Internal quality system

The Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (‘the Agency’) is the national reference point in the field of quality assurance in higher education. It is recognized within the European Higher Education Area. Its activities contribute to improving the quality of higher education, thus meeting the expectations of stakeholders and the general public, thus consolidating the social status and recognition and increasing the attractiveness of universities in the Slovak Republic. The Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education is a newly established public institution whose task is to perform external quality assurance activities in higher education in the Slovak Republic. It was established by Act no. 269/2018 Coll. (the Quality Act) as a legal entity based in Bratislava.

The mission of the Agency is to contribute to improving the quality of higher education through modern tools following the European Standards for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG 2015). The Agency is intended to provide a mirror of quality to higher education institutions and to decide on the granting of appropriate accreditations following the law. The Agency replaces the activities of the current Accreditation Commission, an advisory body of the Government of the Slovak Republic in assessing applications of higher education institutions, and also takes over the decision-making authority of the Minister of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic.

The syllabus for the accreditation activities of the Agency will be the standards, the proposals of standards with the evaluation of public comments will be submitted shortly for comment to the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports of the Slovak Republic. The Agency is expected to start receiving the first university applications for accreditation in the second quarter of 2020.