The Accreditation Council has awarded Aarhus University a positive institutional accreditation. This provides greater freedom to adjust and create degree programmes when they are prequalified.

2018.12.05 | Thomas Grønborg Sørensen

A seal of approval for the quality assurance system.

This good news was announced at the latest meeting of the Accreditation Council, which awarded Aarhus University a positive institutional accreditation. With this, the Accreditation Council chose to follow the recommendation from the panel which gave the thumbs-up to Aarhus University in its report earlier this year.

“It is really great to have been awarded this accreditation. This is the culmination of a great deal of hard work done by a lot of good people, staff and students alike. This is their reward, first and foremost,” says Pro-rector Berit Eika.

This positive accreditation means that the university will have more freedom over the next few years to develop new degree programmes and adjust existing ones when it has completed prequalification at RUVU (the Advisory Committee for Assessment of Post-secondary Study Programmes).

Recognition of a strong quality culture

In its decision, the Council states that Aarhus University’s quality assurance work is “well described and based on effective and systematic practice... There is also a good exchange of information, both vertically and horizontally, supporting well-founded efforts”.

“We have a strong system and a strong quality culture, and I am pleased that the Accreditation Council recognises that. We felt we were not far off our target after completing the process last year, and I am pleased that the adjustments we made back then have now brought us over the line,” says Berit Eika, referring to the fact that Aarhus University achieved a conditional positive accreditation at its first attempt back in 2017.

However, at that time, the Accreditation Panel pointed out defects in the system with regard to the monitoring of the extent to which degree programmes are based on research, and also in the use of external members for degree programme evaluations.

The university remedied these issues, resulting in a positive assessment from the Accreditation Council.

The positive institutional accreditation of Aarhus University will remain valid until 28 November 2024.