Higher education is integrated by:

• university education;
• some programmes in non-university education:
  • advanced vocational training;
  • most of the programmes in artistic education (in particular, advanced plastic arts and design professional studies and advanced arts studies) and advanced sports education. These are all part of the specialised education programmes.

University education

Quality assurance has specific features , as it must combine the autonomy recognised for universities in Spain, which are responsible for ensuring the academic quality of the activities of their centres through their own strategic lines and internal systems, with the accountability of the regional and national education administrations. For this reason, it has a double focus: supervision and advice. 

Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU), establishes that the university system must guarantee levels of good governance and quality that are comparable with internationally recognised standards, in particular with the criteria and guidelines established for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area. Likewise, the promotion and guarantee of this quality is a shared responsibility of the universities, the evaluation agencies and the Public Administrations with competences in this area.

Quality assurance will be implemented under the conditions and through the evaluation, certification and accreditation procedures established by the Administration, by Royal Decree, following a report by the General Assembly for University Policy. 

The functions of accreditation and evaluation for university teaching staff, institutional accreditation, evaluation of university degrees, monitoring of results and reports in the university field, among others, correspond to the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (hereinafter ANECA)and to the evaluation agencies of the Autonomous Communities registered in the European Quality Assurance Agency Register (EQAR), within the scope of their respective competences. One of the main challenges of the university system is to achieve high quality standards in teaching, research, knowledge transfer and exchange, always in accordance with internationally recognised standards. The promotion of quality in all its activities is a responsibility shared by the university community as a whole and its different management levels. In this sense, the process for recruitment and promotion of teaching and research staff is one of the most relevant components for quality assurance; its regulation. Royal Decree 678/2023, which regulates state accreditation for access to university teaching bodies and the system of competitive examinations for access to positions in these bodies, unifies the regulation of accreditation and competitive examinations for access in a single piece of legislation, and incorporates and develops the regulatory innovations introduced by the LOSU, which affect key elements of both procedures.

Finally, in order to guarantee the academic quality of university institutions, the Government will regulate the procedure and conditions for their institutional accreditation.

Responsible bodies

General Assembly for University Policy

The General Assembly for University Policy  is the body for consultation, coordination and cooperation on general university policy; under the presidency of the Minister for Science, Innovation and Universities (MCNU), it is made up of the people in charge of university education in the Governing Councils of the autonomous communities.

Without detriment to the powers conferred on the university coordination bodies of the Autonomous Communities, it has several functions. First of all, it is responsible for establishing and assessing the general guidelines of university policy, ensuring its organisation in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and its interrelationship with scientific and technological research policies.  

It is also essential to plan, inform, consult and advise on the general and multi-annual planning of university education, as well as to report on the legal and regulatory provisions that affect the university system as a whole.

Another important function is to draw up proposals to ensure the transparency, evaluation, debureaucratisation and efficiency in all teaching, research and funding processes as well as in the universities' management of human and economic resources. It is also responsible for issuing binding reports on the creation and recognition of universities.

On the other hand, it is responsible for approving, each academic year, the general provision of courses and places for official degrees in the university system. It must also propose measures and actions that guarantee access to university studies, continuity in them and their completion, under equal conditions for all students, and to foster the relationship between the university system and the social and economic environment.

Finally, it is its responsibility to draw up reports on the application of the principle of gender equality, anti-discrimination policies and the recognition of diversity in all aspects of university life.

Council of Universities

The Council of Universities is the body for academic coordination, cooperation, consultation and proposal in terms of university education. It has the following functions, which it carries out with full functional autonomy:

• acting as a channel for collaboration, cooperation and coordination in academic matters;
• informing on the legal and regulatory provisions that affect the university system as a whole;
• providing advise in terms of university education as required by the ministry responsible for universities, the General Assembly for University Policy or, where appropriate, the autonomous communities;
• make proposals to the Government regarding the university system and the General Assembly for University Policy;
• verifying the alignment of the curricula with the guidelines and requirements established by the Government for official degrees;
• coordinating the characteristics to be respected in the different teaching modalities in order to ensure their quality;
• carrying out any other tasks entrusted to it by law and its implementing provisions.

