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 reconcile the autonomy that is recognised for universities in Spain with the accountability that the regional and national education authorities must fulfil. For this reason, it has a dual orientation: supervisory and advisory.

On the one hand, Organic Law 6/2001 on Universities (LOU) established the objectives for the promotion and assurance of quality in Spanish universities, indicating the following:

•    the measurement of the performance of the public service of university higher education and accountability to society;
•    transparency, comparison, cooperation and competitiveness of universities at national and international level;
•    the improvement of teaching and research activity and university management;
•    information to public authorities for decision-making within the scope of their competences;
•    information to society to promote excellence and mobility of students and teaching staff.

On the other hand, Organic Law 2/2023 on the University System (LOSU), which repeals the LOU, 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.

The promotion and assurance of such quality is a shared responsibility of universities, evaluation agencies and the public authorities with competences in this area.

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.

Without detriment to the powers conferred on the university coordination bodies of the autonomous communities, it has the following functions:

• to establish and assess the general guidelines of university policy, its articulation in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and its interrelation with scientific and technological research policies;
• to draw up, inform, consult and provide advice on the general organisation and long-term programming of university education, including the necessary human, material and financial resources required for the provision of the public university services;
• to approve the coordination criteria regarding evaluation, certification and accreditation activities, aimed at promoting and guaranteeing the quality and efficiency of the universities;
• to propose and assess measures in order to promote collaboration between universities and companies;
• to coordinate the drawing up and monitoring of reports on the application of the principle of gender equality at the university.

Every two years, the Assembly draws up a report on the situation of the university system and its funding, putting forward proposals to improve its quality and efficiency with the aim of ensuring financial sufficiency and the right to education under equal conditions.

The Assembly is made up of the head of the ministry responsible for universities, who chairs it, the people in charge of university education in the Governing Councils of the autonomous communities, and by five members designed by the presidency of the Assembly.

Council of Universities

The Council of Universities is the body for academic coordination, cooperation, consultation and proposals in university matters. It has the following functions, which it performs with full functional autonomy:

• to serve as a channel for collaboration, cooperation and coordination in the academic field;
• to inform the legal and regulatory provisions that affect the university system as a whole;
• to provide advice on university matters as required by the ministry responsible for universities, the General Assembly for University Policy or, where appropriate, the autonomous communities;
• to make proposals to the Government on matters regarding the university system and to the General Assembly for University Policy;
• to verify the alignment of study plans with the guidelines and requirements established by the Government for official degrees;
• to carry out any other tasks entrusted to it by law and their implementing provisions.

The Council of Universities is chaired by the head of the ministry responsible for universities and is made up of 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:

• to promote the improvement of the teaching, research and management activities of universities;
• to contribute to the measurement of higher education performance according to objective procedures and transparent processes;
• to provide public authorities with suitable information for decision-making;
• to inform society about the fulfilment 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 it 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. This is a reference document for the establishment of medium-term objectives which serves as a framework for the annual operational plans and the development of the Agency’s projects in the future. It is currently in force for the period 2022-2025.

This 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 of schools and institutions with the aim of helping to improve the quality of the Spanish higher education system. The Agency provides higher education institutions with quality improvement programmes that include the institution itself;
  • developing a programme of Integrated Quality Recognition (RIC-6) to enable higher education and research institutions to accredit their lines of excellence, helping to build society's trust in the higher education and research system; 
  • evaluating the training, mobility and promotion of curricular talent of the ministry responsible for universities;
  • contributing to the design and assessment of a teaching and research career model for teaching staff through the programmes that accredit the different figures of university lecturers;
  • specific assessment of teaching staff at those universities that request it;
  • carrying out programmes for the evaluation of applications for six-year periods that recognise merits in research activity;
  • handling the procedures for which the Agency is responsible in 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. Contributing through its activities and assessment programmes to 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 general:
  • 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. Collaborating with the bodies representing students and other social groups related to its different lines of action;
  • 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 academic diplomacy projects and actions;
  • 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 prospective studies on the orientation, evaluation, certification and accreditation of higher education institutions and the improvement of quality in the university system as a whole;
  • promoting equity in its actions and its extension to the higher education and research system;
  • creating the ANECA Classroom in the Agency's facilities to offer advice and training to the actors involved, and the ANECA Office in the higher education and scientific research institutions to offer information on ANECA programmes to the universities' technical staff who are part of the office, so that they can resolve any doubts that their teaching staff may have about the ANECA programmes.
• Autonomy and efficiency. Providing the Agency with the financial, human and IT resources necessary to achieve its objectives and managing them as effectively and efficiently as possible:
  • achieving continuous improvement in the processes of implementation of the Agency's objectives, providing them with monitoring tools, defining the risks of each of the activities and carrying out an analysis of the results of these monitoring processes;
  • 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;
  • digital transformation of the Agency;
  • 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.

The Annual Operating Plan 2023 (POA 2023) is based on the strategic objectives set out in the Strategic Plan 2022-2025. The Plan for the year 2024 has not yet been published.

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 defined in the corresponding Annual Operating Plan. The latest annual report available corresponds to the year 2022.

