An official Institutional Accreditation for Management Higher Education Providers
HEAD Accreditation for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area is based on the requirements of the European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) and Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area and also ISO 21001- Management systems for educational organizations.
HEAD Accreditation for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area specifies requirements for a management system for educational organizations (EOMS) when such an organization:
- a) needs to demonstrate its ability to support the acquisition and development of competence through teaching, learning or research;
- b) aims to enhance satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries and staff through the effective application of its EOMS, including processes for improvement of the system and assurance of conformity to the requirements of learners and other beneficiaries.
HEAD Institutional Accreditation is compatible European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) and Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area and ISO 21001:2020.
PDCA cycle
- Plan: establish the objectives of the system and its processes and resources.
- Do: implement what was planned;
- Check: monitor and (where applicable) measure processes and the resulting education services
- Act: take actions to improve performance, as necessary.
principles of EMOS
The HEAD Institutional Accreditation entails the following management principles:
- focus on learners and other beneficiaries;
- visionary leadership;
- engagement of people;
- process approach;
- improvement;
- evidence-based decisions;
- relationship management;
- social responsibility;
- accessibility and equity;
- ethical conduct in education;
- data security and protection.
Cross recognize of the HEAD Accreditation for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area
| HEAD ISO 21001 standards and requirements | European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) |
|---|---|
| 4.1 | P1 |
| 4.2 b) | P2, P7, P8 |
| 4.3 | P2, P7, P8 |
| 4.4.1 c) | P3 |
| 4.4.1 d) | I1 |
| 4.4.1 e) | P4 |
| 4.4.1 g) | P9 |
| 5.1.1 b) | P1 |
| 5.1.1 e) | I1 |
| 5.1.1 h) | P7 |
| 5.2.1 b) | P1 |
| 5.2.1 i) | P2, P7 |
| 5.2.2 | P6 |
| 5.3 | P4, P6 |
| 6.1.1 c) | A1 |
| 6.2.1 | P3 |
| 6.2.1 f) | P6 |
| 6.2.2 b) | I1 |
| 6.3 | I5 |
| 7.1.1 | I1 |
| 7.1.1.1 b) | I2, I3 |
| 7.1.2 | P4, I1 |
| 7.1.3 | I1 |
| 7.1.4 | I1 |
| 7.1.5.1 | P3, P10, I6, A1 |
| 7.1.6 | P5, I4 |
| 7.2 | I2, I3 |
| 7.3 | P6 |
| 7.4 | R1 |
| 7.4.2 a) | P2, P5, P7, P8 |
| 7.4.2 b) | P6 |
| 8.1.1 | P3, P10, I6, A1 |
| 8.2.1 a) | P2 |
| 8.2.1 c) | P1 |
| 8.2.2 | P2, P7, P8 |
| 8.2.2 e) | I1 |
| 8.3.2 e) | P4 |
| 8.3.2 f) | I1 |
| 8.3.2 h) | P8 |
| 8.3.2 j) | P10 |
| 8.3.4.1 | A1 |
| 8.3.4.3 | A1 |
| 8.3.4.3 c) | I1 |
| 8.3.5 | A1 |
| 8.4.1 | A1 |
| 8.4.2 | A1 |
| 8.5.1 | A1 |
| 8.5.1 b) | I1 |
| 8.5.1 c) | I6 |
| 8.5.6 | R3, R4 |
| 8.7 | A1 |
| 9.1.1 | A1, A3, A4, R2 |
| 9.1.2.1 | A5, R2 |
| 9.1.3 | A2, A3 |
| 9.1.4 | P2, P7, P10, I6, A2 |
| 9.1.5 | P10, I6, A2 |
| 9.2.2 a) | R2, R3 |
| 9.3.1 | R4 |
| 9.3.2 | P9, R3 |
| 9.3.2 c)1) | A5 |
| 9.3.2 d) | I1 |
| 9.3.2 g) | A5 |
| 9.3.3 | P9, I5, R3 |
| 9.3.3 c) | I1 |
| 10.2 | P9, I5, R3 |
| 10.3 | P9, I5, R3 |
| European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) | HEAD ISO 21001 standards and requirements |
|---|---|
| P1 | 4.1; 5.1.1 b); 5.2.1 b); 8.2.1 c) |
| P2 | 4.2 b); 4.3; 5.2.1 i); 7.4.2 a); 8.2.1 a); 8.2.2; 9.1. 4 |
| P3 | 4.4.1 c); 6.2.1; 7.1.5.1; 8.1.1 |
| P4 | 4.4.1 e); 5.3; 7.1.2; 8.3.2 e) |
| P5 | 7.1.6; 7.4.2 a) |
| P6 | 5.2.2; 5.3; 6.2.1 f); 7.3; 7.4.2 b) |
| P7 | 4.2 b); 4.3; 5.1.1 h); 5.2.1 i); 7.4.2 a); 8.2.2; 9.1.4 |
| P8 | 4.2 b); 4.3; 7.4.2 a); 8.3.2 h); 8.2.2 |
| P9 | 4.4.1 g); 9.3.2; 9.3.3; 10.2; 10.3 |
| P10 | 7.1.5.1; 8.1.1; 8.3.2 j); 9.1.4; 9.1.5 |
| I1 | 4.4.1 d); 5.1.1 e); 6.2.2 b); 7.1.1; 7.1.2; 7.1.3; 7.1.4; 8.3.2 f); 8.3.4.3 c); 8.2.2 e); 8.5.1 b); 9.3.2 d); 9.3.3 c) |
| I2 | 7.1.1.1 b); 7.2 |
| I3 | 7.1.1.1 b); 7.2 |
| I4 | 7.1.6 |
| I5 | 6.3; 9.3.3; 10.2; 10.3 |
| I6 | 7.1.5.1; 8.1.1; 8.5.1 c); 9.1.4; 9.1.5 |
| A1 | 6.1.1 c); 7.1.5.1; 8.1.1; 8.3.4.1; 8.3.4.3; 8.3.5; 8.5.1; 8.7; 8.4.1; 8.4.2; 9.1.1 |
| A2 | 9.1.3; 9.1.4; 9.1.5 |
| A3 | 9.1.1; 9.1.3 |
| A4 | 9.1.1 |
| A5 | 9.1.2.1; 9.3.2 c)1); 9.3.2 g) |
| R1 | 7.4 |
| R2 | 9.1.1; 9.1.2.1; 9.2.2 a) |
| R3 | 8.5.6 9.2.2 a); 9.3.2; 9.3.3; 10.2; 10.3 |
| R4 | 8.5.6; 9.3.1 |
| Parts | European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESGs) | ISO 21001 |
|---|---|---|
| Policy for Quality Assurance | While the ESGs require a quality assurance policy, which should be implemented through appropriate structures and processes they provide little guidance on how to design, implement, monitor and revise such a policy. | The main strength of ISO 21001 is that it provides detailed requirements on how an educational organization can manage each of these stages across the entire breadth of its operations. |
| Design and Approval of Programmes | Broadly speaking, the requirements of the ESGs and ISO 21001 reflect each other in this area. | |
| Student-Centred Learning, Teaching and Assessment | Like the ESGs, the ISO 21001 principle of “Focus on learner and other beneficiaries” specifies that learners should be engaged in their own learning. ISO 21001 provides guidance on how to embed this principle at every level of an educational organization’s management system. | |