The Council of Universities is chaired by the head of the ministry responsible for universities and is integrated by the Rectors of the universities and five members appointed by its chair.

National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA)

The most important functions of the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA) are the following:

• promote the improvement of the teaching, research and management activities of universities;
• contribute to the measurement of higher education performance according to objective procedures and transparent processes;
• provide  public authorities with suitable information for decision-making;
• inform society about the achievement of goals in university activities.

The set of functions that correspond to ANECA can be found in Article 6 of Royal Decree 1112/2015.

The evaluation, accreditation and certification processes carried out by ANECA comply with internationally recognised protocols, fulfilling the European criteria and guidelines (ESG) for quality assurance in the European Higher Education Area (EEES). 

ANECA regularly undergoes external evaluations according to the ESG and is an active member of the main international networks. In this regard, in 2003  became a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), in 2008, it joined the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) and, in 2010, it became the first European agency adhering to the Guidelines of Good Practice of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE), in which it is recognised as a full member. In 2021, it was also recognised by the Ibero-American System for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (SIACES) with the Certificate of Validation of Good Practices.

ANECA defines its main operational lines in its Strategic Plan. It is a reference document for the establishment of medium-term objectives that serve as a framework for the annual operational plans and the development of the Agency’s projects in the future. The 2022-2025 Strategic Plan is currently in force.

The Strategic Plan 2022-2025 includes these three strategic objectives and their corresponding action lines:

• Support and guidance. To support and guide the promotion and modernisation of the quality of the Spanish higher education and research system, within the framework of the criteria and guidelines for quality assurance in the EHEA, providing the system with orientation, evaluation, certification and accreditation programmes, strengthening its alliances with those entities that contribute to the improvement of the quality of the Spanish higher education and research system:
  • efficiently and accurately developing the different programmes for evaluating the quality of university education;
  • carrying out the institutional evaluation programmes with the aim of helping to improve the quality of the Spanish higher education;
  • developing a programme of Integrated Quality Recognition (RIC-6) to enable to accredit lines of excellence, helping to build society's trust in the higher education and research system;
  • evaluating applications for scholarships and grants for university teaching staff;
  • contributing to the design and assessment of a teaching and research career model for teaching staff through accreditation programmes;
  • carrying out a specific assessment of teaching staff at those universities that request it;
  • implementing the recognition of merits in research activity;
  • running programmes for the recognition of foreign university degrees;
  • guaranteeing a clear and transparent choice in the selection process of evaluators (national and international) participating in the Agency's different programmes. 
     
• Public image and transparency. Strengthening the national and international image of the Spanish higher education and research system, as well as that of the cross-border initiatives of the entities within it, promoting the communication of its actions to the different people and institutions with which it interacts, generating confidence in stakeholders and in society in:
  • promoting the Agency's institutional relations, agreements and national collaborations by actively participating in organisations and institutions that favour the strengthening of the higher education and research system in Spain;
  • enhancing the Agency's internationalisation, through its involvement in quality assurance in different regions of the world and its active collaboration with international organisations;
  • promoting a social projection communication policy by developing actions aimed at achieving visibility and impact for the Agency's activities;
  • developing the Quality Observatory to carry out, publish and disseminate studies and forecasts on the university system;
  • promoting equity in its actions and throughout the higher education and research system;
  • creating the ANECA Classroom in the Agency's premises to offer advice and training to the actors involved, and the ANECA Office in higher education and scientific research institutions to provide information on ANECA programmes.
• Autonomy and efficiency. Providing the Agency with the financial, human and IT resources to enable the effective and efficient development of its activities:
  • achieving continuous improvement in the processes of implementation of the Agency's objectives, providing them with monitoring tools, defining the risks and analysing the results;
  • strengthening ANECA's staff by increasing its quantitative resources and creating the best conditions for its development;
  • providing the Agency with the necessary financial resources and improving its management system;
  • carrying out a Digital Transformation Plan;
  • providing the Agency with the physical infrastructures necessary for the development of its activities and establishing the appropriate mechanisms for the safeguarding of its assets, optimising its internal control management systems;
  • improving the agility and control of the Agency's recruitment processes and all legal procedures.