The ANECA’s Observatory for the quality of the Spanish university system publishes on an annual basis and 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 presents a new line of work in which it prepares specific reports on the improvement of the quality of the institutions' actions at the service of university education objectives. The first stage of the project seeks to address, due to their relevance, two fundamental objectives of higher education: employability and job placement, on one hand, and inclusion, on the other.

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 education authorities are responsible for the supervision and periodic control 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 powers that correspond to other administrations or agencies. These bodies arbitrate the mechanisms conducive to the supervision and periodic control of 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 Government, by Royal Decree, following a report by the General Asembly for University Policy. The Government itself regulates the procedure and conditions for the institutional accreditation of university centres, based on the recognition of the university's capacity to guarantee their academic quality. For their part, the universities guarantee the academic quality of the activities of their centres through 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 whole of Spanish society, 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 should take co-responsibility for quality assurance by developing their internal quality assurance systems and promoting a culture of quality among the university community.

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

ANECA programmes for the evaluation of studies

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

• 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.
• QUALITY RECOGNITIONS  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 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.
• Processes 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:
  • Comprehensive Quality Recognitions (RIC). RIC-6 is a programme for the Comprehensive Quality Recognitions of higher education institutions based on six pillars. Three correspond to the mission of the institutions (research, teaching and transfer of knowledge) and the other three to sustainability (social, environmental and governance).
  • 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.
  • Other labels. ANECA supports and accompanies the promotion and modernisation of the quality of the higher education and research system, providing the university system with guidance, evaluation, certification and accreditation, through the creation of labels in collaboration with other entities. Two examples are the (ENPHI) label for distance and hybrid learning and the Quality Label for Academic Publishing. The ENPHI label is the first label designed and implemented exclusively by ANECA and is a certificate granted to Bachelor’s or Master’s degree level programmes that have been assessed in line with standard defined in accordance with the principles of quality, relevance, transparency, recognition and mobility as set out in the European Higher Education Area. In turn, the purpose of the Quality Label for Academic Publishing is to recognise best practice within Spanish university publishing to make it a hallmark that both research assessment agencies 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 responsible for universities maintains 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 carries out activities, based on the statistics and information collected, of observation, analysis and foresight, in collaboration with the universities and the quality agencies.

Internal quality assurance system of universities

Institutional accreditation as a mechanism to guarantee the overall academic quality of a university institution 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 society. This procedure must be transparent and include accountability mechanisms.

Annual report on university activities

Each year, universities must submit to the competent body of the autonomous community in which they are located a comprehensive report on their teaching and research activities, carried out within the framework of the multi-annual 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 requires the university to regularise the situation. To this end, the university must present a plan of corrective measures within a maximum period of 6 months from the day following that on which the requirement was made. In particular, the evolution of the number of students at the university is taken into account.

Once this period has elapsed without the university having adopted the measures or fulfilled the requirements, after hearing the university, the education administration revokes the university's authorisation to commence operations. The scope of the revocation may affect the entire university or limit its effects to one of its centres.

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 public authorities 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 Assembly for Vocational Training

The General Assembly for Vocational Training, 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 State School Council.

Technical Assembly for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Training

The Technical Assembly for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Training is made up of the MEFD and the education authorities of the autonomous communities with powers in this area. Its tasks are as follows:

• to draw up a common framework for evaluation and quality assurance and the state system of indicators for the evaluation of vocational training;
• to determine common instruments for quality verification and evidence gathering for evaluation at state level;
• to agree on the proposal to carry out research and evaluation studies of the vocational training system.

State Education Inspectorate

The State Education 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 territory.
• It is organized as a peripheral service of the General State Administration and is integrated in the government delegations in each autonomous community.
• The government delegations coordinate these services in the field of non-university education, submit to the MEFD the reports and minutes derived from the State Inspectorate's performance in this area, and also establish the corresponding collaboration with the autonomous communities.

Its powers are as follows:

• to check compliance with the requirements established by the State in the general organisation of the education system in terms of modalities, stages, cycles and specialities of education, as well as in terms of the number of years that correspond in each case;
• to check the inclusion of the basic aspects of the curriculum within the curricula established by the education authorities and that these are followed in accordance with State regulations;
• to check compliance with the conditions for obtaining qualifications, as well as their academic or professional effects;
• to ensure compliance with the basic conditions that guarantee the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of their rights and duties in the field of education, as well as their linguistic rights;
• to verify the adequacy of the granting of subsidies and scholarships financed from the General State Budget, in accordance with the general criteria established by the provisions of the State.

Education inspection of the autonomous communities

The education inspection of the autonomous communities is carried out on all elements and aspects of the education system in their area of management. It is the link between the education authorities and the educational institutions, and plays a key role in the external evaluation processes of these institutions.