| Student Admission, Progression, Recognition and Certification | Broadly speaking, the requirements of the ESGs and ISO 21001 reflect each other in this area. | |
| Teaching Staff | While the ESGs only speak about teaching staff, ISO 21001 sets requirements for recruiting, assuring the competence of and developing of all staff including management, administrative staff, teaching staff and teaching support staff - recognizing that all these staff have an important role to play in ensuring a well functioning educational organization. Additionally, ISO 21001 shows a stronger focus on performance evaluation of staff. | |
| Learning Resources and Student Support | Similar to the ESGs, ISO 21001 specifies requirements for ensuring adequate support to learners and educators - however, ISO 21001 extends this concept to cover human resources, facilities, psychosocial and physical environmental factors, monitoring & measuring resources as well as organizational knowledge and learning resources. | |
| Information Management | Similar to the ESGs, ISO 21001 sets requirements for information management. It additionally specifies requirements for data security, handling of data, and which institutional records need to be kept and maintained as documented information. In addition, ISO 21001 contains an entire annex of types of records which may be useful in monitoring and evaluation of an organization’s activities. | |
| Public Information | Like the ESGs, ISO 21001 specifies requirements on which information should be published, together with detailed requirements on ensuring it is accurate, objective, up to date and readily accessible. Depending on the information in question, it specifies requirements on what should be made public, and what should be released only to relevant stakeholders. | |
| Ongoing Monitoring and Periodic Review of Programmes | [Mentioned in the HEAD Programatic Accreditatation] | ISO 21001 is not a service-standard, but a management standard. As such, it does not contain specific requirements on the ongoing monitoring and periodic review of programmes. However, it does contain extensive requirements on the ongoing monitoring and periodic review of all operational processes within an organization, while giving specific requirements for curriculum design, assessment, award of credentials and admissions. It also provides detailed requirements on how to identify areas for improvement and non-conformances, how to register and document these, and how to take action based on their identification. |
| ISO 21001 is not a service-standard, but a management standard. As such, it does not contain specific requirements on the ongoing monitoring and periodic review of programmes. However, it does contain extensive requirements on the ongoing monitoring and periodic review of all operational processes within an organization, while giving specific requirements for curriculum design, assessment, award of credentials and admissions. It also provides detailed requirements on how to identify areas for improvement and non-conformances, how to register and document these, and how to take action based on their identification. | [Mentioned in the HEAD Programatic Accreditatation] | All ISO documents containing requirements for products, processes, services, persons, systems and bodies are written in accordance with the “neutrality principle”, such that conformity can be assessed by a manufacturer or supplier (first party), a user or purchaser (second party), or an independent body (third party) (ISO Directives Part 2, clause 33.1) - as such, ISO 21001 does not contain a requirement for cyclical external quality assurance |
| Until today, there has always been a high degree of tension between ISO quality management system standards and stakeholder-originated standards such as the ESGs, with the former seen as being better suited to help organizations meet commercial requirements rather than educational objectives. In its drafting, ISO 21001 brought together experts from quality management, education-policy experts and teachers to bridge this gap. Within Higher Education, ISO 21001 can be seen not as a competitor or a replacement for the ESGs but as a complementary tool which can help educational organizations to demonstrate their commitment to effective educational management practices. Both standards share a commitment towards a culture of organizational improvement and widened participation of stakeholders. Chiefly, ISO 21001 provides institutions who require it with a voluntary standard as to how to “implement, monitor and revise” their management systems in line with the ESGs. (Source: European Quality Assurance Forum) |
||
| EU Countries | No. of Certified | EU Countries | No. of Certified | EU Countries | No. of Certified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 63 | Italy | 400 | France | 361 |
| Belgium | 43 | Latvia | 7 | Slovakia | 41 |
| Blugaria | 41 | Lithuania | 25 | Germany | 2411 |
| Croatia | 63 | Luxembourg | 3 | Slovenia | 13 |
| Cyprus | 4 | Malta | 5 | Greece | 102 |
| Czech Republic | 68 | Netherlands | 63 | Spain | 1563 |
| Denmark | 2 | Poland | 124 | Hungary | 38 |
| Estonia | 10 | Portugal | 129 | Sweeden | 16 |
| Finland | 21 | Romania | 44 | Ireland | 8 |
| UK | 88 |
Why HEAD Accreditation for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area?
