Reviews of universities, university colleges and tertiary vocational colleges

NOKUT has the authority to initiate reviews of all existing courses, initiate interim monitoring review of accredited institutions and of subject area accreditations at tertiary vocational colleges. The authority to initiate reviews on courses applies to courses institutions themselves have accredited as well as courses accredited by NOKUT.

NOKUT’s reviews criteria mirror the criteria for accreditation. The purpose of reviews is to check that institutions and courses are in compliance with the relevant regulations and to help them improve and grow.

Types of reviews

The quality assurance requirements for courses at universities and university colleges are listed in The Ministry of Education’s Regulations Concerning Quality Assurance and Quality Development in Higher Education and Tertiary Vocational Education (in Norwegian only), chapter 3 and NOKUT’s Regulations on the Supervision and Control of the Quality in Norwegian Higher Education (in Norwegian only), chapter 2.

The quality assurance requirements for courses at tertiary vocational colleges are listed in The Vocational Education Act, in NOKUT’s Regulations Governing Accreditation, Supervision and Control of Tertiary Vocational Education, in The Ministry of Education’s Regulations Concerning Quality Assurance and Quality Development in Higher Education and Tertiary Vocational Education (in Norwegian only) and in The Ministry of Education’s Regulations Concerning Tertiary Vocational Studies (in Norwegian only).

The quality assurance requirements for institutional accreditation for universities and university colleges are listed in Ministry of Education’s Regulations Concerning Quality Assurance and Quality Development in Higher Education and Tertiary Vocational Education (in Norwegian only), and in NOKUT’s Regulations on the Supervision and Control of the Quality in Norwegian Higher Education, chapter 3 (in Norwegian only).

The quality assurance requirements for subject area accreditation are listed in NOKUT’s Regulations Governing Accreditation, Supervision and Control of Tertiary Vocational Education (in Norwegian only).

During a review of previously accredited courses or institutions, we at NOKUT assess whether the organization meets the requirements in the rules and regulations. NOKUT can conduct a partial review on a selection of requirements, or a full review across all requirements.

The review process

NOKUT notifies the institution it has decided to review, informs them about the process and requests they send relevant documentation. NOKUT also collects information from internal and external databases. Institutions are mandated to provide NOKUT with the documentation we ask for within the relevant deadlines.

The expert committee recruited for the assignment assess the documentation. NOKUT performs a site visit where the expert committee meets with relevant staff and students. NOKUT writes a report in collaboration with the expert committee and sends it to the institution for comments. The review is ended if NOKUT concludes that the institution is in compliance with the quality assurances requirements.

However, if NOKUT concludes that the baseline quality requirements are not met, we set a deadline for compliance within which the institution must document the changes it has made in order to meet the requirements set by NOKUT. The expert committee assesses anew whether baseline quality requirements are met, and a new report is written where either the review is concluded (if all is in order) or the accreditation is withdrawn (if the baseline requirements are still not met).

If accreditation of a course is withdrawn, the institution is obliged to offer students alternative courses or degrees. This alternative offer must be pre-approved by NOKUT.

Use of experts

NOKUT uses experts in every instance a decision on academics is made. The experts provide NOKUT with their assessments and recommendations. NOKUT is authorised to set the selection criteria for the reviewers’ academic qualifications. These criteria are found in Regulations on the Supervision and Control of the Quality in Norwegian Higher Education § 5-6 (in Norwegian only). The experts cannot be affiliated with the institution they are assessing and must not have any other conflicts of interest. NOKUT sends a presentation of the expert committee to the institution, and must take into account objections or comments, if any.

Lodging an appeal

As per the Public Administration Act, chapter IV, an institution may lodge an appeal against NOKUTs decision. This does not extend to the expert committee’s findings based on their academic knowledge and experience, as per Regulations Concerning Quality Assurance and Quality Development in Higher Education and Tertiary Vocational Education § 1-9 (in Norwegian only). The deadline for the appeal is three weeks from the receipt of NOKUT’s decision. The appeal is addressed to NOKUT and must state the grounds of appeal. If NOKUT upholds its decision, we will send the appeal to the appeals board for an independent review.

The appeals board may assess whether NOKUT has made any formal errors, erred in the application of the law, abused its authority, treated the institution disparately or made any other errors related to the Public Administration Act. The appeals board cannot set aside the review committee’s academic assessment.