The annual operational plans are annual documents, approved by ANECA's management team and submitted to the Governing Board in the last quarter of the previous year. They include the planning of each of the activities to be carried out by the Agency, according to the priorities set out in the strategic objectives, as well as a list of defined and quantifiable indicators to measure the fulfilment of each of the objectives established in the Strategic Plan.

In turn, the annual reports describe the activities that have been promoted during each year, according to the priorities set out in the Agency's strategic objectives. They are therefore annual documents approved by the management team. They also include the results of the indicators defined to measure compliance with each of the strategic objectives included in the corresponding Annual Operating Plan.

The ANECA’s Observatory for the quality of the Spanish university system publishes in collaboration with the  regional university quality agencies its Report on the status of external quality assessment in Spanish universities. This report provides a situational analysis of the impact of the external evaluation of the quality of the Spanish university system and its evolution, focusing on the reflection on several important issues to promote the improvement of the processes and results linked to such actions. The latest available edition corresponds to the year 2019.

In addition, the Observatory also draws up thematic reports (“employability and labour market insertion”, “inclusion”, “citizenship” and “knowledge creation and transfer”) on the improvement of the quality of the institutions' actions at the service of university education objectives. 

Finally, the Observatory supports the progress in the creation of a European Education Area NECA, proposing a study on “quality assurance in European University Alliances, European Degrees and Micro-credentials in the Spanish University System”, with the ultimate aim of promoting, on the basis of quality assurance, innovative and flexible models of teaching and learning that respond to the current challenges of the University in Europe.

Agencies of the Autonomous Communities responsible for the evaluation of university education

The evaluation agencies contribute, together with ANECA, to the improvement of quality through the coordination and development of the evaluation, certification and accreditation of university studies, teachers and institutions.

Control bodies of the autonomous communities

The educational administrations are responsible for the supervision and periodic monitoring of the universities' compliance with the requirements for their creation and recognition. To this end, each autonomous community establishes its own supervisory bodies, respecting the competences corresponding to other administrations or agencies. These bodies arbitrate the mechanisms for periodic supervision and control for the universities in their territorial area.

Services Inspection in each university

Article 16.1 of Royal Decree 898/1985 establishes the obligation to set up an Inspection Service in each university to supervise the functioning of the services and to collaborate in the inspection tasks for all disciplinary proceedings and the general monitoring and control of academic discipline.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

Quality assurance is implemented under the conditions and through the evaluation, certification and accreditation procedures established by the Administration, by Royal Decree, following a report by the General Assembly for University Policy. The Government itself regulates the procedure and conditions for the institutional accreditation of university institutions, based on the recognition of the university's capacity to guarantee its academic quality, through its own internal quality assurance systems.

External evaluation procedures

As established in Article 25 of Royal Decree 822/2021, in order to ensure the quality of university studies as an educational service for the Spanish society as a whole, official university degrees must be subject to external assessment procedures in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance of Higher Education ESG). Universities must assume joint responsibility for quality assurance through the development of their internal quality assurance systems and the promotion of a culture of quality among the university community.

The quality assurance procedures that involve all the curricula of official university degrees are verification, monitoring and modification procedures, as well as the renewal of degree accreditation. To this end, the quality agencies jointly establish the quality assessment protocols that guide them.

ANECA programmes for the evaluation of university education

ANECA develops its activity, in other words, evaluation, certification and accreditation, through different programs:

• VERIFICA:  it evaluates the proposals of study plans designed in line with the EHEA.
• MONITOR: it provides universities with an external appraisal on the implementation of their official degrees with a view to using this appraisal as an additional element to improve the training offered.
• ACREDITA: it evaluates official university degrees for the renewal of their accreditation. This evaluation is carried out on a cyclical basis and has a twofold objective: to check whether the degree is being carried out in accordance with the objectives established in its initial project (by which it obtained the status of official degree) and to check whether its results are adequate and contribute to the training of the students and therefore to the achievement of the planned objectives.
• RECONOCIMIENTOS DE CALIDAD:  in addition to the accreditation as official degrees, university studies can opt for specific quality recognition in certain areas, articulated through ANECA quality certificates.