The potential benefits to an organization of implementing an HEAD Institutional Accreditation are:
- better alignment of educational mission, vision, objectives and action plans
- inclusive and equitable quality education for all
- promotion of self-learning and lifelong learning opportunities
- more personalized learning and effective response to special educational needs
- consistent processes and evaluation tools to demonstrate and increase effectiveness and efficiency
- increased credibility of the educational organization
- recognized means to enable organizations to demonstrate commitment to education management practices in the most effective manner
- a model for improvement
- harmonization of national standards within an international framework
- widened participation of interested parties
- stimulation of excellence and innovation
Applied in EU Education
HEAD Accreditation for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area Requirements
- The organization shall determine external and internal issues that are relevant to its purpose, its social responsibility and its strategic direction, and that affect its ability to achieve the intended outcomes of its EOMS.
- The organization shall monitor and review information about these external and internal issues.
Due to their effect or potential effect on the organization’s ability to consistently and sustainably provide educational products and services, the organization shall determine:
- the interested parties that are relevant to the EOMS;
- the relevant requirements of these interested parties.
These interested parties shall include:
— learners;
— other beneficiaries;
— staff of the organization.
The organization shall monitor and review information about these interested parties and their relevant requirements.
The organization shall determine the boundaries and applicability of the EOMS to establish its scope.
When determining this scope, the organization shall consider:
- the external and internal issues
- the requirements of relevant interested parties
- the products and services of the organization.
The organization shall apply all the requirements of this document if they are applicable within the determined scope of its EOMS.
The scope of the EOMS shall be available and be maintained as documented information. The scope shall state the types of products and services covered, and provide justification for any requirement of this document that the organization determines is not applicable to its EOMS.
Conformity to this document may only be claimed if the requirements determined as not being applicable do not affect the organization’s ability or responsibility to ensure the conformity of its products and services and the enhancement of learners’ and other beneficiaries’ satisfaction.
All products and services provided to learners by an educational organization shall be included within the scope of this EOMS.
The organization shall establish, implement, maintain and continually improve an EOMS, including the processes needed and their interactions, in accordance with the requirements of this document.
The organization shall determine processes for the EOMS and their application throughout the organization and shall:
- determine the inputs required and the outputs expected from these processes;
- determine the sequence and interaction of these processes;
- determine and apply the criteria and methods (including monitoring, measurement and related performance indicators) needed to ensure the effective operation and control of these processes;
- determine the resources needed for these processes and ensure their availability;
- assign the responsibilities and authorities for these processes;
- address the risks and opportunities as determined
- evaluate these processes and implement any changes needed to ensure that these processes achieve their intended results;
- improve the processes and the EOMS.
To the extent necessary, the organization shall:
- maintain documented information to support the operation of its processes
- retain documented information to have confidence that the processes are being carried out as planned.
Top management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the EOMS by:
- being accountable for the effectiveness of the EOMS;
- ensuring that the educational organization policy and educational organization objectives are established and are compatible with the context and strategic direction of the organization;
- ensuring the integration of the EOMS requirements into the organization’s business processes;
- promoting the use of the process approach and risk-based thinking;
- ensuring that the resources needed for the EOMS are available;
- communicating the importance of effective educational organization management and of conforming to the EOMS requirements;
- ensuring that the EOMS achieves its intended outcome(s);
- engaging, directing and supporting persons to contribute to the effectiveness of the EOMS;
- promoting continual improvement;
- supporting other relevant management roles to demonstrate their leadership as it applies to their areas of responsibility;
- supporting the sustainable implementation of the educational vision and related educational concepts;
- establishing, developing and maintaining a strategic plan for the organization;
- ensuring that learners’ educational requirements, including special needs, are identified and addressed;
- considering principles of social responsibility.
Top management shall be directly responsible for ensuring that:
- the needs and expectations of learners and other beneficiaries are determined, understood and consistently met, as evidenced by monitoring their satisfaction and educational progress;
- the risks and opportunities that can affect conformity of products and services and the ability to enhance learner and other beneficiary satisfaction are determined and addressed.
A special needs learner is someone who might have educational needs that cannot be met through regular instruction and assessment practices (e.g. exceptionalities such as behavioural, communicational, intellectual, physical, giftedness, or other learner needs for special education; learners can have more than one exceptionality). This implies the need to ensure the existence of communication channels so the interested parties can receive the information they need for their activity.
Top management shall ensure that:
— resources and training are in place to support accessibility in learning environments;
— reasonable accommodation is provided for learners with special needs to promote an equitable access to facilities and the educational environments as other learners.
Top management shall establish, review and maintain an educational organization policy that:
- supports the educational organization mission and vision;
- is appropriate to the purpose and context of the organization;
- provides a framework for setting educational organization objectives;
- includes a commitment to satisfy applicable requirements;
- includes a commitment to continual improvement of the EOMS;
- takes into account relevant educational, scientific and technical developments;
- includes a commitment to satisfy the organization’s social responsibility;
- describes and includes a commitment towards managing intellectual property;
- considers the needs and expectations of relevant interested parties.
The educational organization policy shall:
- be available and be maintained as documented information;
- be communicated, understood and applied within the organization;
- be available to relevant interested parties, as appropriate.
Top management shall ensure that the responsibilities and authorities for relevant roles are assigned and communicated within the organization.
Top management shall assign the responsibility and authority for:
- ensuring that the EOMS conforms to the requirements of this document;
- ensuring that the educational organization policy is understood and implemented;
- ensuring that the processes of the EOMS deliver their intended outputs;
- reporting on the performance of the EOMS and on opportunities for improvement to top management
- ensuring the promotion of a focus on learners and other beneficiaries throughout the organization;
- ensuring that the integrity of the EOMS is maintained when changes to the EOMS are planned and implemented;
- managing the organization’s communications;
- ensuring that all learning processes are integrated, regardless of method of delivery;
- control of documented information;
- managing the requirements of learners with special needs.
When planning for the EOMS, the organization shall consider the issues referred and determine the risks and opportunities that need to be addressed to:
- give assurance that the EOMS can achieve its intended outcome(s);
- enhance desirable effects;
- prevent, mitigate or reduce, undesired effects;
- achieve continual improvement.
