Since the creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), which stems from the Bologna Declaration (1999), fostering the comparability and recognition of qualifications has made higher education evaluation a priority in education policy. From an incipient and contest/ed initial system of quality assurance set up in the late 20th century (Law No 38/94, 21 November), higher education evaluation in Portugal has expanded rapidly, today boasting high-quality supervisory and consultancy services, no longer focussing merely on teaching-learning processes and results achieved, but including an analysis of course organisation and operation.

In 2005, the Portuguese government requested an assessment of the quality assurance system in Portuguese higher education from the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), to offer recommendations for improvement and for the creation of a system that would comply with Standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). 

Portugal has a quality assurance agency that monitors institutional policies, including those involving the formulation of a strategy with specific and measurable objectives, based on social dialogue and attentive to issues of equality, equity and the social dimension in higher education.

In 2007, the new Law on Higher Education Evaluation, No 38/2007, 16 August was published and the Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior - A3ES) was created via Decree-Law No 369/2007, 5 November, with the main objective of promoting, assessing and ensuring quality higher education.

Both the legal framework for higher education quality assurance (Law No 38/2007, 16 August, amended by Law No 94/2019, 4 September) and its quality evaluation system are based on the principles of mandatory and periodic assessments, the independence of external assessors from the entity being assessed, and the right to appeal against decisions. This system is also characterised by the involvement of the academic community and external bodies in the external evaluation process, the internationalisation of evaluation processes, and the growing importance of internal quality assurance systems within higher education institutions, amongst other aspects.
In this context, the evaluation of higher education is clearly geared towards promoting quality and institutional accountability.

The objectives of higher education quality assurance are:

• to improve the quality of higher education institutios (HEI);
• to provide society with information on the HEI performance quality;
• to promote an internal quality assurance culture within HEIs.

Following two evaluation cycles (between 2011 and 2016 and between 2017 and 2022), A3ES is currently conducting the third evaluation cycle for existing degree programmes.

Since 2024, A3ES has been developing and strengthening its transnational accreditation and evaluation activities, which involve coordinating the evaluation of study programmes in international partnerships. The procedures established are guided by the procedures and best practices already in place at European level, specifically regarding the adoption and implementation of the European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes (ENQA). As a full member of ENQA and registered with the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR), A3ES is an agency eligible to conduct these international processes within the European Higher Education Area.

The Legal Framework for the Evaluation of Higher Education, currently under review, provides for the periodic international evaluation of the Agency itself (Article 25(a)). These evaluations are the responsibility of ENQA, through ‘full review’ or ‘targeted review’ procedures. In 2014, the first international evaluation – a full review – was carried out by ENQA. In January 2014, A3ES received the External Evaluation Panel, and in March it received its accreditation report. The outcome of this evaluation enabled A3ES to become a full member of ENQA and to register with EQAR.
In 2019, a second international evaluation of A3ES by ENQA took place, again with positive results, and A3ES’s registration with EQAR was renewed until 30 June 2024. In 2023, a further assessment took place, this time in the form of a ‘targeted review’, which reaffirmed A3ES’s full membership of ENQA and renewed its registration with EQAR until September 2029.

A3ES is also a member of the Ibero-American System for Quality Assurance in Higher Education - SIACES (Sistema Iberoamericano de Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Educación Superior).

Responsible bodies

The Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior - A3ES) was set up by the state for an indefinite period as a foundation governed by private law, boasting legal personality and public utility. It is independent in performing its duties within the framework of the law and its statutes, without prejudice to the guiding principles established by the state through its own bodies.

The mission of A3ES is to ensure the quality of higher education in Portugal and perform the duties attached to the country’s place in the European quality assurance system.

Its main objectives are improving the quality of HEIs and their study cycles, as well as ensuring compliance with the basic requirements of official recognition via evaluation and accreditation that promote an internal institutional culture of quality assurance.

The A3ES mission involves the following duties:

• defining and ensuring quality standards for the system.
• evaluating and accrediting study cycles and higher education institutions.
• publicly disseminating evaluation and accreditation results.
• promoting the internationalisation of the Portuguese higher education system.
• advising the state on matters of quality assurance in higher education.
• carrying out studies and provides opinions, either on its own initiative or at the State’s request.
• participating in the European quality assurance system for higher education – EQAR.
• coordinating assessment and accreditation in Portugal with international assessment institutions and mechanisms.

The Agency's statutory bodies are the board of trustees, the management board, the audit committee, the advisory council and the appeals council.

