The law specifies the basic approaches and bodies responsible for assessing and ensuring educational quality.

Self-evaluation in Slovenia is legally defined as a mandatory activity for all educational institutions, through which they systematically monitor and ensure the quality of their work. Objectives, standards and criteria are set out in development programmes and annual plans, drawing on various data sources, including students’ results in national assessments, matura and final examinations, internal records, documentation of educational work, and inspection findings.

At the national level, the Minister responsible for education defines the quality framework, standards, indicators and procedures, while the Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia for Education oversees compliance with legislation. The Ministry monitors and evaluates system quality based on results from national assessments, matura and final examinations, evaluation studies, research, inspection reports and other relevant sources. To ensure international comparability, Slovenia participates in international education studies, with participation of selected kindergartens and schools being mandatory.

Quality assurance processes are further supported by systemic tools and resources, including the OrKa programme, which provides institutions with secure and confidential access to data and enables analysis of student achievement in national assessments. An important supporting resource is also the website www.zakakovost.si, which offers a unified, transparent and accessible source of information, as well as professional support for educational institutions and policymakers in monitoring and improving the quality of education.

Responsible bodies

Internal quality assurance

The head teacher is the executive head and the pedagogical leader, and, in this capacity, plans and manages the activities of a kindergarten and/or school, plans development, drafts the annual work plan, and is responsible for the realisation of the plan. The head teacher is responsible for quality assessment and assurance, namely through self-evaluation and the annual self-evaluation report of the kindergarten and/or school. As part of the annual performance assessment, the head teacher evaluates staff performance and decides on promotions to salary grades. Furthermore, head teachers submit assessments of education staff performance and can recommend promotions to higher titles.

The Council of Kindergarten or School is competent to adopt the institution's development programme, annual work plan, the report on the realisation of the plan, and the annual self-evaluation report.

In vocational and upper secondary professional education, the quality assurance committee monitors and evaluates the quality of educational work at the school.

In upper secondary general schools (gimnazije), a quality team assesses and monitors the quality of the school’s educational provision.

The National School of Leadership in Education and other public research institutes provide head teachers and education staff with support in the self-evaluation process and promote the development of self-evaluation skills and capacities among kindergartens and schools, namely through training and a network of educational institutions. Public research institutes complement their support by raising public awareness of quality in education.

External quality assurance

The competence in accreditation of education programmes and educational institutions is shared by the Minister responsible for education and national councils of experts, members of which are nominated by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia:

• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for General Education
• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education, and
• Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Adult Education.

The councils of experts receive professional support from the National Education Institute of Slovenia, the Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education and Training, and the Slovenian Institute for Adult Education; the Ministry responsible for education provides administrative support.

Minister responsible for education

• Takes decisions on education programmes, namely, together with the relevant councils of experts
• Appoints the Quality and Evaluation Council
• Adopts the draft evaluation studies on the recommendation of the Quality and Evaluation Council
• Defines the novelties to be introduced as a trial; defines the procedure of introduction, monitoring and evaluation, the procedure and operators of monitoring the trial, as well as the procedure of selection of schools and kindergartens participating in the trial
• Appoints the national examination committees
• Takes decisions on promotion of education staff to titles, and
• Sets the quality standards that learning materials must meet in order to be approved for use in schools.

The Quality and Evaluation Council is an advisory body to the Minister and is responsible for monitoring the modernisation of educational provision. It provides approvals for plans, interim reports, and final reports related to all modernisation processes within Slovenia's education system.

The Educational Research Institute undertakes basic, applied research, and research in development.

The external assessment of knowledge, matura exams and other exams are the responsibility of national committees appointed by the Minister responsible for education:

• Committee for the national assessment of knowledge
• National committee for final examination in vocational education
• National committee for the Vocational Matura with subject testing committees, and
• National committee for matura with subject testing committees

The competence and responsibilities of national committees are specified in the Matura Examination Act, the Basic School Act, and the Rules on Assessment and Progression of Pupils. The National Examination Centre appoints the national committees for adult foreign-language exams and the National Vocational Qualifications. The institute is the central authority responsible for the external assessment of knowledge. It pursues professional, technical and administrative activities to support national committees.

Education Inspectorate: constituent body within the ministry, responsible for education, responsible for inspection of regularity of operations in kindergartens, basic schools, music schools, upper secondary schools, higher vocational colleges, and institutions for education of SEN children, organisations for adult education and private providers that deliver officially recognised programmes. The organisation, inspection areas and authorities are specified by the School Inspection Act.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

Internal quality assurance

All kindergartens and schools have been required to conduct periodic self-evaluations. The Organisation and Financing of Education Act specifies the obligation of head teachers to assess and assure quality with self-evaluation.

Schools or kindergartens must develop annual self-evaluation reports. The councils of relevant institutions examine and adopt the reports. The law does not specify the process of self-evaluation as such (contents, structure, etc.). Implementation differs across institutions in evaluation, indicators, and methods. The outcome of the self-evaluation serves as a reference for the school's or kindergarten's development and is not communicated to higher levels of authority. Schools can choose to publish the self-evaluation report online on their own webpage.

Within the scope of annual planning, the councils of kindergartens and schools evaluate, once a year or more frequently, the realisation of the annual work plan. In practice, the self-evaluation report often accompanies the report on the realisation of the annual work plan. In this way, it is possible to establish a reasonable association between the institution's development and evaluation processes. The expert bodies of kindergartens or schools can conduct an evaluation of educational provision, and all staff, parents, and learners take part in the process. An important role is played by the school counselling services. 

By law, vocational and technical upper secondary schools must ensure quality in line with the European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) framework.