The organization shall plan:
- actions to address these risks and opportunities;
How to:
— integrate and implement the actions into its EOMS processes
— evaluate the effectiveness of these actions.
Actions taken to address risks and opportunities shall be proportionate to the probability of occurrence and potential impact on the conformity of products and services
The organization shall establish educational organization objectives at relevant functions, levels and processes needed for the EOMS.
The educational organization objectives shall:
- be consistent with the educational organization policy;
- be measurable (if practicable);
- take into account applicable requirements;
- be relevant to conformity of products and services and to the enhancement of learner, staff and other beneficiary satisfaction;
- be continually monitored;
- be communicated;
- be updated as appropriate.
The organization shall maintain and retain documented information on the educational organization objectives and the achievement of them.
When planning how to achieve its educational organization objectives, the organization shall determine, and outline in its strategic plan:
- what will be done;
- what resources will be required;
- who will be responsible;
- when it will be completed;
- how the results will be evaluated.
Where the organization determines the need for changes to the EOMS, the changes shall be carried out in a planned manner.
The organization shall consider:
- the purpose of the changes and their potential consequences;
- the integrity of the EOMS;
- the availability and readiness of internal resources;
- the allocation or reallocation of responsibilities and authorities;
- the availability and readiness of external providers needed to implement the change.
The organization shall determine and provide the resources needed for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the EOMS, in such a way that they sustainably enhance:
- learner engagement and satisfaction through activities that improve learning and promote the achievement of learning outcomes;
- staff engagement and satisfaction through activities to improve staff competences to facilitate learning;
- other beneficiary satisfaction, through activities that contribute to the social benefits of learning.
The organization shall determine and monitor which resources shall be provided by:
- the organization;
- external providers.
The organization shall take into account the needs of learners with special needs and shall ensure that a variety of accessibility requirements are anticipated.
Human resources shall include as applicable:
- staff employed by the organization;
- volunteers and interns working with or contributing to the organization;
- staff of external providers working with or contributing to the organization.
The organization shall:
- determine and provide the human resources necessary for the effective implementation of its EOMS and for the operation and control of its processes;
- determine, implement and publish recruitment or selection criteria, which shall be available to relevant interested parties;
- maintain documented information on the process used for recruitment or selection, and retain documented information on the results of the recruitment.
The facilities shall include, as applicable, the following facilities that meet learner requirements:
- buildings, and grounds;
- equipment including hardware and software;
- utilities.
The organization shall:
- determine, provide and maintain safe facilities:
1) that are suitable for human resources to support learners’ development of competence;
2) that enhance learners’ development of competence; - ensure that the dimensions of the facilities are adequate to the requirements of those using them.
As appropriate, there shall be facilities for:
- teaching;
- self-learning;
- implementing knowledge;
- rest and recreation;
- subsistence.
The organization shall determine, provide and maintain a suitable environment to promote the overall wellbeing of relevant interested parties, by considering:
- psychosocial factors;
- physical factors.
General:
The organization shall determine and provide the resources needed to ensure valid and reliable results when monitoring or measuring is used to verify the conformity of products and services to requirements.
The organization shall ensure that the resources provided:
- are suitable for the specific type of monitoring and measurement activities being undertaken, i.e. adequate to the target, the type, method of educational delivery and duration of the educational service;
- are maintained to ensure their continued fitness for their purpose.
The organization shall retain appropriate documented information as evidence of fitness for purpose of monitoring and measurement resources.
Measurement traceability:
When measurement traceability is a requirement, or is considered by the organization to be an essential part of providing confidence in the validity of measurement results, measuring resources shall be:
- verified or calibrated, or both, at specified intervals, or prior to use, against measurement standards traceable to international or national measurement standards; when no such standards exist, the basis used for calibration or verification shall be retained as documented information;
- identified in order to determine their status;
- safeguarded from adjustments, damage or deterioration that would invalidate the calibration status and subsequent measurement results.
The organization shall determine if the validity of previous measurement results has been adversely affected when measuring equipment is found to be unfit for its intended purpose, and shall take appropriate action as necessary.
General
The organization shall determine the knowledge necessary for the operation of its processes and to achieve conformity of products and services.
This knowledge shall be maintained, and made available to the extent necessary.
When addressing changing needs and trends, the organization shall consider its current knowledge and determine how to acquire or access any necessary additional knowledge and required updates.
The organization shall encourage exchange of knowledge between all educators and staff, particularly amongst peers.
Learning resources
The organization shall provide learning resources, as appropriate, and shall make them available where and when needed.
The learning resources shall:
- reflect the needs and requirements of learners, other beneficiaries and educators;
- be reviewed at planned intervals to ensure they are up to date;
- be catalogued and referenced.
The organization shall respect intellectual property requirements and should encourage reusability of resources.
General
The organization shall:
- determine the necessary competence of person(s) doing work under its control that affects its educational organization performance;
- ensure that these persons are competent on the basis of appropriate education, training, or experience;
- establish and implement methods for evaluating the performance of staff;
- where applicable, take actions to acquire the necessary up to date competence, and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions taken;
- take actions to support and ensure the continual development of relevant staff competence;
- retain appropriate documented information as evidence of competence.
Additional requirements for special needs education:
The organization shall supply resources to support educators by:
- ensuring that all educators and staff having contact with learners with special needs have appropriate specialized training, which can include:
1) meeting the learning needs of learners who have different requirements;
2) differentiated instruction and assessment;
3) instructional scaffolding; - providing access to a network of specialists.
Awareness:
The organization shall ensure that relevant persons doing work under the organization’s control shall be aware of:
- the educational organization policy and strategy, and relevant EOMS objectives;
- their contribution to the effectiveness of the EOMS, including the benefits of improved educational organization performance;
- the implications of not conforming with the EOMS requirements.
General
The organization shall determine the internal and external communications relevant to the EOMS, including:
- on what it will communicate;
- why to communicate;
- when to communicate;
- with whom to communicate;
- how to communicate;
- who communicates.