The board of trustees is the steering body and made up of five members of recognised merit and experience. They are proposed by the minister responsible for higher education and appointed by Resolution of the Council of Ministers. The board's mandate is five years, which cannot be renewed.

The board of trustees’ responsibilities include:

• appointing the members of the management board and of the appeals council.
• providing a generic assessment of the management board’s performance, and potentially providing opinions or recommendations on its performance.
• providing an opinion on the agency's annual activities plan and budget.
• providing an opinion on the agency's management report and accounts.
• ensure containment, economy, efficiency, effectiveness and compliance with international best practice regarding the setting of evaluation and accreditation costs.

The management board is the executive body, consisting of a maximum of seven members appointed by the board of trustees. These members are individuals of recognised scientific and professional merit and relevant to the agency's duties. This board's mandate lasts four years and is renewable.

The management board’s responsibilities include:

• representation and management duties.
• instituting evaluation and accreditation procedures.
• final decisions regarding results.
• approval of its own reports and those of other quality assurance bodies (national or foreign).
• approval of higher education quality assurance system regulations, in compliance with the terms of reference of the legal provisions for evaluation.

The audit committee consists of three members appointed by order of the government member responsible for finance, one of whom must be a statutory auditor, and is responsible for controlling the legality and regularity of A3ES’s financial and asset management.

The advisory council is an advisory body on higher education quality assurance and supports the management board’s decisions regarding evaluation and accreditation. It is responsible for providing opinions on the Agency’s annual activity plan, its main focusses and strategic guidance. It is made up of various stakeholders, including representatives from the Portuguese Universities Council of Rectors, the Coordinating Council of Polytechnic Higher Education Institutes, the Portuguese Private Higher Education Association, various employer orders and confederations, students and ministerial representatives from other sectors.

The appeals council is the body for appeals against the management board’s decisions. It is made up of five members with relevant professional experience, with no tenure to Portuguese higher education institutions and should include members with experience in similar foreign bodies.

According to Article 17 of Law No 38/2007, 16 August, HEIs are obliged to institute an internal quality assurance policy for their study cycles, developing strategies, policies and procedures for continuous quality improvement. These must be formally approved by the HEI’s legally and statutorily competent body and made public, guaranteeing the participation of students and others interested in the process. The conclusion is that internal quality assurance should be undertaken by HEIs as part of their autonomy and in accordance with their own regulations.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

The A3ES quality assurance approach is based on the European model, which is founded on the interconnection between HEI’s internal quality assurance systems, self-assessment processes and external evaluation, ensuring that external evaluation is grounded in internal mechanisms for monitoring and continuous improvement, within the framework of accreditation processes. It adheres to standards defined in the European standards and guidelines (ESG), transposed into national legislation that establishes educational institutions as those primarily responsible for the quality of the education provided.

Every HEI is responsible for defining the internal evaluation model. Each has a duty to adopt a quality assurance policy for their study cycles, ensuring appropriate procedures, promoting a culture of quality and quality assurance, as well as developing and implementing a continuous quality improvement strategy.

There are core regulations stemming from the law regarding internal evaluation that HEIs must comply with. Among the general requirements of higher education institutions (Law No 62/2007, 10 September, Art. 40) is ensuring teacher, researcher, and student participation regarding how the establishment is governed through the general council. Students should represent at least 15 % of general council members. In terms of the legislative structure that formalised the HEI evaluation system, student participation takes other forms, such as their presence on the advisory council, in the self-evaluation processes associated with institutions’ internal quality assurance systems, and external evaluation via external assessment teams (Comissões de Avaliação Externa - CAE).

Internal evaluation takes place annually and its results must be made available to the A3ES. In turn, the A3ES provides a set of internal evaluation recommendations for HEIs in its evaluation manual (e.g., measures to prepare the institution for internal evaluation and the self-evaluation report). The broad participation of stakeholders in the diagnosis, implementation, evaluation and review – at every stage of the quality cycle - is important and, for example, the use of SWOT exercises involving students, teachers, employees and employers in the institution’s diagnosis is valued.

As part of their self-evaluation, HEIs should:

• a) define formal procedures for the approval, monitoring and periodic evaluation of their study cycles, which must include the participation of pedagogical councils and students’ opinion (through their associations); of research centres that are involved in the organisation and operation of study cycles; of external consultants working with the institution.
• b) adopt procedures that ensure that teaching staff have the necessary qualifications and skills to perform their duties. These must be made available to those responsible for the external evaluation processes and assessed in the evaluation reports.
• c) ensure that the teaching resources available are sufficient and appropriate for each of their study cycles.
• d) collect, analyse and use relevant information to effectively manage their study cycles and other activities.
• e) regularly publish updated, impartial and objective quantitative and qualitative information about the study cycles they teach and the degrees and diplomas they award, monitor graduates’ progress for a reasonable period of time, in terms of employability.

