Higher education institutions (HEIs) themselves have the primary responsibility for the quality of education they organise. This is stipulated in the Universities Act and the Universities of Applied Sciences Act. HEIs are responsible for evaluating their education, research and artistic activities. 

The acts also state that HEIs must regularly participate in external evaluations. These are mainly carried out by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC). Results of the evaluations must be published.  

External evaluation in higher education has an advisory orientation. It aims at involving staff, students and stakeholders of the HEI in recognising strengths, good practices and development areas. The goal is also to support HEIs in achieving their own objectives and this way support the continuous development of higher education.

Responsible bodies

FINEEC has been the responsible body for external quality assurance in higher education since 2015. It operates within the branch of government of the Ministry of Education and Culture, as a separate unit within the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI).

Provisions on the tasks and the organisation of FINEEC are included in the Act and in the Government Decree on the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre. 

The tasks of FINEEC include:

• evaluating education, teaching, education providers, and the activities of higher education institutions; 

• developing the evaluation of education;​​

• evaluating learning outcomes in basic education, upper secondary education and training and basic education in arts, 

• supporting education providers and higher education institutions in matters related to evaluation and quality management; 

• undertaking evaluations of learning outcomes in basic education, upper secondary education and training, and basic education in the arts. 

FINEEC has a director that is appointed by the Government. The director leads the organisation and is responsible for its effectiveness. The Government also appoints an Evaluation Council for FINEEC. The Council draws up a proposal for the National Plan for Education Evaluations, which is approved by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Evaluations are carried out according to this plan.

The Ministry of Education and Culture appoints the Higher Education Evaluation Committee that operates in connection with FINEEC. The Committee decides on project plans for the evaluations of HEIs, the composition of planning and review teams, and the final results of the audits.

FINEEC is a member of the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) and a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA).

The three main types of higher education external evaluations carried out by FINEEC are:

• 1 audits of the quality assurance systems of HEIs;

• 2 thematic and system evaluations;

• 3 engineering programme accreditations.

1 Audits of the quality assurance systems of HEIs

Audit is independent evaluation conducted by the FINEEC. The purpose of the audit is 
•    To ensure that HEIs maintain and develop the quality of their operations, and to support their continuous, comprehensive and long-term development. 
•    To ensure that the quality work of HEIs comply with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
•    To support strategic management in HEIs, and the implementation of their institutional profiles and core mission objectives.
•    To provide stakeholders with information on the operations of HEIs and the development of their quality.
 

Audits of the quality assurance systems in HEIs are conducted regularly. In the fourth audit cycle 2025-2030, there are two evaluation areas:

1 Strategic management supported by the quality system – emphasising the connection between the quality system and strategic management, as well as operational culture, including openness and inclusiveness.
2 Learning supported by teaching and guidance – emphasising pedagogy, student-centred and research-based education, work-life perspectives, internationalisation, and continuous learning.
 

The audit team assesses the evaluation areas 1 and 2 as entities and uses the assessment scale: excellent, good, satisfactory and insufficient. Evaluation areas 1 and 2 must be at least at a satisfactory level for the HEI to pass the audit.
 

Audits of Higher Education Institutions 2025-2030. Audit manual: https://www.karvi.fi/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/documents/KARVI_0525.pdf  
 

The audit is conducted by an audit team consisting of independent and impartial peer reviewers. The HEI may choose either a national or an international audit team. The audit team typically consists of four members: two representatives from the higher education sector, one student representative, and one representative from the world of work outside higher education.

Audits are guided by the enhancement-led approach. The audit considers each HEI’s specific characteristics, profile and objectives. In the audit, the HEI and the audit team identify strengths and areas for improvement in the HEI's operations. The enhancement-led evaluation, places emphasis on trust, engagement and a respectful approach to the evaluation subject.
 

2 Thematic and system evaluations

Thematic evaluations concentrate on a certain topic. In system evaluations the target is the education system as a whole or a part of it. Also the education policy or development of the education system can be evaluated. Thematic and system evaluations can focus on only higher education or on several levels of the education system at the same time.

A team of outside experts draws up a project plan for the evaluation. A separately appointed evaluation team implements the evaluation, and an evaluation expert working at FINEEC coordinates it. HEIs participate in the evaluations and FINEEC collects feedback from participating parties. After the evaluation FINEEC publishes a report on the results.

3 Engineering programme accreditations

The aim of engineering programme accreditations is to support the development of quality in engineering degree programmes. They also aim at increasing international recognition and comparability of Finnish engineering degrees. Accreditations are voluntary and a fee is charged from a HEI that wishes to be accredited.

The responsible body for deciding the result of and developing the accreditation process is the FINEEC Committee for Engineering Education. It acts under and is nominated by the FINEEC Higher Education Evaluation Committee. Currently FINEEC has the right to grant the label to bachelor’s degree programmes and aims to attain the right to grant labels to master’s programmes.

The method is based on the European Accredited Engineer (EUR-ACE) Framework Standards and Guidelines (PDF), which are drawn up by the European Network for Accreditation of Engineering Education (ENAEE). The accreditation leads to the international EUR-ACE Label and is valid for six years.  The criteria for accreditation are presented in Standards and Procedures for Engineering Programme Accreditation.

After the evaluation, the programme is either:

• not accredited;

• accredited without reservation; or

• conditionally accredited, and the accreditation is valid only if the conditions are met within a specified amount of time.