Communication purposes:
Internal and external communication shall have the purpose of:
- seeking the opinion or consent of relevant interested parties;
- conveying to interested parties relevant, accurate and timely information, consistent with the organization’s mission, vision, strategy and policy;
- collaborating and coordinating activities and processes with relevant interested parties within the organization.
Communication arrangements:
The organization shall determine and implement effective arrangements for communicating with learners and other interested parties in relation to:
- organizational policy and strategic plan;
- design, content and delivery of educational products and services;
- enquiries, application, admission, or registration;
- learners’ performance data, including results of formative and summative assessment;
- learner and interested parties’ feedback, including learner complaints and learners/interested parties’ satisfaction surveys.
The organization shall inform their learners and other beneficiaries about external contact points in case of unresolved issues.
At planned intervals, the organization shall:
- monitor the implementation of its communication efforts;
- analyse and improve the communication plan based on the results of monitoring.
The organization shall retain documented information of the communication process.
General
The organization’s EOMS shall include:
- documented information required by this document;
- documented information determined by the organization as being necessary for the effectiveness of the EOMS.
Creating and updating:
When creating and updating documented information, the organization shall ensure appropriate:
- identification and description (e.g. a title, date, author, or reference number);
- format (e.g. language, software version, graphics) and media (e.g. paper, electronic), taking into account the accessibility requirements of persons with special needs;
- review and approval for suitability and adequacy.
Control of documented information:
Documented information required by the EOMS and by this document shall be controlled to ensure:
- it is available and suitable for use, where and when it is needed;
- it is adequately protected (e.g. from loss of confidentiality, improper use, or loss of integrity, or unintended alterations).
For the control of documented information, the organization shall address the following activities, as applicable:
- distribution, access, retrieval and use;
- protection and security, including redundancy;
- storage and preservation, including preservation of legibility;
- control of changes (e.g. version control);
- retention and disposition;
- ensuring confidentiality;
- prevention of the unintended use of obsolete documented information.
Documented information of external origin determined by the organization to be necessary for the planning and effective operation of the EOMS shall be identified, as appropriate, and controlled.
The controls established shall be maintained as documented information.
General
The organization shall plan, implement and control the processes (see 4.4) needed to meet requirements for the provision of educational products and services, and to implement the actions determined by:
- determining requirements for the educational products and services;
- establishing criteria for the processes;
- determining the resources needed to achieve conformity to the educational product and service requirements;
- implementing control of the processes in accordance with the criteria;
- determining and keeping documented information to the extent necessary:
1) to have confidence that the processes have been carried out as planned;
2) to demonstrate the conformity of educational products and services to their requirements.
The output of this planning shall be suitable for the organization’s operations.
The organization shall control planned changes and review the consequences of unintended changes, taking action to mitigate any adverse effects, as necessary.
The organization shall ensure that outsourced processes are controlled.
Specific operational planning and control of educational products and services
The organization shall plan the design, development and expected outcomes of the educational products and services, including:
- learning outcomes;
- ensuring appropriate and accessible teaching methods and learning environments;
- defining criteria for learning assessment;
- conducting learning assessment;
- defining and conducting improvement methods;
- providing support services.
Additional requirements for special needs education
The organization should:
- show flexibility to support the learner co-construction of the learning process based on skills, abilities and interest, including approaches such as:
1) adaptive instruction;
2) accelerated or enriched content;
3) allowing enrolment in two distinct programmes or educational organizations;
4) individually tailored measures;
5) curriculum adjustment or modification of the education programme to match the learner specific profile, above or below the default age-appropriate grade or level expectations for a particular subject or course;
6) recognition of prior learning and experience; - facilitate a team environment with adequate resources to support individual learners to meet their optimal potential;
- provide linkages to workplace opportunities;
- ensure the provision of healthy and nutritious meals as necessary.
Determining the requirements for the educational products and services
When determining the requirements for the educational products and services to be offered to learners and other beneficiaries, the organization shall ensure that the requirements for the educational products and services are defined, including:
- those considered necessary by the organization due to its policy and strategic plan;
- those resulting from needs analysis that is performed to determine requirements of (current and potential future) learners and other beneficiaries, in particular those with special needs;
- those resulting from international demands and developments;
- those resulting from the labour market;
- those resulting from research;
- applicable health and safety requirements.
The organization shall ensure it can meet the claims made for the educational products and services it offers.
Communicating the requirements for the educational products and services
Commencing with, or prior to the delivery of the educational products and services, the organization shall notify the learners and other relevant interested parties, and where appropriate, check their understanding of:
- the purpose(s), format and content of the educational products and services being provided, including the instruments and criteria to be used for evaluation;
- the commitments, responsibilities and expectations placed on the learners and other beneficiaries;
- the means by which the learning achieved and assessed will be recognized and retained as documented information;
- the methods to be used in case of interested party dissatisfaction or disagreement between any interested party and the EOMS;
- who will support learning and evaluation, and how it will be supported;
- any costs involved, such as tuition fees, examination fees, and the purchase of learning materials;
- any prerequisites, such as required skills (including ICT skills), qualifications and professional experience.
Changes to requirements for the educational products and services
The organization shall ensure that relevant documented information is amended, and that relevant interested parties are made aware of the changed requirements, when the requirements for educational products and services are changed.
General
The organization shall establish, implement and maintain a design and development process that is appropriate to ensure the subsequent provision of educational products and services.
Design and development planning
In determining the stages and controls for design and development, the organization shall consider:
- the requirements defined;
- the nature, duration and complexity of the design and development activities;
- the required process stages, including applicable design and development reviews;
- the required design and development verification and validation activities;
- the responsibilities and authorities involved in the design and development process;
- the internal and external resource needs for the design and development of educational products and services;
- the need to control interfaces between persons involved in the design and development process;
- the need for involvement of learners and other beneficiaries in the design and development process;
- the requirements for subsequent provision of educational products and services;
- the level of control expected for the design and development process by learners, other beneficiaries and other relevant interested parties;
- the documented information needed to demonstrate that design and development requirements have been met;
- the evidence-based approach;
- the extent to which learners require individualized learning pathways, based on their skills, interests and aptitudes;
- the need for reusability, accessibility, interchangeability and durability in course authoring, production and delivery tools.
