The main policy objectives of the Danish quality assurance system in higher education

Quality assurance in Danish higher education aims to ensure a consistently high quality of higher education, ensuring continuous development of competences and academic qualifications for the benefit of the professions, research and the labour market and society in general.

The purpose of accreditation is to strengthen the work carried out at educational institutions to develop programmes to an increasingly high level of academic quality and relevance. Institutional accreditation is goal-oriented in such a way as to help the given higher education institution to focus primarily on quality assurance and continuously improving its own programmes – and not solely on documentation with regard to the accreditation process itself. Institutional accreditation is thus organised so that it supports the continued development of the quality and relevance of programmes. 

Main orientations in Accreditation of Higher Education in Denmark

In  2013, the Accreditation Act on Higher Education Institutions introduced institutional accreditation as the main approach to accreditation in Denmark, following a number of years where accreditation had been granted through accreditation of individual programmes. The Act was passed unanimously by the Danish Parliament. The Act came into force on 1 July 2013 and replaced the first Accreditation Act from 2007. Subsequently a number of amendments to the law have been made, without changing the essence of the Danish Accreditation system, based on decisions made by the Danish Accreditation Council, following the European four stage model, and in accordance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). 

The Accreditation Act should be seen in relation to a number of reforms of the higher education legislation. This concerns, in particular, the Institution Act from 2003, the new decentralised governance concept for the institutions under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science as well as the tertiary artistic education acts of 2000 and 2008. All these law reforms have resulted in increased responsibility to the educational institutions for their own systematic quality assurance and improvement.

In 2020, the second cycle of institutional accreditation (IA 2.0) commenced. The third cycle of institutional accreditation is expected to begin in late 2027. 

The Danish Accreditation Council (DAC)

The Danish Accreditation Council is the sole authority in Denmark responsible for the external quality assurance of higher education. In accordance with the Danish Accreditation Act, the Accreditation Council is an independent body, which contributes to safeguarding and enhancing the quality of Danish higher education by accreditation of higher education institutions and, to a limited extent, individual existing programmes or new programmes that the institutions wish to establish.

The Council makes decisions on accreditation, and defines the procedures and methods for accreditation. The Council’s secretariat handles the day-to-day work of accreditation, including establishment of accreditation panels and preparation of accreditation reports for use in the Council’s decisions.

The Accreditation Council’s decisions constitute an overall assessment, based on accreditation reports made by accreditation panels, according to the European four stage model. Based on the report, the Danish Accreditation Council makes a decision on the accreditation. There are three possible outcomes:

• A positive accreditation;
• A conditionally positive accreditation;
• A refusal of accreditation.

The Council operates in accordance with the European Standard Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area (ESG). As an independent body, its decisions cannot be influenced by third parties such as higher education institutions, ministries or government. In other words, the Council is not subject to the power of instruction of the Minister in relation to accreditation issues.

Various mechanisms are in place to ensure independence in the Council's decisions. First, in accordance with the rules of procedure of the Council, a member of the Council is obliged to inform the Council if, in connection with a specific accreditation case, there are matters, which may give rise to doubt as to the independence of the member. In the event of a conflict of interest, the member in question leaves the room while the case is being considered. The conflict of interest is recorded in the minutes. Secondly, the decisions made by the Accreditation Council cannot be referred to other administrative authorities, and the Minister for Higher Education and Science or other parties cannot affect or reverse the Council’s decisions concerning accreditation. However, the Act allows for appeals against legal errors and omissions in connection with the process to be referred to the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Further, an internal appeals mechanism was established in 2024, whereby a higher education institution may make a formal request to have the accreditation decision of the Council reconsidered. If the Council finds the request admissible, the Council will ask a reconsideration committee to assess the request. The chairman of the reconsideration committee was appointed in spring 2025 for a four-year term. The committee shall recommend to the Council, with reasons, whether there may be reason for the Council to decide to reconsider its decision.

The expert panels consist of experts recruited according to fixed procedures, which ensure that the panels cover relevant expert perspectives, employer perspectives and student perspectives. Thus, all panels possess in-depth knowledge about management of quality assurance in higher education, the educational standards of the programmes, the labour market and a pedagogical and didactic insight. All experts receive training that provides them with knowledge about the accreditation system, the Danish educational system and the accreditation criteria and guidelines. 

In addition to its principal task of accreditation, the Danish Accreditation Council seek to draw attention to issues related to quality assurance and quality in higher education. The Council invites stakeholders to seminars and conferences and engages in debates on the quality of higher education. Moreover, the Council draws on international expertise within accreditation in order to ensure that the quality assurance systems of Danish higher education institutions meet international standards.

The Danish Accreditation Council consists of a chair and seven members.

The chair and members of the Council can be appointed for a maximum of eight years, comprised of at least two terms of appointment. Student representatives can be appointed for a maximum of two years, comprised of at least two terms of appointment.

Together, the Council members must hold experience within and knowledge of quality assurance, the higher education sector, scientific research and research-led education and labour market conditions for graduates.

At least one of the Council members must have international experience within accreditation.

