Quality assurance

Harmonisation and development of external quality assurance processes for engineering schools

Published on

The objective of the High Council for the Evaluation of Research and Higher Education (Hcéres) and the Commission des titres d’ingénieur (CTI) is to improve the French system for quality assurance in higher education, using the European framework (European Standard & Guidelines, ESG) as a basis. While respecting the prerogatives entrusted by law to each evaluation body, the CTI and Hcéres wish to improve their efficiency while simplifying the work of the institutions. This is the objective of the cooperation framework agreement signed on 23 September 2016.

  1. In the interests of the institutions and of simplifying procedures, the external evaluation of engineering schools carried out by Hcéres is based on the CTI’s opinions and accreditation decisions. Reciprocally, the evaluations carried out by the CTI will be supplemented by the evaluation reports of Hcéres. 

    The harmonisation of the evaluation and accreditation timetables already offers the possibility of coordinated evaluation missions. 

  2. Hcéres and the CTI are committed to the continuous improvement of their respective processes. The cooperation agreement is the appropriate framework for analysing procedures, practices and outputs in order to make changes that are in the interests of engineering schools and of higher education institutions in general. 

  3. The validation procedure for external evaluations, as described in the note from Hcéres dated June 2016, does not concern the CTI accreditation procedure. By virtue of the French Education Code, accreditation to deliver an engineering degree requires an external evaluation by the CTI. 

  4. In order that external evaluations of study programmes for engineering degrees and in other fields should be as consistent as possible, the joint working group set up under the cooperation agreement has been mandated to carry out a comparative analysis of the CTI evaluation / accreditation process and the Hcéres methodological and ethical standards in accordance with the note dated June 2016. 

    This analysis will be sent to the presidents of Hcéres and the CTI with a view to its conclusions and recommendations being taken into account by their respective internal bodies. 

  5. The CTI will be consulted and involved in the work of Hcéres to develop the French framework for the evaluation of higher education. 

  6. The CTI and Hcéres are members of the European Network of Quality Agencies (ENQA), listed in the European Higher Education Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) and active members of the ECA consortium. They collaborate in the development of exchanges in Europe and elsewhere in the world with counterpart agencies in the European Higher Education Area with a view to achieving continuous improvement in the quality of higher education. 

Hcéres and the CTI therefore actively contribute to the promotion and implementation of the ESG in France and strengthening the “Bologna Process” for which France currently provides the secretariat.  

Download