Design and development inputs
The organization shall determine the requirements essential for the specific types of educational products and services to be designed and developed. The organization shall consider:
- functional and performance requirements;
- information derived from previous similar design and development activities;
- standards or codes of practice that the organization has committed to implement;
- potential consequences of failure due to the nature of the educational products and services.
Inputs shall be complete, unambiguous and adequate for design and development purposes.
Conflicting design and development inputs shall be resolved.
The organization shall retain documented information on design and development inputs.
General
The organization shall apply controls to the design and development process to ensure that:
- the results to be achieved are defined;
- reviews are conducted to evaluate the ability of the results of design and development to meet requirements;
- verification and validation activities are conducted to ensure that the resulting educational products and services meet the requirements for the specified application or intended use;
- any necessary actions are taken on problems determined during the reviews, or verification and validation activities.
The organization shall retain documented information, as applicable, on:
- the results of any reviews, verification and validation activities;
- any new requirements for the educational products and services.
Educational service design and development controls
The controls applied to the design and development process shall ensure that:
- the purpose and scope of the course or programme is defined with a view to learners’ requirements for further study or work;
- the prerequisites (if any) are specified;
- the characteristics of the learners are defined;
- the requirements of further study or work are known;
- the educational service can meet the requirements of the purpose and scope, taking into account the characteristics of the learners;
- the characteristics of the graduate profile are defined.
Curriculum design and development controls
The controls applied to the design and development process shall ensure that:
- a) learning outcomes:
1) are consistent with the scope of the course or programme;
2) are described in terms of the competences learners should acquire by completing the curriculum;
3) include an indication of the level to which the competences will be achieved;
4) are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound; - learning activities:
1) are suitable to the method of educational delivery;
2) are appropriate for ensuring achievement of the learning outcomes; - 3) are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound;
- c) all resources necessary to successfully complete the learning activities are defined;
- d) adequate opportunities are included in the learning design:
1) for learners to take an active role in creating the learning process;
2) for formative assessment and feedback.
Summative assessment design and development controls
The controls applied to the design and development process of summative assessment shall ensure that:
- a clear link can be demonstrated between the assessment design and the learning outcomes it is intended to assess, and where appropriate, the learning activities it is based on;
- activities are conducted taking into account the principles of transparency, accessibility, respect to the learner, and fairness, especially with respect to grading;
- the grading system is defined and validated.
Design and development outputs
The organization shall ensure that design and development outputs:
- meet the input requirements;
- are adequate for the subsequent processes for the provision of educational products and services;
- include or reference monitoring and measuring requirements (as appropriate) and acceptance criteria;
- specify the characteristics of the educational products and services that are essential for their intended purpose and their safe and proper provision;
- are retained as documented information.
Design and development changes
The organization shall identify, review and control changes made during, or subsequent to, the design and development of educational products and services, to the extent necessary to ensure that there is no adverse impact on conformity to requirements or results.
The organization shall retain documented information on:
- design and development changes;
- the outcomes of reviews;
- the authorization of the changes;
- the actions taken to prevent adverse impacts.
General
The organization shall ensure that externally provided processes, products and services conform to requirements.
The organization shall determine the controls to be applied to externally provided processes, products and services when:
- products and services from external providers are intended for incorporation into the organization’s own products and services;
- products and services are provided directly to the learners or other beneficiaries by external providers on behalf of the organization;
- a process, or part of a process, is provided by an external provider as an outcome of a decision by the organization.
The organization shall determine and apply criteria for the evaluation, selection, monitoring of performance, and re-evaluation of external providers, based on their ability to provide processes or products and services in accordance with requirements. The organization shall retain documented information of these activities and any necessary actions arising from the evaluations.
Type and extent of control
The organization shall ensure that externally provided processes, products and services do not adversely affect the organization’s ability to consistently deliver conforming products and services to its learners and other beneficiaries.
The organization shall:
- ensure that externally provided processes remain within the control of its EOMS;
- define both the controls that it intends to apply to an external provider and those it intends to apply to the resulting output;
- take into consideration:
1) the potential impact of the externally provided processes, products and services on the organization’s ability to consistently meet learner and other beneficiary requirements;
2) the effectiveness of the controls applied by the external provider;
d) determine the verification or other activities necessary to ensure that the externally provided processes, products and services meet requirements.
Information for external providers
The organization shall ensure the adequacy of requirements prior to their communication to the external provider.
The organization shall communicate to external providers its requirements for:
- the processes, products and services to be provided;
- the approval of:
1) products and services;
2) methods, processes and equipment;
3) the release of products and services; - competence, including any required qualification of persons;
- the external provider’s interactions with the organization;
- control and monitoring of the external provider’s performance to be applied by the organization;
- verification or validation activities that the organization, or its learners and other beneficiaries, intend to perform at the external provider’s premises.
General
The organization shall implement production and service provision under controlled conditions.
Controlled conditions shall include, as applicable:
- the availability of documented information that defines:
1) the characteristics of the educational products to be produced, the educational services to be provided, or the activities to be performed;
2) the results to be achieved; - the availability and use of suitable and validated monitoring and measuring resources;
- the implementation of monitoring and measurement activities, including the consideration of complaints, other feedback and the results of formative assessment at appropriate stages, in order to verify that criteria for control of processes or outputs and acceptance criteria for educational products and services have been met;
- the use of suitable infrastructure and environment for the operation of processes;
- the appointment of competent persons, including any required qualification
- the validation, and periodic revalidation, of the ability to achieve planned results of the processes for production and service provision, where the resulting output cannot be verified by subsequent monitoring or measurement;
- the implementation of actions to prevent human error;
- the implementation of release, delivery and post-delivery activities.
