Digital Tools and Quality Assurance for Automatic Recognition (DIGI-REQA)

The Erasmus+ co-funded Digital Tools and Quality Assurance for Automatic Recognition (DIGI-REQA) project is a transformative initiative aimed at enhancing automatic recognition practices across Europe. This effort addresses key gaps identified in the implementation of automatic recognition, emphasising practical digital tools and links with QA. This project is also designed to support the practical implementation of the agreement on automatic recognition of higher education qualifications between the Baltic and Benelux countries.

By leveraging innovative digital solutions and fostering transnational collaboration, DIGI-REQA seeks to:

  • Expand and operationalise the Multilateral Treaty on Automatic Recognition of Qualifications and the AR-go tool aimed to support its implementation;
  • Explore and align digital tools instrumental for achieving automatic recognition;
  • Strengthen the role of quality assurance in enabling automatic recognition.

This project is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme KA3 “Support for Policy Reform” with a duration from 1 August 2025 – 31 July 2027. Together with other QA agencies, NARICs and three European stakeholder organisations (ENQA, EQAR, EUA) AQ Austria is a partner of the project leading the work package on “Empowering Automatic Recognition through Quality Assurance procedures”.

Participants

  • Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC) (coordinator), Lithuania
  • Akademiskas Informacijas Centrs (AIC), Latvia
  • European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), Belgium
  • European University Association (EUA), Belgium
  • The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), Belgium
  • Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria), Austria
  • Agencia Per A La Qualitat Del Sistema Universitari De Catalunya (AQU Catalunya), Catalonia
  • Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie (NVAO), Netherlands, Flanders and Luxembourg
  • Associazione CIMEA (CIMEA), Italy
  • Narodowa Agencja Wymiany Akademickiej (NAWA), Poland
  • Stichting NUFFIC (Nuffic), Netherlands

Publication

State of play of Quality Assurance coverage on (Automatic) Recognition – findings from the DIGI-REQA project

As part of the DIGI-REQA project this report bridges the gap between two EHEA key commitments, quality assurance and recognition, by strengthening the link between the two areas. It explores how recognition practices can be more systematically embedded within institutional quality assurance processes, in line with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), in particular Standard 1.4 on student admission, progression, recognition and certification, and the principles of the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC).

In order to develop a comprehensive understanding of the quality assurance of recognition, the report combines several analytical perspectives addressing both external and internal quality assurance policies and practices. Evidence is drawn from 62 external review reports of QA agencies, the methodologies of five agencies, 448 institutional review reports produced by 24 QA agencies operating within and beyond the EHEA, and the recognition-related policies and practices of 21 higher education institutions.

The full publication is available here (coming soon).