The Steering Committee for the revision of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) have submitted the final draft of the revised document to the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) for their approval. The draft is accompanied by an explanatory note with details of the changes made since the previous version.
The revision process has aimed to update the ESG to reflect the current higher education context, including references to other tools of the Bologna Process. It also acknowledges advancements in current quality assurance practice at institutions and agencies, which can be seen in part by the transfer of some aspects from guidelines (advice for good practice) to standards (core requirements). Standards and guidelines have been updated to address current and emerging issues, such as cross-border quality assurance, digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, and the latest expectations on student-centred learning, teaching staff, learning environments and support services. The revision has also aimed to make the enhancement aspect of quality assurance more visible, while still providing a solid basis of core requirements to serve the accountability aspect.
After approval by the BFUG, the new ESG will be tabled for formal adoption by the education ministers of the EHEA at the EHEA Ministerial Conference in May 2027, after which the ESG 2027 will formally come into use. Agencies will be expected to reflect on their policies and process to see if adaptions are needed in order to meet the expectations of the new ESG. For those agencies who are due to have an external review against the ESG in 2027 and who need some time to make the necessary changes, a postponement of the review can be requested in line with the ENQA Transition Policy.
The final draft follows two years of work, including extensive stakeholder consultations, and represents an agreed proposal between the seven authors of the document: the E4 Group —ENQA, European Students’ Union (ESU), European University Association (EUA) and European Association for the Applied Sciences in Higher Education (EURASHE)—, together with Education International (EI), BUSINESS EUROPE and the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).
ENQA is represented in the Steering Committee by Cristina Ghițulică (ARACIS, Romania) and in the Drafting Group by Doris Herrmann (AQAS, Germany), both members of the ENQA Board during the drafting process. ENQA Director, Anna Gover, is the Secretary of the Steering Committee. ENQA members and affiliates have been consulted regularly both in writing and through discussions at ENQA events and meetings. Full details of the revision process can be found on the ENQA website.