Admission of learners
Pre-admission information
The educational organization shall ensure that before learners are admitted, they are provided with:
- adequate information that takes into account organizational requirements and professional requirements, as well as the organization’s commitment to social responsibility;
- adequate and clear information about:
1) the intended learning outcomes, career perspectives, educational approach;
2) the participation of learners, and other beneficiaries as appropriate, in their educational process;
3) the admission criteria and costs of the educational product or service.
Conditions for admission
The organization shall establish a process for the admission of learners. In addition to the requirements in 4.4.1, the process shall:
- establish admission criteria that conform to:
1) organizational requirements;
2) requirements from the professional field;
3) requirements due to the content of the programme and/or pedagogical approach; - ensure that admission criteria and processes are applied uniformly for all learners;
- be maintained as documented information;
- be publicly available;
- ensure the traceability of each admission decision;
- retain documented information as evidence of admission decisions.
Delivery of educational products and services
The organization shall establish processes for:
- teaching;
- facilitation of learning;
- administrative support of learning.
Summative assessment
The organization shall:
- ensure that methods to detect plagiarism and other malpractices are in place and are communicated to learners;
- ensure the traceability of grades, such that an objective connection can be identified between learner work presented and the grade assigned;
- retain documented information of the assessment as evidence of the grades assigned;
- make the retention period of such documented information publicly available.
Recognition of assessed learning
Organizations shall ensure that, after summative assessments:
- learners are informed of the outcomes of the assessment activity and grade;
- learners are given the opportunity to appeal or ask for rectification of the outcomes of the assessment activity and grade;
- learners have full access to their work and its detailed assessment, as well as opportunities for feedback;
- evidence of the outcomes of the assessment is issued to the learner as documented information;
the reasons for the decision on grading and final assessment are retained as documented information; - the documented information is retained for a specified retention period;
- the retention period of such documented information is publicly available.
Additional requirements for special needs education
With input from learners and other interested parties, an organization’s management, teaching and support staff can identify steps to improve accessibility of educational services. The organization shall apply reasonable judgment as to what might be possible during a specific time frame.
With respect to delivery of learning, the organization should:
- employ differentiated instruction strategies that are targeted to learners in the classroom;
- use approaches recommended for learners with special needs to encourage development of self-awareness, self-regulation and metacognition;
- balance the needs of the learner, the educator, the requirements of the course, the context (environment) within larger frameworks (e.g. curricular requirements, national values);
- flexibly implement individualized measures, as applicable, including:
1) curriculum modification;
2) fostering self-directedness and independence;
3) tutor and mentorships.
With respect to assessment of learning, the organization should:
- provide multiple and diverse opportunities for learners to demonstrate their mastery of the topics of instruction;
- ensure instruction provides scaffolded activities and assessments that allow learners to build and demonstrate their learning;
- flexibly implement individualized measures, as applicable, including adequate evaluation methods.
Individual learners who require specific assistance with learning in order to achieve the agreed upon learning outcomes, shall be accommodated in a manner that balances learner requirements, the integrity of the learning outcomes, and capacity of the educational organization.
The educational organization shall ensure identification and traceability with respect to:
- the progress of learners through the organization;
- the study and employment paths of those who graduate or complete a course or programme of study, where applicable;
- output from the work of staff in terms of:
1) what was done;
2) when;
3) by whom.
The educational organization shall exercise care with property belonging to any interested party while it is under the control of, or being used by, the educational organization. The educational organization shall identify, verify, protect and safeguard any property provided for use and obtain consent, where required, if the property is incorporated into educational products and services.
When the property of an interested party is lost, damaged or otherwise found to be unsuitable for use, the organization shall report this to the relevant interested party and take appropriate corrective actions and retain documented information on what has occurred.
The organization shall preserve the outputs during production and service provision, to the extent necessary to ensure conformity to requirements.
The organization shall establish a method to deal with the protection and transparency of learners’ data and maintain it as documented information. The method shall establish:
- what learner data are collected, and how and where they are processed and stored;
- who has access to the data;
- under which conditions learner data may be shared with third parties;
- how long the data are stored for.
The organization shall only collect and share learners’ data with their explicit consent.
The organization should give learners and other interested parties access to their own data, and the ability to correct or update their own data.
The organization shall take all appropriate measures to ensure that learners’ data can only be accessed by authorized persons. Technological protection measures shall be validated.
The organization shall give learners and other interested parties access to their own data.
The organization shall review and control changes for production or service provision, to the extent necessary to ensure continuing conformity with the requirements.
The organization shall retain documented information describing the results of the review of changes, the person(s) authorizing the change, and any necessary actions arising from the review.
The release of products and services to learners and other beneficiaries shall not proceed until the planned arrangements have been satisfactorily completed, unless otherwise approved by a relevant authority and, as applicable, by the learner and other beneficiaries.
The organization shall retain documented information on the release of products and services. The documented information shall include:
- evidence of conformity with the acceptance criteria;
- traceability to the person(s) authorizing the release.
The organization shall ensure that outputs that do not conform to their requirements are identified and controlled to prevent their unintended use or delivery.
The organization shall take appropriate action based on the nature of the nonconformity and its effect on the conformity of educational products and services. This shall also apply to nonconforming educational products and services detected after delivery of products, during or after the provision of services.
The organization shall deal with nonconforming outputs in one or more of the following ways:
- correction;
- segregation, containment, return or suspension of provision of products and services;
- informing the learners or other beneficiaries;
- obtaining authorization for acceptance under concession.
Conformity to the requirements shall be verified when nonconforming outputs are corrected.
8.7.3 The organization shall retain documented information that:
- describes the delivery of the programmes;
- describes any non-conforming outputs;
- describes the actions taken;
- describes the concessions obtained;
- identifies the authority deciding the action in respect of the nonconformity.
General
The organization shall determine:
- what needs to be monitored and measured;
- the methods for monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation, as applicable, to ensure valid outcomes;
- the acceptance criteria to be used;
- when the monitoring and measuring shall be performed;
- when the results from monitoring and measurement shall be analysed and evaluated.
