Database of Precedents

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Lack of plan for thematic analysis;
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“In its decision of inclusion the Register the Committee noted that attention should be given to whether ECCE publishes regularly and systematically overarching analyses from its accreditation activity. The review panel’s finding showed that ECCE had not undertaken an analysis into its external quality assurance activities although the agency had committed to a series of research of pedagogic papers in its Draft Strategic Plan 2016-2020. The Register Committee underlined the view of the panel that while the need to undertake such analysis had increased (as a result of the rise in the number of reviews) that ECCE lacked the human resources and capacity to undertake such a structured analysis. In its additional representation ECCE provided three research papers co-authored by one of the accreditation committee members that were used to update ECCE standards. The agency also stated that the newly hired consultant will be expected to perform specific research on the internal activities of the organisation. While the Register Committee noted that resources were allocated into the development of thematic analysis, the Committee could not conclude that ECCE’s research papers describe and analyse the general findings of the agency’s activities nor that ECCE has developed a plan to ensure that thematic analysis will be regularly undertaken.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/07/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Inactivity in thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“21. The Register Committee understood by the panel’s analysis that the agency, since the last review, produced two publication named “Thematic analysis 2018 to mid-2021” and “Thematic Analysis mid 2021 to mid 2023”. However, as noted by the panel “these significantly digressed from the previous approach and in the eyes of the panel could not be taken as reports that describe and analyse the general findings of evalag’s external quality assurance activities as established by the standard. These reports give merely an overview of the most important projects, publications and events in the period under study, more like an annual report.”

22. The Register Committee, could concur with the panel analysis and underlined the panel’s recommendation that the agency should resume the work on thematic analysis, which was abandoned after 2018, particularly in light of the severe changes in the ‘German system’.

23. The Register Committee therefore concurred with the panel that evalag complies only partially with the standard.

24. For the remaining standards, the Register Committee was able to concur with the review panel's analysis and conclusion without further comments.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	13/10/2023
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	the geographical coverage of thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“21. The Register Committee noted that QAA carries out systematic thematic analysis within Scotland, sector-wide analysis in Wales, while UK-wide QAA has only carried out “The Quality Assurance of Alternative Providers: A Retrospective View”.

22. The Committee finds that the current activity is sufficient in its understanding and interpretation of the standard and therefore could not follow the panel’s judgment of partial compliance and concluded that QAA complies with ESG 3.4.

23. The Register Committee nevertheless underlines the panel’s recommendation that QAA should develop a clearer plan for thematic analyses for all of its external QA activities in all nations of the UK and publish them on its website.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	12/12/2023
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	publication, analysis
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“14. In its last decision, the Register Committee welcomed AKAST plans for further development of its thematic analysis after an appropriate number of programme accreditation procedures have been carried out.

15. The Register Committee noted that while AKAST has taken some steps in preparing thematic analysis since its last review, i.e., initiating a process for evaluation of the peer review processes carried out by AKAST, since 2022 at the time of the review, no thematic analysis have been made available nor any kind of such analysis have been published.

16. Considering the limited progress made since the inclusion on the Register and the limited development of thematic analysis, the Register Committee concurred with the panel that AKAST complies only partially with ESG 3.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	11/10/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	Agency (24/09/2024)
RC decision	Compliance

“59. The Register Committee learned from the report that the agency has conducted only one thematic analysis, focussing on only one standard from

its EQA Audit procedures carried out by the agency as of

2016.

60. The Committee learned that the agency is considering conducting a thematic analysis for the remaining ten standards. The panel, however, was

not provided with further information on the status of the development of this analysis or, in general, MFHEA’s policy on thematic analysis.

61. The Register Committee noted the agency's plans to revisit its policy and enhance its work on the thematic analysis. The Register Committee

found that these plans have yet to materialise in practice.

62. In its additional representation, the agency informed that it was in a process of conducting its latest thematic analysis and the same should be

finalised by the end of

2024.

63. The Register Committee further asked for clarification whether the work on the thematic analysis is ongoing and whether there is a clear

timeframe when the thematic analysis will be published. The agency clarified that the thematic analysis is currently being finalised and will be

published and presented to the public in December 2024 (see minuted clarification of 2024-09-24).