Its main functions are as follows:

• to monitor, evaluate and control, from a pedagogical and organisational point of view, respecting the framework of autonomy of the institutions themselves;
• to supervise teaching practice and the managerial function, and collaborate in its continuous improvement;
• to participate in the evaluation of the education system and of the elements that comprise it;
• to ensure compliance in educational centres with the acts, regulations and other provisions in force that affect the educational system;
• to ensure compliance with and implementation of the principles and values set out in the LOE, including those aimed at promoting real equality between men and women;
• to provide counselling, guidance and information to the different sectors of the educational community in the exercise of their rights and in the fulfilment of their obligations;
• to submit the reports required by the relevant education authorities, or those arising from the knowledge of the education inspection's own reality, through the regulatory channels;
• to guide management teams in the adoption and monitoring of measures that favour coexistence, the participation of the educational community and the resolution of conflicts, promoting and participating, when necessary, in mediation processes.

The autonomous communities regulate and approve the instructions for the organisation and operation of their education inspectorates. In those autonomous communities which have defined and approved their own Plan for the Evaluation of Educational Institutions, the education inspectorate carries out the external evaluation in accordance with this plan, which in some cases involves collaboration with other regional evaluation bodies.

Education inspection is carried out by civil servants belonging to the Corps of Education Inspectors. In the performance of their duties, they are considered public authorities and their powers are as follows:

• to know, supervise and observe all the activities carried out in the educational institutions, both public and private, to which they will have free access;
• to examine and check any academic, pedagogical and administrative documentation of educational institutions;
• to receive the necessary collaboration of the rest of the civil servants and staff in charge of the institutions and educational services, both public and private, for the development of their activities;
• to participate in the meetings of the collegiate or teaching coordination bodies of the institutions, respecting the exercise of the autonomy that the law recognises, as well as taking part in commissions, boards and tribunals, when so determined;
• to submit reports and make requests when non-compliances are detected 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 education authorities, within the scope of their competences.

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

Evaluation and Quality Assurance Framework

The Evaluation and Quality Assurance Framework and its indicators is defined and proposed in the framework of the Technical Assembly for Quality and Evaluation of Vocational Education and Training, as a body of 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 supply, the activity of teachers, training staff and experts, the profile of vocational training system centres, coordination between centres within and outside the system, the vocational guidance service, the accreditation of professional competences, participation in innovation and applied research and entrepreneurship, and interaction and adjustment to the needs of the environment. It includes, in turn, various sources of verification, among which the assessment of trainees is prescriptive.

The data collection must allow for the monitoring of at least the following values for each of the basic actions established:

• persons participating;
• accreditations, certificates or diplomas issued;
• budgets consumed;
• degree of coverage of vacancies 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 of benefit from the training activities in which they participate;
• results in terms of educational/training continuity;
• participation of teachers and training staff in training and continuous updating.

The competent authorities are responsible for collecting the planned data at the level of disaggregation required for the System Status Report.

System Status Report

The General State Administration must draw up, with the collaboration of the autonomous communities, present to the General Assembly for Vocational Training and to the State School Council, within its sphere of power, and publish a biennial report on the state of the vocational training system. This report must include the following aspects:

• the information requested from and provided by the autonomous communities on the results in their respective territories;
• the results obtained by random checks and evaluations entrusted to independent bodies.

The competent authorities and all vocational training institutions are obliged to transfer the required data necessary to draw up 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 Assembly for Vocational Training.

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

Quality systems in the educational institutions

Authorities promote the implementation of internal quality frameworks as part of a continuous improvement cycle in public vocational education and 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 authority or the MEFD.

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

Quality plans in the educational institutions

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

Specialised education programmes

Advanced artistic education

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

Responsible bodies

State Assembly for Artistic Education

The State Assembly for Artistic Education is the consultative body of the State and of participation of the sectors related to artistic education. As a consultative body, it carries out advisory work and makes proposals to the Spanish Government in relation to the different aspects of artistic education.

The law gives the State Assembly for Artistic Education a special relevance in the field of advanced artistic education, assigning it the participation in the definition of the structure and basic content of the different studies of such education.

The State Education Inspectorate

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

Education inspection of the autonomous communities

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

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

The education authorities are responsible for promoting systems and procedures for periodic internal and external evaluation of the quality of these courses. The basic reference criteria must be those defined and regulated in the context of the European Higher Education Area (EEES). To this end, the assessment bodies determined by the education authorities, within the scope of their competences, design and implement the corresponding internal and external assessment plans in collaboration with the higher education institutions.

At the same time, the State Assembly for Artistic Education approves each academic year a report on the state and situation of artistic education. This report presents statistical data, makes proposals and gives an 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 sports education

The evaluation of the quality of advanced sports education aims to establish a firm commitment to the improvement of this education and to adapt it to the reality of the Spanish sports system.

Responsible bodies

State Assembly for Sports

The State Assembly for Sports is an autonomous body attached to the MEFD, responsible, among other functions, for supporting and promoting the economic, budgetary and personnel management of state-owned educational institutions that provide distance advanced 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 sports education belonging to the specialised education programmes.

The State Education Inspectorate

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

Education inspection of the autonomous communities

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

Approaches and methods for quality assurance

Education authorities are responsible for promoting assessment systems and procedures in collaboration with the State Assembly for Sports, within the scope of the powers attributed to them.