The Institutional Accreditation of University Centres is a process through which centres can achieve the renewal of the accreditation of the degrees they offer, through the certification of the implementation of their Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS). Institutional accreditation was introduced in the Spanish university system with the publication of Royal Decree 420/2015, of 29 May, on the creation, recognition, authorisation, and accreditation of universities and university centres. This decree establishes a procedure requiring the certification of the implementation of internal quality assurance systems of a university centre with a programme such as AUDIT-AVAP, a legal requirement for institutional accreditation. This accreditation results in the renewal of the official degrees taught at the centre.
Subsequently, Royal Decree 640/2021, of 27 July, on the creation, recognition, and authorisation of universities and university centres, and institutional accreditation of university centres, extended institutional accreditation to doctoral schools or similar centres focusing on research training functions. These centres must meet, among other requirements, the certification of the implementation of their IQAS, which may be issued by Spanish quality agencies registered in the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR).
AVAP is registered with EQAR and can certify the implementation of the IQAS of any Spanish university for compliance with the legal requirements in the institutional accreditation process of university centres. This activity focuses specifically on verifying the effectiveness of universities’ Internal Quality Assurance Systems and their alignment with the standards established in Part 1 of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Since being listed in the EQAR register, AVAP has worked to manage the institutional accreditation of Valencian universities. To this end, the Agency’s staff, committees, and a technological platform enabling the accreditation procedure have been prepared.
On 3 March 2022, the Resolution of the General Secretariat for Universities was published, issuing instructions on the procedure for the institutional accreditation of public and private university centres, as well as the Protocol for the certification of the internal quality assurance system of university centres and the Protocol for the evaluation procedure for the renewal of the institutional accreditation of university centres, approved by the General Conference on University Policy.