64. The Committee welcomed the work and progress done by the agency in producing thematic analysis and expects that MFHEA will continue

conducting thematic analysis on regular basis. Given the provided information in the additional representation and the further clarification,

the Register Committee could concur with the panel that the agency is in fact compliant with ESG 3.4.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/07/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“16. In its previous decision of registration on EQAR (of 2020-03-16), the Register Committee found the agency to be partially compliant with the standard, as the publications prepared by the agency did not analyse the outcomes of the review processes.

17. Based on the analysis of the review panel, the Register Committee understood that, since its last review in 2020, the agency published several thematic analyses. Conducting additional studies is also now part of the agency’s strategic documents.

18. The Register Committee was able to follow panel’s conclusion that AHPGS is now compliant with the standard. The Committee, further highlighted the panel’s recommendation that the agency should secure adequate dissemination of its thematic analysis, keeping in mind the various target audiences.

19. For the remaining standards, the Register Committee was able to concur with the review panel's analysis and conclusion without further comments.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	02/07/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Inactivity in implementing thematic analyses
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“15. The Register Committee understood from the analysis by the panel that the most recent thematic analysis published by the agency were done in 2017.Furthermore, the Committee, noted that “the agency confirmed to the panel that it does not currently have a systematic approach to conducting thematic analysis but confirmed its commitment to developing this.”

16. The Register Committee concurred with the panel that A3ES only partially complies with ESG 3.4. The Register Committee underlined the panel’s recommendation that the agency should resume conducting and publishing thematic analysis of the outcomes and findings of its external quality assurance activities.

17. For the remaining standards, the Register Committee was able to concur with the review panel's analysis and conclusion without further comments.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Targeted, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	27/11/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“13. In its last decision for renewal of registration (of 2020-03-16), the Register Committee found that VLUHR QA only partially fulfilled the requirements of the standard, as the agency did not publish thematic analysis based on the findings of external quality assurance activities.

14. The Register Committee learned from the panel’s analysis that VLUHR QA has completed three thematic analysis reports since their last review and the number of reports aligns with the level of activity of the agency. Additionally, thematic analysis has been integrated into VLUHR QA’s daily work and in the current Policy Plan (2023-2027).

15. Furthermore, the Register Committee understood that VLUHR QA focusses on the thematic analyses being relevant to higher education stakeholders and ministry representatives, rather than solely concentrating on the outcomes of external review results.

16. The Register Committee was able to follow panel’s conclusion that VLUHR QA is now compliant with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	27/11/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	Thematic analysis
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“21. The Register Committee learned from the report that AQUIB has a Thematic Analysis Protocol for a systematic approach to conducting thematic analyses, which was adopted in 2023 and is being implemented for the first time. However, the topic of the only thematic analysis conducted so far does not incorporate the results of its external quality assurance procedures.

22. Considering that the only thematic analysis conducted by AQUIB so far is outside the scope of ESG, the Register Committee was unable to concur with the panel’s conclusion of compliance and found that AQUIB only partially complies with the standard.

23. For the remaining standards, the Register Committee was able to concur with the review panel's analysis and conclusion without further comments.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	27/11/2024
Standard	3.4 Thematic analysis
Keywords	thematic report
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“20. The Register Committee learned that ACCUA has created a statistical analysis unit and produced five thematic reports since the last external review. However, as noted by the panel, out of the five reports only one can be considered as a thematic analysis in the sense of the standard, since the other four reports provided useful inputs for policy debates with regional stakeholders and for improvements in quality assurance at universities.

21. The Register Committee finds, in line with its interpretation of the standard, that the thematic analysis report in question is sufficient for achieving compliance with the standard and therefore could not follow the panel’s judgement of partial compliance and concluded that ACCUA complies with ESG 3.4.