These are some of the aspects that should be analysed as part of quality assurance.

Evaluation is obligatory for higher education institutions. The external evaluation of institutions and study cycles for which A3ES is responsible has a six-year cycle. The first five years focus on study cycle evaluation, while the sixth year concentrates on institutional evaluation.

Evaluation focusses are defined in the current legislation, especially in Law No 38/2007, 16h August, amended by Law No 79/2019, 4 September and include:

1. scientific level of teaching
2. teaching and learning methodologies
3. student evaluation processes
4. teaching staff qualification and appropriacy to study cycles analysed
5. the efficiency of the internal quality assurance system
6. the institution’s scientific, technological and artistic activity
7. facilities and didactic/scientific equipment
8. social support mechanisms

External evaluation is based on the work of the external assessment teams (CAE), blending documentary analysis of self-evaluation reports - based on a set of criteria that includes widespread  stakeholder participation – implementation  data and other institution documents.

The CAE are made up of between three and five independent experts who have no relationship with the higher education institution being evaluated. They are appointed by the A3ES management board and must include one student and one international expert. All CAE visits are accompanied by an A3ES procedure manager. This manager is not a commission secretary, but a professional highly trained in evaluation methodologies, who accompanies the commission. The standards of conduct for A3ES employees are set in the code of ethics, which are part of the quality manual, including standards for CAE designation and conduct.  

The members of the CAE attend a training session specifically designed and delivered by A3ES. They are responsible for preparing for their duties via prior analysis and study of documents, such as the evaluation manual, the evaluation/accreditation of study cycles guide and, in particular, the self-evaluation reports corresponding to the study cycles being analysed.

The evaluation results are based on explicit and published criteria. These are consistently applied and found in the evaluation manual, which is available on the A3ES website.

Guides and manuals for procedures regarding the various components of the quality assurance system are also available, particularly on how to conduct the accreditation process to ensure some uniformity of procedures among the different CAE.

The CAE prepares the preliminary external evaluation report. At this time, HEIs are entitled to comment. Once the final report has been drawn up by the CAE, the final decision on accreditation rests with the Board of Directors of A3ES. In cases of conditional accreditation, the higher education institution must submit a follow-up report on the evaluation, demonstrating compliance with the conditions imposed for accreditation. The Board of Directors may also take decisions that differ from the recommendation of the CAE, and may decide in favour of or against the CAE’s recommendation. The management board’s decisions may be reviewed by the appeals council on appeal by the HEIs.

According to Article 16 of Law No 37/2007, 16 August, evaluation results are public and published on the A3ES and HEI website/study cycle evaluated. Also, the contradiction (pronouncement) to the external evaluation reports, if there is one, must be published alongside the final version of the same reports. In addition to this, the applicable legislation (Article 16(2) of Law No 38/2007, 16 August) requires higher education institutions to publish both the self-evaluation and external evaluation reports.

Non-accreditation of a study cycle means that the HEI cannot accept new students but may continue to operate for two years to allow students to complete their studies.  Non-accreditation of an institution leads to a proposal to Government for closure. In either case, measures are taken to ensure that students’ interests are safeguarded.

During the regular evaluation/accreditation cycle (2018-2023), the Agency developed a simplified system that was based on the principles of risk management and institutional responsibility for the quality of educational provision. The simplified procedures are based on a sampling system combined with institutional audits. They will be adopted for institutions with better quality indicators, in terms of teaching staff qualifications and the quality of research undertaken, as well as performance in the first assessment/accreditation cycle.

A3ES quality policy is based on a clear definition of mission and objectives within the framework of European standards and guidelines for quality assurance and the applicable legal provisions. It is based on strategic planning of its activity, as demonstrated in its multiannual strategic plan and annual activity plans, sustained monitoring and continuous improvement mechanisms, and accountability, which assures transparency in all activities.

A3ES adopts a code of ethics that is applicable to all agents that work with the A3ES, which promotes the development of a culture and awareness of quality in Agency workers (internal and external). It establishes monitoring and continuous improvement mechanisms for its work, as well as undertaking systematic research, development studies and projects for further development of issues and mechanisms related to quality assurance and regular external evaluation of the Agency in accordance with European standards.