External quality assurance

Kindergartens and schools conduct external quality assessment in different ways:

• External assessment of knowledge
• Comparative assessment of outcomes in individual fields at the international level
• National evaluation studies
• Trial implementation of innovations
• Period quality assessment in the system of education
• Assessment of the relevance of education programmes, and
• Inspection.

External assessment of basic school students' knowledge and final exams after 2- and 3-year upper secondary education are the responsibility of national committees and the National Examination Centre. 

In Grades 3, 6 and 9 of basic school, students’ knowledge is assessed through national assessments, which are compulsory for students and voluntary in adult education. The results and analyses of the national assessment are intended for students, parents, teachers, schools, the ministry and the research institutions. They are used to monitor the attainment of learning objectives and standards, as specified in subject-based curricula, to ensure quality and equity in education, and to inform decision-making for the development of the education system.

National assessment results do not affect school grades. In Grades 3 and 6, they serve a purely formative purpose, providing students with feedback on their learning, while in Grade 9, they account for 40% of the points used for admission to upper secondary education. In cases of a cap on enrolment, where candidates at the cut-off threshold have equal points, selection is based on their combined percentage score in the national assessment in the language of instruction and mathematics.

The matura and vocational matura examinations have different objectives. Exams are both qualifying and selective. Passing candidates obtain upper secondary education and an option to continue their education at the tertiary level. The Matura Examination Act specifies the contents, rights, and obligations of students and members, the competence of matura bodies, and the procedure and method for taking matura exams. The Minister responsible for education issues rules on the course and method of exam delivery. The national examination committees specify the actual implementation instructions.

By law, it is forbidden to rank schools by learning outcomes in national assessments, the matura, or the vocational matura.

The National Examination Centre organised other assessments of knowledge, as well. Candidates take an examination in a foreign language, for example, in accordance with officially recognised subject-based curricula. Candidates who pass receive an officially recognised certificate. Examinations are in line with the Council of Europe's recommendations. The external assessment exercise is developed by an expert group that includes foreign language teachers from language schools, non-formal adult education organisations, and universities. Written exams are assessed by the competent assessors. Common assessment instructions and criteria apply. In this way, one guarantees a relevant standard of competence in a foreign language.

Repeated large-scale international studies led by the OECD and the IEA provide support for the comparability of international assessments of student outcomes in specific fields (reading literacy, numerical literacy, science, citizenship, language, digital, etc.). The Educational Research Institute has the competence to conduct research on learning outcomes.

Evaluation studies are two years, as a rule. The quality and evaluation council recommends evaluation topics and selects studies for the Ministry responsible for education to fund. The Educational Research Institute coordinates the evaluation studies and carries out procedures required for the implementation.

The research institutes monitor the trial implementation of innovations. The Minister responsible for education decides that innovations in programmes, organisation, and funding of education must be tested before implementation in selected schools or kindergartens, namely through a trial. Introduction, monitoring, and evaluation of new education programmes, new programme elements, and innovations are conducted in accordance with the procedures specified by the Rules on modernising the educational process. Public research institutions collect information on new programmes and help solve problems directly in pedagogical practice.

Public research institutes at different levels of education conduct periodic monitoring of educational quality.

• The National Education Institute Slovenia is competent to examine quality in kindergartens, basic schools, and institutions for the education of SEN children.
• The National Examination Centre analyses annually the outcomes of examinations, namely by subjects, municipalities and schools. Information about learning outcomes by school is not public. Schools use the information to assess the quality of their own work. It pursues professional, technical and administrative activities to support examination committees. It participates in the activities of bodies and research groups involved with assessing and assuring quality in kindergartens, basic schools, upper secondary schools, and adult education organisations.
• The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for vocational education and training assesses the quality of the vocational and technical education system according to the defined methodology, indicators, information from schools, and other statistical information. The quality indicators are specified by the Council of Experts of the Republic of Slovenia for Vocational Education. The institute develops and publishes an annual report on quality in vocational and technical education. The report includes information collected about the quality of schools. The report does not allow one to rank schools.
• The Edcuational Research Institute conducts basic, applied, and research in development in education.

The councils of experts assess the relevance of education programmes. The Council of Experts for General Education has competence in the field of adopting education programmes in general education and preschool education, education programmes for students in residence halls, and education and special education programmes for students with special needs. The Council of Experts for Vocational Education has the competence to adopt education programmes for vocational and/or technical education.
The competent council of experts is responsible for the procedure of official recognition of programmes of private schools. It examines whether the proposed private school programme achieves the specified standard of knowledge. If the programme meets the quality standards, it is awarded official recognition, and the relevant public school can issue educational certificates or award an officially recognised qualification.

The Education Inspectorate The Education Inspectorate oversees the implementation of legislation, implementing regulations and internal rules across all education providers, including kindergartens, basic schools, music schools, upper secondary schools, higher vocational colleges, institutions for children with special educational needs, student residence halls, adult education providers and private providers delivering officially recognised programmes.

Inspection procedures are carried out in the public interest, based on risk assessment or the annual work programme, and follow a single, unified process.

The Inspectorate provides professional support within inspection procedures (rather than general advisory services), cooperates with public authorities and other stakeholders, and may request data or assistance from other bodies, which must respond within 30 days.

In addition, the Inspectorate conducts systemic reviews – comprehensive evaluations of the functioning of kindergartens and schools. These reviews examine organisation and compliance with legislation, are typically conducted every five years, and result in both an individual institutional report and a system-level report.

Systemic reviews are announced in advance and may last up to six months. They are carried out in three stages: an on-site review (identifying compliance, good practice, and areas for improvement), the institution's preparation and implementation of an action plan, and a follow-up review leading to a final report.

The final report outlines compliance, good practice, identified shortcomings and improvements achieved. Institutions may submit comments, and the report is published on the Education Inspectorate’s website.