The Tirana Ministerial Communiqué (2024) acknowledges that the application of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) “promotes trust and transparency within and between higher education systems and facilitates accountability and enhancement”. In 2024, the ministers gave the mandate to the ESG authors to revise the document ahead of the next Ministerial conference (to take place in 2027) in order “to keep them in line with ongoing developments, challenges and expectations”, considering that the current version of the document was approved through the Yerevan Communiqué in 2015.
One of the success factors for the implementation of the ESG is the high level of stakeholder ownership and acceptance. While the document is approved at the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) ministerial level, the authors represent key stakeholder groups in higher education and quality assurance. These include ENQA, ESU, EUA and EURASHE –the E4 Group–, in cooperation with Business Europe, EI and EQAR. In order to gather further input from the sector, a public consultation on the new version of the ESG is open until 9 January 2026. After this, the revision structures will continue to refine the document, with the final version expected to be approved by EHEA Ministers at the next Ministerial Conference in May 2027.
“Evolution not revolution” has been the mantra underpinning the revision of the ESG. The view clearly expressed by the ministers, as well as by the stakeholders in the run up to the revision (through consultation conducted under the ENQA coordinated QA-FIT project) is that the existing purposes and principles of the ESG remain valid and it is a respected and successful regional quality assurance framework. Furthermore, stakeholders broadly agree that the ESG should not be overloaded with too many roles and topics, as this risks diluting the effectiveness of the framework, which is largely considered to be one of the biggest success stories of the Bologna Process.
Nonetheless, changes are required, as much has changed in the quality assurance and higher education landscape since 2015. Based on the preparatory work and analysis of ten years of implementation of the ESG 2015, the revision has focused on updating the document to the current context, including bringing it in line with other Bologna Process policies and reflecting the changing social and technological context. Furthermore, the revision is addressing areas of unclarity and mainstreaming good practice into the text.
The quality of higher education should not be taken for granted, and quality assurance plays a critical role in this, underpinned by European standards that focus on aspects that foster trust and transparency between higher education institutions and systems. For quality assurance agencies, many of the proposed changes to the ESG strengthen some key hallmarks of European quality assurance. These include independence and integrity of agencies, transparency of procedures and outcomes, robustness of the peer-review approach, and involvement of stakeholders in external quality assurance processes.
The standards also further underline the importance of both accountability and enhancement in external quality assurance, while recognising the value of the wide range of activities that agencies do to support improvement and good practice across the higher education sector. This reflects not only the continued diversity, but also the growing maturing, of internal and external quality assurance across the EHEA.
Based on the new standards for internal quality assurance, agencies will also need to ensure that their own criteria for programmes and institutions address societal relevance and employability; reflect a broader understanding of the learning environment, from infrastructure to the role of teaching staff; and foster links between education provision and other institutional missions and activities.