22. The Register Committee nevertheless underlined the panel’s recommendation that the agency should devise a clear plan for thematic studies and use its evaluation reports to produce these studies.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/03/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Infringement of the organizational independence
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Committee could not verify how the agency ensures its independence from its founder and found the distribution of power among stakeholders in the governing of the agency unequal. The Committee noted that the current arrangements include the possibility of

the founder or the Director General exercising their controlling stake in several regards, causing a substantial risk of an infringement on the

independence of the agency (see also interpretation 18).”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	18/03/2021
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Organizational independence; Lack of formal mechanisms for tackling conflict of interest
Panel conclusion	Substantial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (15/03/2021)
RC decision	Partial compliance

“Concerns about the Government's control of all major appointments remain. In particular, the way in which the Director General is selected has not been made fully transparent and it remained unclear whether the involvement of stakeholders in appointing the Advisory Board is secured in official documents. Moreover, the potential conflict of interest that the Director General could come across in their daily operations does not seem to be fully addressed through formal means by the agency.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	22/06/2020
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Organisational independence; Appointment of the members by minister
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“In terms of organisational independence, the evidence presented by the panel shows that members of the Governing Board are appointed by the regional minister responsible for universities and that the Governing Board has a strong representation of its regional Government, including the Chairperson. The agency is largely dependent on the regional Government also for the approvals and hiring of new staff and the annual approval of its budget. ”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	11/09/2018
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Organisational independence
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee noted that since its last evaluation, ANECA has strengthened its independence i.e. becoming an autonomous public body, ensuring a more balanced representations in its Governing Council, appointing of its own director and operating with full fiscal autonomy. The Register Committee further noted that “the operation of ANECA’s policies and procedures surrounding the design, implementation and reporting on all the evaluation processes takes place in a fully independent and autonomous manner” (Review report, p. 26).”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	operational independence
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (20/04/2025)
RC decision	Compliance

“The Register Committee sought and received clarification from the panel as regards ANQA's independence in defining its own procedures and methods. The Committee appreciated the panel's explanation as to how ANQA developed its Manual independently.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	20/06/2017
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	organisational and operational independence
Panel conclusion	Full compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Compliance

“The review panel was satisfied that the 2014 decree on AEQES and the current organisational status and structure sufficiently demonstrate and safeguard AEQES independence. In particular, AEQES gained the ability to hire staff from its own budget, independently of the Ministry”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Focused, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	03/03/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Infringement of the operational independence
Panel conclusion	Compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“Dependency of the agency on staff paid by higher education institutions”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	30/06/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Overlapping responsibilities between different bodies/ Lack of diversity
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“34. The panel raised issues related to the high involvement of representatives of accredited institutions, amplified by the small size of the chiropractic community, as well as the overlapping responsibilities between different agency bodies. In particular, the panel regarded critically the ex-officio mutual memberships of the Executive Committee and QAAC chairperson in the respective other committee, the involvement of both bodies in the QA process and the close involvement of the QAAC in pre-screening self-evaluation reports.

35. In light of these concerns, the Register Committee concurred with the panel’s conclusion that ECCE only partially complies with the standard.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Initial
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	13/10/2023
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	Operational independence; Independence of formal outcomes
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	–
RC decision	Partial compliance

“The Committee learned that both the president and the vice president

of KAZSEE have voting rights in the two bodies in which they are members

of, i.e. the Accreditation Council and the Supervisory Board. In panel’s view

the “mixture of roles [of the President and the vice President] could make

the [decision making] system vulnerable”. The Committee could follow panel’s reasoning that the current

arrangements could pose threat for the operational independence and the

independence of formal outcomes.”

Full decision: see agency register entry

Application	Renewal
Review	Full, coordinated by ENQA
Decision of	27/11/2024
Standard	3.3 Independence
Keywords	High level of involvement of the Government of Georgia in the selection of candidates for several leadership and managerial positions in the agency
Panel conclusion	Partial compliance
Clarification request(s)	Panel (28/05/2024)
RC decision	Non-compliance

“The Register Committee found that the agency remains having weak

organisational independence as the government persists having strong involvement in the appointment of several NCEQE’s bodies. The Committee found that further panel insight should asses whether the Government’s significant involvement in the agency’s operations affects the notable staff overturn (i.e. the operational independence) and the final conclusions of the accreditation decisions (i.e. the independence of formal outcomes).”

Full decision: see agency register entry