In the Hungarian public education system, external assessment of education for students happens based on national assessments, and on the national pedagogical professional evaluation (Inspection) introduced in 2013 and on the complex inspection introduced from 1 September 2021.

The system of internal self-assessment within the institution, for teachers, school heads and institutions has been operating in Hungarian public education since 2013. Teachers of the public educational institutions and the institution shall carry out a self-assessment every five years. The assessment of the school head within the institution shall happen in the second and fourth years of the appointment of a head.

The national pedagogical professional evaluation (inspection) functions as an assessment system for public education, operating on the basis of external unified criteria. Its detailed regulations are laid down in the Ministry of Human Capacities Decree 20/2012 (VIII.31) on the Educational Institutions Operation and the Use of Names of the Public Education Institutions. The national pedagogical professional evaluation covers the inspection of the teacher, the school head and the institution. Within the frames of the inspection operated by the Minister responsible for public education, the inspection of public educational institutions is repeated every five years and closed by an assessment is organised by the Educational Authority. The inspection concerns all public educational institutions regardless of their maintainers and carried out by a committee of the appointed public education experts.

Based on the experience gained from the inspections carried out since 2015, the need for further development and strengthening of the inspection system has been identified, which the Government agrees with and supports, as set out in Government Decision 1111/2020 (20.III.) on the implementation of certain tasks in the field of public education on the basis of the concept of strengthening the educational inspection system. The complex inspection focuses specifically on the institutions most in need of support (based on the evaluation of the inspection or the results of the National Assessment of Basic Competences, or on the analysis of drop-out rates or the absence of a development/action plan). (Ministry of Human Capacities Decree 20/2012 (VIII.31) on the Educational Institutions Operation and the Use of Names of the Public Education Institutions) Complex inspection is targeted to identify the causes of failure and provide support focused on eliminating them in order to improve the quality of pedagogical and professional work.

The sub-processes of the complex inspection:

• • inspection and evaluation of three (or more) teachers;
  • inspection and evaluation of the head of institution (who is in charge of the institutional unit);
  • Inspection and evaluation of the institution (member institution);
  • complex evaluation.

The institutions to be inspected are selected by the Minister responsible for education based on a recommendation of the Education Authority.

VET institutions

The Act on Vocational Education and training. which was significantly reformed in 2019, introduced new provisions for VET institutions, exempting them from these inspection procedures

VET institutions carry out their self-assessment biennially. The assessment of VET teachers, based on EQAVET and the Hay-system - takes place every three years. The assessment of the head of the VET institution shall happen in the second and fourth years of the appointment of a head.

The external assessment of VET institutions is carried out every four years by the Innovative Training Support Centre, in consultation with quality management experts in VET and based on a publicly available external assessment manual issued by the Minister responsible for VET. The evaluation covers the VET institution and the work of the head. As a result of the external evaluation, the vocational training institution draws up an action plan, which is adopted by the teaching body and approved by the maintainer. The action plan shall be aligned with the annual work plan of the VET institution and its implementation and effectiveness shall be evaluated during the next self-evaluation.

In both public educational and VET institutions, the maintainer and the head of the institution may also start an assessment to evaluate the quality of education and teaching at the school or the quality of work of individual teachers. In this case, the inspection is also carried out by an external expert.

Inspections of teachers and heads of public education can be performed only by teachers included in the National Register of Experts.

Requirements for appointment

The criteria of being included in the National Register of Experts, maintained by the Educational Authority include having a clean criminal record, holding a degree in teaching and passing a post-graduate specialist teaching examination, and having ten years of teaching experience. In addition to the above, being employed as a teacher or having left a teaching position less than 5 years ago are also emphasized.

In a national pedagogical and subject-specific inspection those public educational experts ranked as master teachers may participate who has an appropriate degree and qualification according to the specialisation of the inspection, have acquired the professional knowledge required for the pedagogical professional inspection within a 60-hour training course organised by the Educational Authority, as well as included in the National Register of Experts maintained by the Authority in the special field of pedagogical professional inspection and teacher qualification. Teachers and school heads are inspected by a team of 2 registered experts, while institutions are inspected by a team of 3-5 registered experts depending on the number of students/children and the range of tasks the institution fulfils.

The special conditions for the appointment of experts are regulated by Ministry of Human Capacities Decree 20/2012 (VIII.31) on the Educational Institutions Operation and the Use of Names of the Public Education Institutions.

Conditions of service

Experts enter into a service contract with the Educational Authority as natural people for carrying out national pedagogical professional inspections. Inspectors cannot be instructed to visit institutions where they themselves or one of their close relatives are employed. The inspector receives no extra remuneration for the tasks performed during the pedagogical professional inspection. As a unique solution, the remuneration of the above task is incorporated in the master teacher salary of the inspector. The inspector (participating in the pedagogical professional inspection, or in the pedagogical qualification procedure, or in the pedagogical qualification examination) shall receive a working time allowance as stated in the government decree 326/2013. (VIII.30.) on the Teacher Promotion System and on the Implementation of the Act XXXIII of 1992 on the Legal Status of Public Servants in Public Education Institutions (17/A §), and shall receive an exemption from work at least one teaching day per teaching week. In addition, the inspector is entitled to reimbursement of his/her legitimate expenses (e.g. travel expenses).

If for reasons attributable to him/her, the master teacher inspector does not perform the task assigned to him/her by the Educational Authority, the Educational Authority shall notify the inspector’s employer. The employer shall withdraw the classification of the master teacher inspector if he/she considers the content of the notification justified.

Due to the fact that inspectors participating in the national pedagogical professional evaluation (inspection) are employed as teachers themselves, all the regulations and obligations that apply to teachers who teach in any public educational institution, also apply to them. Thus, the 120-hour in-service training obligation for every 7 years and the retirement age of 65 years also apply to the inspectors.