ANECA programmes for the evaluation of institutions

Participation in both programmes is voluntary.

• DOCENTIA: it guarantees the training and competence of university teaching staff, through an assessment of their teaching activity.
• AUDIT:: it certifies the implementation of the institutions' internal quality assurance systems (IQAS) in the centres with respect to their teaching, research, transfer and sustainability dimensions.
• INSTITUTIONAL ACCREDITATION: it is an alternative to the accreditation model for official university degrees and master's degrees.

ANECA programmes for the evaluation of teachers

Participation in both programmes is compulsory for teachers who participate in processes for the recruitment or access to the university teaching staff.

• PEP: it evaluates the teaching and research experience and the academic qualifications of prospective teachers in order to have access to the positions of contract university teachers (contract professor with a PhD and private university lecturer) established in the LOSU (2023).
• ACADEMIA: through Commissions for Accreditation, it carries out the process of curricular evaluation for accreditation in order to have access to the positions of university senior lecturer and university senior professor. It is regulated in accordance with Royal Decree 678/2023.
• CNEAI: The National Committee for the Evaluation of Research Activity evaluates the research activity of university teachers and the scientific staff of the Spanish Higher Scientific Research Council (CSIC), so that they receive a productivity allowance.

Other ANECA evaluation activities

• Evaluations by agreement. Through these agreements, the Agency carries out the scientific-technical evaluation of proposals for funding applications from institutions and centres belonging to the higher education and research system that request it, as well as the research, teaching and transfer performance of the personnel assigned to the different institutions and centres belonging to the higher education and research system.
• Calls for applications for scholarships and grants from the ministry responsible for universities. The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities entrusts to ANECA the evaluation of the applications submitted in different annual calls for applications for university teaching staff training and mobility grants. Within the selection process for each call for applications, ANECA is responsible for the evaluation phase of the applications.
• Assessment of official non-university higher education degrees. One of ANECA’s main goals is to contribute to the promotion of the quality of the Spanish university system within the framework of the criteria and guidelines for quality assurance in the EHEA. In this sense, it must effectively and rigorously apply the different programmes for evaluating the quality of university education required by current legislation. In this field, it also evaluates official non-university higher education qualifications, such as master's degrees in art education.
• Quality Recognitions. The National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA), as the public body responsible for promoting and ensuring the quality of the Spanish university system in the international context, rolls out not only “common minimum” accreditation processes but also orientation processes and certification with which to support institutional excellence strategies for each institution, helping to generate the trust of society in the institutions. This category includes the following elements:
  • ANECA’s Professional Labels (SIC). ANECA's International Quality Seals Programme offers the possibility of obtaining an International Quality Seal (SIC) with recognised prestige in different professional fields. The SIC programme has been active since October 2017, the year in which the ACREDITA PLUS programme, created in 2013, was reformulated.
  • Academic Publishing Quality Label: its objective is to recognize the best practices within Spanish university publishing and become a distinctive sign that both the agencies evaluating the research activity and the academic and research community can easily identify. It also aims to serve as a means through which to promote and foster quality in academic publishing.

Integrated University Information System

The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities runs an Integrated University Information System (SIIU) to cover the information needs of the Spanish university system as a whole and of the administrations, and will provide the competent external assessment bodies with the necessary information to carry out quality assurance procedures. Likewise, the SIIU, based on the statistics and information collected, carries out observation, analysis and forecasting activities in collaboration with the universities and the quality agencies.

Universities' internal quality assurance system

Institutional accreditation as a mechanism for guaranteeing the overall academic quality of a university is implemented through the internal quality assurance system, which must ensure a level of training competence and compliance with standardised criteria for the quality of the teaching service provided, and which must respond to the demands of the student body and the society. This procedure must be transparent and include accountability mechanisms.

Annual report on university activities

Universities must submit an annual report on their teaching and research activities to the competent body of the autonomous community in which they are located, within the framework of the multiannual programme.