The organization shall retain appropriate documented information as evidence of the monitoring, measurement, analysis, evaluation and their results.
The organization shall evaluate the educational organization performance and the effectiveness of the EOMS.
People should be given an opportunity to critically review their own work in a reflective and constructive manner, as a contribution to their improvement.
Satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries and staff
Monitoring of satisfaction
The organization shall monitor the satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries and staff, as well as their perceptions of the degree to which their needs and expectations have been fulfilled. The organization shall determine the methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing, this information.
Handling of complaints and appeals
The educational organization shall establish and maintain as documented information a method for handling complaints and appeals, and shall make this known to its interested parties.
The method shall include specifications for:
- communicating the method to all relevant interested parties;
- receiving complaints and appeals;
- tracking complaints and appeals;
- acknowledging complaints and appeals;
- performing initial assessment of complaints and appeals;
- investigating the complaint and appeals;
- responding to the complaints and appeals;
- communicating the decision;
- closing complaints and appeals.
The method shall ensure confidentiality of complainants and appellants and objectivity of investigators.
The organization shall retain documented information as evidence of the complaints or appeals received, as well as of their resolution.
Other monitoring and measuring needs
The organization shall ensure that the following feedback is requested from and made available as appropriate to relevant interested parties:
- feedback on the educational products and services;
- feedback on their effectiveness in achieving the agreed learning outcomes;
- feedback on the organization’s influence on the community.
The organization shall monitor the level of feedback obtained and take actions to increase it where it is not sufficient.
Methods for monitoring, measurement, analysis and evaluation
The organization shall determine:
- the methods for obtaining, monitoring and reviewing information on performance;
targets against which this performance will be measured.
The organization shall ensure that:
- the interested parties involved in or affected by the evaluation are identified;
- the persons conducting the evaluation are competent and objective;
- evaluation reports are transparent and clearly describe the educational products and services and their objectives, the findings, as well as the perspectives, methods and rationale used to interpret the findings;
- the context (e.g. learning environment) in which the educational service is provided is examined in enough detail to enable influences on the educational service to be identified.
Analysis and evaluation
The organization shall analyse and evaluate appropriate data and information arising from monitoring and measurement.
The results of analysis shall be used to evaluate:
- conformity of products and services;
- the degree of beneficiary satisfaction;
- the degree of staff satisfaction;
- the performance and effectiveness of the EOMS;
- if planning has been implemented effectively;
- the effectiveness of actions taken to address risks and opportunities;
- the performance of external providers;
- the need for improvements to the educational organization management system.
The organization shall conduct internal audits at planned intervals to provide information on whether the EOMS:
- conforms to:
1) the organization’s own requirements for its EOMS;
2) the requirements of this document; - is effectively implemented and maintained.
The organization shall:
- plan, establish, implement and maintain an audit programme(s), including the frequency, methods, responsibilities, planning requirements and reporting, which shall take into consideration the EOMS’s objectives, the importance of the processes concerned, feedback from relevant interested parties, and the results of previous audits;
- define the audit criteria and scope for each audit;
- select auditors and conduct audits to ensure objectivity and the impartiality of the audit process;
- ensure that the results of the audits are reported to relevant management;
- identify opportunities for improvement;
- take appropriate correction and corrective actions without undue delay;
- retain documented information as evidence of the planning and implementation of the audit programme and the audit results.
Auditors shall not audit their own work.
General
Top management shall review the organization’s EOMS and the strategy, at planned intervals, at least once per year, and update them accordingly to ensure its continuing suitability, adequacy and effectiveness.
Management review inputs
The management review shall include consideration of:
- the status of actions from previous management reviews;
- changes in external and internal issues that are relevant to the EOMS;
- information on the EOMS performance and effectiveness, including trends in:
- 1) learner and other beneficiary satisfaction and feedback related to learner and other beneficiary requirements;
- 2) the extent to which objectives have been met;
- 3) process performance and conformity of products and services;
- 4) nonconformities and corrective actions;
- 5) monitoring and measurement results;
- 6) audit results;
- 7) the performance of external providers;
- 8) formative and summative assessment outcomes;
- the adequacy of resources;
- the effectiveness of actions taken to address risks and opportunities
- opportunities for continual improvement;
- staff feedback related to activities to enhance their competence.
Management review outputs
The outputs of the management review shall include decisions related to:
- continual improvement opportunities;
- any need for changes to the EOMS;
- resource needs.
The organization shall retain documented information as evidence of the results of management reviews.
Nonconformity and corrective action
When a nonconformity occurs, the organization shall:
- react to the nonconformity, and as applicable:
1) take action to control and correct it;
2) deal with the consequences; - evaluate the need for action to eliminate the causes of the nonconformity, in order that it does not recur or occur elsewhere, by:
1) reviewing the nonconformity;
2) determining the causes of the nonconformity;
3) determining if similar nonconformities exist, or could potentially occur; - implement any action needed;
- review the effectiveness of any corrective action taken;
- make changes to the EOMS, if necessary.
Corrective actions shall be appropriate to the effects of the nonconformities encountered.
The educational organization shall retain documented information as evidence of:
- the nature of the nonconformities and any subsequent actions taken, and
- the results of any corrective action.
Continual improvement
The organization shall continually improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the EOMS, taking into account relevant research and best practices.
The organization shall consider the results of analysis and evaluation, and the outputs from management review, to determine if there are needs or opportunities that shall be addressed as part of continual improvement.
Opportunities for improvement
The organization shall determine and select opportunities for improvement and implement any necessary actions to meet learner and other beneficiary requirements and enhance satisfaction of learners, other beneficiaries, staff and other relevant interested parties, including external providers.
These shall include:
- improving products and services to meet requirements as well as to address future needs and expectations;
- correcting, preventing or reducing undesired effects;
- improving the performance and effectiveness of the EOMS.
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