experts during the second phase (experts scrutinize the papers of self-evaluation dossier). This visit enables the experts to get to the evaluation findings and respective conclusions, each for every review area, as well as to the overall conclusion about the fulfilment extent of state standards by the HEI. The conclusions along with the reasoning behind them are particularised in the review report.

Following the onsite visit, the experts assess the accrued information and conclude their findings combined with reasoning for each review area. Subsequently, the review team of experts compile the draft review report. The conclusion for each review field is based on a four scale scheme and is articulated in one of the following ways: i. Standards of [name of field] are fully met, ii. Standards of [name of field] are mostly met, iii. Standards of [name of field] are partly met, iv. Standards of [name of field] are not met. Based on the findings and conclusions for every single review area, the review experts’ team brings about an overall estimation for the institutional review, which is stated in one of the subsequent manners: i. Quality state standards are fully met, ii. Quality state standards are mostly met, iii. Quality state standards are partly met, iv. Quality state standards are not met.

External quality assessment can be also performed by other assessment agencies, which are members with full rights of the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) or the European Register of Quality Assurance Agencies (EQAR). External evaluation conducted by these agencies is done in order to accreditate, rate or rank the study program/s or institutions of higher education. The external evaluation conducted by these agencies is done in accordance with standards and procedures adopted by the MES. External evaluation can also be carried out in cooperation with a foreign agency, part of the ENQA of EQAR's Room, and the Public Accreditation Agency for Higher Education. An accreditation agency, a member of ENQA or EQAR's, during the external quality assessment can also use local evaluation experts from the approved list of experts, according to their areas of expertise. The evaluation reports of these agencies are made public on the official website of the Public Accreditation Agency for Higher Education. Upon the institution’s request, or the Ministry of Education and Sport, or Public Accreditation Agency for Higher Education, other agencies could perform the instruction, training and supervision of assessment activities of the internal quality insurance units in a higher education institution. The activity of these agencies in the Republic of Albania may be temporary or permanent. When they exert a permanent activity, they must acquire legal personality according to the Albanian law, for commercial companies or nonprofit organizations.

(Source: Eurydice, page updated 18 February, 2021)