The Agency carries out two formats of programmatic evaluation - « initial » and « continuous » - of three types of higher education programmes :
- higher education diplomas (120 credits),
- bachelor's degrees (180 and 240 credits),
- master's degrees (120 credits).
In addition, in 2017, AEQES was tasked to design and implement a pilot phase of institutional reviews.This pilot institutional review is being carried out on a voluntary basis at 17 higher education institutions.
The entire range of evaluations is listed in plans which the Agency regularly adjusts and makes public - here for the transitional plan 2019-2023 of the pilot phase; for the six-year plan 2023-2029 here (programs) and here (institutions).
The Agency organises evaluation in line with its code of ethics (available hereunder). It selects its experts, informs them of their mission and its context and ensures that they can carry out their work in complete independence.
The Agency provides information on the quality of higher education by publishing on its website the review reports, the system-wide analyses and highlighting best practice. It provides the heads of the institutions reviewed and the Government with proposals on ways of enhancing quality.
The Agency, through its broad-based participative structure, remains in permanent dialogue with stakeholders. It takes any initiative deemed fit for accomplishing its duties, updating its procedures on the basis of experience gained.
Its participation in international bodies and events for quality assurance in higher education are also to be seen in the context of the Agency as a learning organisation. By basing all its working procedures on the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG), by working together with other agencies or bodies in other countries, and by disseminating information on European developments in higher education, the Agency can be seen as being a part of an overall European process.
The Agency’s Bodies are the Steering Committee, the working groups, the Board, the Executive Unit, the Complaints Commission and, for the pilot phase, an Appeals Commission, a pilot phase Steering Committee and a Methodological Support Council.