Evaluation steps

At the end of the evaluation process, the report by the evaluation team is published on our website and institutions are asked to submit a progress report after one year, to support follow-up actions.

A more detailed description of each of the steps in the evaluation process is available in the Guidelines for Institutions (see under types of evaluations). If you require an evaluation with a different timeline, please contact us.

Types of Evaluations

We offer different types of evaluations to suit your needs. All evaluations examine the institution as a whole (not individual study programmes or units) and are carried out on a voluntary basis. Each type of evaluation has its own set of Guidelines, which describe the evaluation process in detail and provide guidance for both the institution and the evaluation team.

• Initial evaluation

  This is a comprehensive evaluation for individual institutions who have not had an IEP evaluation before, or had one over three years ago. Choose this type of evaluation as your starting point for the IEP process.

  You also have the option of selecting a special focus for the evaluation. The focus is approached within the context of a full institutional evaluation, but will be given extra attention throughout the evaluation processes, with more in-depth analysis and recommendations. The topics of focus currently offered are internationalisation; and management of research and use of research results. Choose this type of evaluation if your institution has a special interest in one of the two areas of focus.

  Your institution may register for an initial evaluation on its own, or for a combined package, in which you already commit to a follow-up evaluation between one and three years later. There is a reduced fee for the two evaluations when registering for a combined package. Choose this type of evaluation if your institution wants to ensure continuity and maximise the impact of the IEP evaluation cycle.

  Guidelines for institutions:

  • Initial evaluation
  • Initial evaluation with a special focus on internationalisation
  • Initial evaluation with a special focus on management of research and use of research

• Follow-up evaluation

  This is an evaluation to support institutions that had an initial evaluation between one and three years ago. Choose this type of evaluation if your institution wants to identify the impact of the initial evaluation, investigate the changes in the intervening period and provide further impetus for change.

  The evaluation will involve one site visit and the evaluation team will be formed form a mixture of new members and members who conducted the initial evaluation.

  Guidelines for institutions:

  • Follow-up evaluation

• Coordinated evaluations

  Coordinated evaluations are initiated at the joint request of institutions and public authorities, and usually involve all or most higher education institutions in the respective country. As a result of a coordinated exercise, each institution receives its own IEP evaluation report and, if requested, we provide a sector report that highlights shared issues and challenges and facilitates a dialogue among key stakeholders, including governments.

  We have conducted coordinated evaluations in a range of countries including Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, Romania and, most recently, Montenegro. You can view the sectoral reports from all coordinated evaluations here.

  Guidelines for institutions:

  • Coordinated evaluation

• Evaluation of European University Alliances

  This evaluation is intended to strengthen alliances strategic leadership, change management capacity, internal quality culture, cooperation mechanisms and joint educational offerings. This evaluation is focused on each evaluated alliance as a whole, rather than its individual member institutions, operational units or study programmes, and the final recommendations are aligned with each alliance’s specific goals and objectives. This evaluation is comprehensive and considers the alliance’s unique profile, encouraging inclusive self-evaluation and institutional self-awareness, and assessing strategic leadership, governance, and the effectiveness of alliance-wide quality assurance processes, including how these are used in decision-making.

  This evaluation encompasses all elements of the methodology and criteria developed by the Erasmus+ EuniQ project, which have been approved by the European Commission.

  Guidelines for alliances:

  Evaluation of European University Alliances