If, after the start of its activities, it is found that a university fails to comply with the requirements of the legal system and the commitments made when applying for recognition, the competent body of the autonomous community shall request the university to regularise the situation. To this end, the university must submit a remedial action plan within a maximum period of three months from the day following the date on which the request was issued, and will have a maximum period of two years in which to implement the plan and, consequently, to meet the requirements.

If the deadline has passed without the university having submitted the action plan or fulfilled the requirements, the education administration shall, after hearing the university, revoke the university's authorisation to start its activities. The scope of the revocation may affect the entire university or limit its effects to some of its units.

Advanced vocational training

The evaluation of the quality of the vocational training system is carried out according to the indicators set out in the European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Training (EQAVET).

All the public administrations with competence in this area ensure the quality of all the actions and services within the vocational training system, especially vocational guidance, the training provided in all the learning environments and in all modalities, and the accreditation of professional competences.

The General State Administration (GSA) establishes and coordinates an evaluation system for the vocational training system to ensure its continuous improvement and innovation, in collaboration with the Administrations with competences in this area and the most representative business and trade union organisations.

The purposes of the evaluation of the vocational training system are the following:

• the identification, description and analysis of the relevant elements for the quality of the provision and the implementation of vocational training programmes and actions, the accreditation of competences and vocational;
• the presentation of evidence allowing for informed decisions to be taken in order to improve the functioning of the system and its results.

In turn, the evaluation system for the vocational training system has the following characteristics:

• the implementation of an internal and external assessment process on a continuous basis as part of a cycle of continuous improvement;
• the compilation of information in accordance with a system of quality indicators;
• the use of various sources of verification to ensure the three-way validation of data;
• the principles of all public evaluation: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, social impact and sustainability.

Responsible bodies

General Council for Vocational Training

The General Council for Vocational Training, (CGFP), attached to the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD), is the body for participation, advice and evaluation of the vocational training system, without prejudice to the competences attributed to the National School Council.

Technical Committee for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Training

The Technical Committee for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Training is made up of the MEFD and the education authorities of the regional administrations with competences in this area. Among its tasks is the development of a common framework for evaluation and quality assurance and of the national system of indicators for the evaluation of vocational training. Likewise, it is the body responsible for defining the common instruments for quality verification and the collection of evidence for evaluation at state level. Finally, this committee is responsible for agreeing on the proposal to carry out research and studies to evaluate the vocational training system.

State Educational Inspectorate

The State Educational Inspectorate features the following particularities:

• it is carried out by the State through the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports (MEFD).
• It is in charge of ensuring compliance with the powers conferred on the State as well as observance of the constitutional principles and regulations and the different acts on education throughout the national;
• It is organized as a peripheral service of the General State Administration and is integrated in the Government delegations in each autonomous;
• the Government Delegations coordinate these services in the area of non-university education, submit the reports and minutes derived from the State Inspectorate's performance in this area to the MEFD, and also establish the corresponding collaboration with the Autonomous Communities.

Its powers are the following:

• check compliance with the requirements established by the State in the general organisation of the education system regarding branches, stages, cycles and specialities and the corresponding number of years in each case;
• check that the basic aspects of the curriculum have been included in the curricula established by the education authorities and that they comply with the relevant national organisation;
• check compliance with the conditions for the awarding, issuing and recognition of certificates, as well as their academic and professional validity;
• ensure compliance with basic conditions guaranteeing the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of their rights and duties in education, as well as with their linguistic rights;
• verify that subsidies and grants are awarded financed from the General State Budget, in accordance with the general criteria established by national regulations.

Educational inspection of the autonomous communities

The educational inspection of the autonomous communities is carried out in relation to all the elements and aspects of the education system within their scope of management. It is the link between the administration and educational institutions, and plays a key role in external school evaluation processes.

