The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) is an international association founded in 2000 that brings together European quality assurance agencies within the European Higher Education Area. ENQA promotes the continuous improvement of quality standards in higher education across Europe by providing guidelines, support, and independent evaluations. ANVUR has been a full member of ENQA since 2019.
Membership in ENQA ensures that a quality assurance agency operates in compliance with the common framework of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015). Membership lasts five years and is renewable following a periodic evaluation.
In 2023, the Agency initiated the procedure for membership renewal by preparing a Self-Assessment Report (SAR), the preliminary version of which was submitted to ENQA in November 2023.
The on-site visit by the Panel of Experts appointed by ENQA took place in January 2024. The experts drafted an External Review Report (EER), which was approved by the ENQA Board in June 2024.
In addition to serving for ENQA membership renewal, the ERR is also used to apply for inclusion in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). In July 2024, the Report was therefore sent to EQAR, whose final accreditation decision for inclusion in the Register was communicated to ANVUR on March 27, 2025
Accreditation process
- 27 January 2023: initiation of discussions for ANVUR’s candidacy for ENQA membership renewal and inclusion in the EQAR Register
- July 2023: signing of the tripartite contract (Terms of Reference - ToR)
- End of September 2023: appointment of the review panel
- 20 October 2023: submission of the Self-Assessment Report (and related documents) to ENQA and its transmission to the ENQA expert panel
- End of January 2024: on-site visit by the ENQA expert panel
- Spring 2024: finalization of the External Review Report (ERR) by the ENQA expert panel
- June 2024: Approval of the ERR by the ENQA Board
- July 2024: submission of the ERR to EQAR by ANVUR
- 27 March 2025: EQAR decision on the inclusion of ANVUR in the Register (and consequent automatic confirmation of ENQA membership)
- 10 April 2025: confirmation of ENQA membership for a further five-year period
Among the various institutional tasks assigned to the Agency, it is possible to distinguish between:
Activities included within the scope of the ESG:
- Initial accreditation of new universities and their study programmes
- Initial accreditation of Schools of Advanced Studies
- Initial accreditation of new university study programmes
- Periodic assessment of universities and their study programmes
- Initial accreditation and periodic assessment of PhD programmes
- Initial accreditation of new private AFAM institutions
- Initial accreditation of new AFAM study programmes
- Initial accreditation of decentralised branches of AFAM institutions and their study programmes
- Periodic assessment of AFAM institutions and their study programmes
Other activities not directly included in the ESG:
- Evaluation of research quality
- National scientific qualification and classification of scientific journals in the humanities and social sciences
- Development and administration of tests on students’ disciplinary and transversal skills
- Definition of administrative performance standards for higher education institutions and research institutes
In 2023, ANVUR initiated the preparatory activities for the renewal of its ENQA membership, which concluded in spring 2025 with its registration in EQAR and the renewal of ENQA membership for a further five-year term.
This international recognition highlights the role of the Agency as an independent institution committed to the evaluation of the quality of teaching and research in the university system and in higher education in the Arts, Music and Dance (AFAM).