The Secretariat of the Danish Accreditation Council assists the Council in the planning and organization of accreditation procedures, including methodological design, recruitment of experts to the accreditation panels, coordination of site visits and preparing accreditation reports. Other tasks includes preparing thematic analysis reports on cross-cutting themes. The secretariat is situated as an office in the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, but as stated in the Accreditation Act the secretariat is professionally independent in the performance of its tasks as the Council’s secretariat in all matters related to the European Standards and Guidelines.  

In accordance with its Rules of Procedure, the Council holds as a minimum of four annual council meetings during which the Council makes decisions on accreditation matters.

International standards

The Danish Accreditation Council has been member of ENQA, and registered in EQAR since 2010.

In 2010, the then ACE Denmark and the Danish Accreditation Council received full membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) following an evaluation by an international panel, and was registered for the first time in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). The panel concluded that the methods used by the Institution and the Danish Accreditation Council meet the ESG criteria.

The Danish Accreditation Council together with the Accreditation Institution were successfully reassessed by ENQA in 2016 and 2021, and  granted a continued registration in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Currently, the Danish Accreditation Council is in the process of applying for a fourth time for continued registration in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

External quality assurance

Institutional accreditation is the dominant form of accreditation in Denmark. 

The HEIs follow the same basic model for institutional accreditation where focus is on whether the institution has established and continuously undertake quality processes that are in accordance with a set of expectations that are outlined in the accreditation criteria, and further explained in the accreditation guidelines. The model allows each HEI the freedom to design its own quality assurance system, provided it meets the criteria for quality and relevance. The system must be tailored to the individual institution, anchored at the management level, and support an inclusive quality culture. It is not sufficient to meet the criteria on paper alone – the HEI must also demonstrate that its system functions effectively in practice, ensuring the quality and relevance of its programmes before, during, and after the institutional accreditation.

Institutional accreditation is based on a holistic assessment, both in terms of the individual criteria and across criteria. The holistic assessments are carried out by an accreditation panel consisting of people who possess expertise in the field of quality assurance at institutional level; expertise in connection with the higher education sector in general and knowledge of relevant labour market conditions; international experts and student representatives.

The holistic assessment is based on the institution’s self-evaluation report, site visits at the institution and documentation for the performance of quality assurance in selected areas at the institution.

Council decisions and accreditation reports are published on the Danish Accreditation Councils’ website in order to provide the public, higher education institutions, students and other stakeholders with knowledge of the accreditation status of a higher education institution or programme. It provides access to the expert panels’ assessments of the institutions’ quality assurance system or an individual programme. The reports and decisions made by the Danish Accreditation Council are also published in the DEQAR information system, administered by EQAR, and consequently shared with a wider European audience. 

In terms of the frequency of quality assurance, a rotation plan for institutional accreditation is established. An institutional accreditation is granted for up to six years. For institutions having received two positive accreditations, the institutional accreditation can be granted for up to eight years in a third cycle.    

In addition, the Danish Accreditation Council also perform a limited number of programme accreditations.

These accreditations are based on five statutory criteria: Needs and relevance; Knowledge base; Objectives of learning outcomes; Organisation of the programme and completion rate of students; and Internal assurance and development of quality.

When new programmes are to be accredited, an assessment of need and relevance is carried out in a prequalification process administered by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science. 

In programme accreditation, an accreditation panel assesses whether a programme or the local provision of a programme lives up to the five above-mentioned criteria. The accreditation of new and existing programmes and local provision of programmes is performed at institutions that have not been granted an institutional accreditation.

Internal quality assurance

Institutional accreditation places the responsibility for the quality of programmes with the institution and the institution management. This means that the institution must have established a quality assurance system that covers the programmes at the institution. Institutional accreditation gives the institution room to organise its quality assurance system in its own way as long as it can show that it lives up to the criteria for quality and relevance.

The Accreditation Act on Higher Education Institutions and the Ministerial Order on the Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and the Approval of Higher Education Programmes (links in Danish) follow the European standards for quality assuring higher education programmes (European Standards and Guidelines – ESG).

The Accreditation Act, the criteria in the ministerial order and the more detailed points of the criteria constitute the foundation for an evaluation of the work carried out at education institutions to ensure and develop the quality and relevance of their programmes.

The Accreditation Act and the ministerial order state that quality assurance must be ongoing and systematic, that there must be a clear division of responsibility and labour, that quality assurance must be firmly anchored at management level, that institutions must have an inclusive quality culture and that quality assurance must focus on programmes as a whole and on concrete teaching. Institutional accreditation involves assessing whether the institution's quality assurance system is described in detail, is well-argued and well-functioning in practice. This means that it is insufficient for the system to fulfil the criteria on paper. The day-to-day performance of quality assurance at the institution must show that the system works and ensures the quality of programmes both before and after institutional accreditation.

References

Bibliography

The Danish Accreditation Council. Accreditation i Denmark  

Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science. The Danish education system. 

Legislation and official policy documents

Legal Information (Retsinformation): The Accreditation Act on Higher Education Institutions. (Lov om akkreditering af videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner), LBK no. 1667 of 12/08/2021. 

Legal Information (Retsinformation): Ministerial Order on the Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions and the Approval of Higher Education Programmes. (Bekendtgørelse om akkreditering af videregående uddannelsesinstitutioner og videregående uddannelser), BEK no. 820 of 23/06/2025.