Its main functions are the following:

• monitor, evaluate and control, from a pedagogical and organisational point of view, the functioning of educational institutions, as well as the projects and programmes they develop, in compliance with the framework of autonomy of the institutions themselves;
• supervise the teaching practice and the managerial function, and cooperate in their constant improvement;
• participate in the evaluation of the education system and all its elements;
• monitor compliance with the acts, regulations and other provisions on the education system that are in force in educational institutions;
• ensure compliance and implementation of the principles and values of the Education Act, including those aimed at promoting real equality between men and women;
• provide counselling, guidance and information to the various sectors of the educational community in exercising their rights fulfilling their obligations;
• submit the reports required by the relevant education authorities, or those arising from the understanding of reality inherent to educational inspection, through the established;
• guide management teams in the adoption and monitoring of measures that favour coexistence, participation of the educational community and resolution of conflicts, promoting and participating, when necessary, in mediation processes.

The autonomous communities have regulated and passed regulations on the organisation and functioning of their educational inspection services. In the case of the Autonomous Communities which have defined and approved their own School Evaluation Plan, the Inspectorate carries out the external evaluation in accordance with the Plan, which occasionally implies collaborating with other regional evaluation institutions.

The educational inspection is carried out by the Inspectorate civil servants. In undertaking their tasks, they are to be considered a public authority and their responsibilities include the following:

• be familiar with, supervise and observe all the activities carried out in the institutions, both public and private, to which they will have free access;
• examine and check any academic, pedagogical and administrative documentation of schools;
• receive the necessary collaboration from other civil servants and those responsible for public and private educational institutions and services in order to carry out their activities;
• participate in the meetings of the collegiate or teaching coordination bodies of the institutions, respecting the exercise of autonomy granted to them by law, as well as taking part in commissions, boards and tribunals, when so determined;
• submit reports and make requests when there is a breach in the application of the regulations, and draw up minutes, either on their own initiative or at the request of the corresponding administrative authority;
• any other duties attributed to it by the educational administrations, within the scope of its competences.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

Evaluation and Quality Assurance Framework

The Evaluation and Quality Assurance Framework and its indicators are defined and proposed within the framework of the Technical Committee for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Education and Training, as a body for territorial cooperation.

This framework must cover, at least, the phases of planning, implementation, results and updating, according to the indicators established in the European Quality Assurance Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQUAVET). In addition, it must also establish the aspects of planning and provision, the activity of teachers, instructors and experts, the profile of the centres of the vocational training system, the coordination between centres within and outside the system, the vocational guidance service, the accreditation of professional competences, the participation in innovation and applied research and entrepreneurship, and the interaction and adjustment to the needs of the environment. It also includes various sources of verification, among which the assessment of individuals undergoing training is prescriptive. 

The data collection must make it possible to monitor at least the following values for each of the basic actions established:

• participants;  
• accreditations, certificates or diplomas issued;
• budgets consumed;
• degree of coverage of the places offered;
• degree of coverage of job offers in the different sectors;
• degree of implementation of active methodologies;
• levels of labour market insertion;
• assessment, on a national sample basis, of both training participants and companies on the degree to which they take advantage of the training actions in which they participate;
• results in terms of educational/training continuity;
• participation of teachers and training staff in continuous training and updating.

The competent administrations are responsible for collecting the foreseen data with the required level of disaggregation in order to draw up the report on the state of the system.

Report on the state of the system

The General State Administration must draw up, every two years and with the collaboration of the autonomous communities, a report on the state of the vocational training system, submit it to the General Council for Vocational Training and the State School Council, in its area of competence, and publish it.  This report should include the following aspects:

• the information requested from and provided by the Autonomous Communities about results in their respective;
• the results obtained by random verifications and evaluations assigned to independent bodies.

The competent administrations and all vocational training institutions are required to transfer the necessary data for the compilation of the Report on the state of the system. The content of the report is agreed upon within the framework of the territorial cooperation bodies and the General Council for Vocational Training.

Every four years, it includes a study on the provision of training cycles and their adequacy to student demand, the employability rate of the students and the present and future human capital needs of the public and private sectors.

The first report on the state of the Vocational Training System, under the terms established in article 112 of Organic Law 3/2022, was submitted to the General Council of Vocational Training and the State School Council in March 2024.

