The procedure for recognizing the compliance of educational services with the established accreditation standards (regulations) by an accreditation body. The purprose of which is to provide objective information about the services' quality and confirm the presence of effective mechanisms for improving it.
The procedure for recognizing the compliance of educational programs with the established accreditation standards (regulations) by an accreditation body. The purprose of which is to provide objective information about their quality and confirm the presence of effective mechanisms for improving it.
Quality assessment of an educational institution by the accreditation body for its compliance with the declared status and established accreditation standards.
Quality assessment of individual educational programs delivered by an educational organization for their compliance with the declared status and established accreditation standards.
Accreditation of educational institutions consists of six consecutive stages: preparation, self-assessment, external evaluation, decision-making, information, and follow-up procedures.
Self-assessment is the process of internal evaluation of the educational activities of the institution.
External assessment is the evaluation of the educational institution by external experts.
The self-assessment report is a document prepared by the institution as a result of the internal evaluation.
The external assessment report is a document prepared by the Independent Expert Group of the accrediting body as a result of the external assessment.
A detailed description of each stage can be found in the Self-Assessment Guidelines.
1. The educational organization submits an application for accreditation. The following documents are attached to the application:
• a copy of the state license and its annexes (if available);
• brief description of the organization.
The application form can be downloaded from the official ARQA website or requested via email: office@arqa.kz.
2. The application is reviewed by the ARQA agency.
3. A contract is concluded between ARQA and the organization, specifying the terms, cost, and procedure for accreditation.
1. Training seminars are organized for internal stakeholders on the methodology and procedures of accreditation..
2. The organization conducts self-assessment in accordance with ARQA’s requirements.
3. The first draft of the self-assessment report is prepared and sent to ARQA (in the state or Russian language, in electronic format)..
4. The report is analyzed by independent experts of ARQA. Based on the results, one of the following decisions is made:
• revise the report;
• schedule an external evaluation (visit);
• refusal to conduct an external evaluation due to non-compliance with standards.
5. The final version of the self-assessment report is sent to ARQA in the state, Russian, and English languages no later than 30 calendar days before the scheduled visit. If the procedure cannot be conducted, the agreement is terminated.
1. Agreement with the educational organization on the schedule for the external assessment (visit).
2. Formation of the ARQA expert group and approval of the expert group composition with the ARQA Experts Council..
3. Preparation and approval of the external assessment (visit) program and the expert group’s work plan.
4. Conducting the external assessment procedure (visit) - a 3-day visit by the expert group to the educational organization.
5. Formation of recommendations and comments based on the results of the external assessment (visit).
6. Preparation of the report based on the results of the external assessment (visit).
7. Sending the report on the results of the external assessment (visit) to the educational organization. If any technical or factual inaccuracies are found, the educational organization may send its comments to ARQA within one week of receiving the external assessment (visit) report.
1. ARQA prepares materials based on the analysis of the self-assessment report and the visit.
2. The Accreditation Council makes one of the following decisions:
• Full accreditation (for 5 years or another period);
• Accreditation with imposition of obligation (in the case of ex-ante accreditation — with student enrollment in the 4 years period);
• Conditional accreditation (for 1 or 3 years if there are deficiencies);
• Deferral of accreditation (upon the organization’s request);
• Refusal of accreditation (in case of significant non-compliance).
3. The organization receives the report and may submit comments within 7 days if necessary.
4. An appeal may be submitted to the ARQA Appeals Committee.
1. The Decree of the Accreditation Council’s decision is sent to the educational organization.
2. If a positive decision is made, ARQA sends the educational organization a certificate of institutional and/or programme accreditation
3. The decision on institutional and/or programme accreditation of the educational organization is sent to the relevant Ministry for inclusion in the National Register 2 and/or National Register 3 and is published on the ARQA website..
4. The accreditation decision and the external assessment (visit) report are published on the official ARQA website www.arqa.agency.
1. After being granted the status of “accredited,” the educational organization develops a plan for continuous improvement and quality assurance of education and publishes it on its official website.
2. The accredited educational organization must submit a report to ARQA every two years on achievements and changes to maintain the quality of education.
3. If the educational organization fails to submit the report to ARQA, the status of institutional and/or programme accreditation may be temporarily suspended by ARQA.