Quality systems in the institutions 

The authorities promote the implementation of internal quality frameworks as part of a cycle of continuous improvement in public vocational training institutions that are publicly funded or run with public funding. They may use independent quality management certification systems or evaluation systems based on indicators generated in the exercise of supervision by the competent administration or the MEFD. 

In the case of private institutions, the authorities may consider, in the terms of calls for applications for the granting of funds for the implementation of training offers in the vocational training system or other terms, having an independent certification of quality management excellence models.

Quality plans in the institutions

The administrations promote the design of improvement plans for the institutions themselves and for specific projects, depending on their complexity and socio-economic environment, the results of which may be monitored by the competent administrations. To this end, these administrations may allocate resources under the terms set out in the different regulations.

Specialised education programmes

Advanced artistic education

The quality assessment of advanced artistic education aims to improve the teaching, research and management activities at the institutions, as well as to promote the excellence and mobility of both the students and the teaching staff.

Responsible bodies

Superior Council for Artistic Education

The Supreme Council for Artistic Education, is the State consultative and participatory body regarding artistic education.  As a consultation body, it carries out advisory work and drafts proposals for the Spanish Government in relation to the different aspects of artistic education. 

The law gives the Higher Council for Artistic Education a special relevance in the field of higher artistic education, assigning it participation in the definition of the structure and basic content of the different courses of study in this field.

State Education Inspectorate

The State Educational Inspectorate, already described in advanced vocational education and training, is also responsible for quality assurance in advanced artistic education.

Educational inspection of the Autonomous Communities

The educational inspection of the autonomous communities, already described in advanced vocational education and training, is also responsible for quality assurance in advanced artistic education.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

In accordance with the provisions of article 59 in Law 1/2024 regulating advanced artistic education and establishing the organisation and equivalences of vocational artistic education, the curricula of higher artistic education degrees, within the framework of the standards established by the EHEA, shall be evaluated periodically in order to ensure that their provision continues to be adequate and provides an effective and favourable learning environment for their students. The aim of this evaluation of the syllabuses will be to verify their correct implementation, to analyse the fulfilment of their academic approaches, and to assess their updating in relation to the advances made in their respective fields, as well as their adaptation to the expectations of students and the changing needs of society.

Furthermore, the Government, after consulting the autonomous communities and the Superior Council for Artistic Education, develops the procedures for curricula quality assurance in official advanced artistic education degrees, which include, in addition to those referring to the verification and validation of the degrees, those determined for their assessment and monitoring and for the renewal or modification of their accreditation.

In accordance with these objectives and taking into account the monitoring procedures established by the government, schools establish internal assessment mechanisms to improve the quality of the courses they offer. Likewise, the competent educational administrations promote and develop internal and external systems for the evaluation of the institutions, aimed at promoting the overall quality of arts education and monitoring it on an ongoing basis.

Meanwhile, the Superior Council for Artistic Education approves each academic year a report on the state and situation of artistic education. This report provides statistical data, offers proposals and gives account of the regulations in relation to artistic education. The assessments and conclusions contained in the report constitute an effective instrument for the improvement of the artistic field within the education system.

Advanced vocational education in sports

The quality assessment of advanced sports education aims to establish a firm commitment to the improvement of this provision and to bring it into line with the reality of the Spanish sports system.

Responsible bodies

Superior Sports Council

The Superior Sports Council is an autonomous body attached to the MEFD, responsible, among other functions, for supporting and promoting the economic, budgetary and personnel management of the state-owned centres that provide distance higher level sports education throughout the national territory; as well as proposing, within the framework of the educational competences of the General State Administration, the regulation and organisation of special regime sports education.

State Education Inspectorate

The State Education Inspectorate, already described in advanced vocational education and training, is also responsible for quality assurance in advanced sports education.

Educational inspection of the Autonomous Communities

The educational inspection of the autonomous communities, already described in advanced vocational education and training, is also responsible for quality assurance in advanced sports education.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

The education authorities are responsible for promoting evaluation systems and procedures in collaboration with the Superior Sports Council, within the scope of the powers attributed to them.

At the beginning of each school year, schools draw up an yearly general programme which includes all aspects relating to the organisation and operation of the school, including the annual quality actions set out in the management project.