First cycle of audit procedures at Austrian university colleges of teacher education completed
In November 2025, AQ Austria completed the first audit procedures at all 14 Austrian university colleges of teacher education as planned. This means that all internal quality management systems at university colleges of teacher education in Austria have been audited and successfully certified.
University colleges of teacher education play a central role in the Austrian Higher Education Area. Their tasks include qualifying teachers and consulting schools. With the Act on Quality Assurance in Higher Education (HS-QSG) in 2020, public and private university colleges of teacher education were incorporated into the national system of external quality assurance. Since then, they have been required - just like universities and universities of applied sciences - to have their quality management systems (QMS) audited regularly. The act stipulates that the certification of the internal QMS must be completed by December 31, 2025, at the latest - which has been successfully achieved. An overview of all audits and the reports on the outcome of the accreditation procedure are available here.
Analysis of the first audit cycle
The implementation of audit procedures at all higher education institutions in a sector by AQ Austria within a relatively short period of time also enables, for the first time, an overview of an entire higher education sector. In an analysis of this first audit cycle, AQ Austria will examine several areas in order to gain a comprehensive picture of quality assurance at university colleges of teacher education:
- Audit results analysis
Systematic evaluation of the experts' findings from the reports on the outcome of the accreditation procedure in order to highlight sector-wide similarities and particular anomalies in the quality management systems. - Challenges and strengths of the sector
Identification of challenges and outstanding features arising from the specific framework conditions of quality management at university colleges of teacher education from the perspective of experts. - Perspective of higher education institutions
Inclusion of the views of the members of the Rectors' Conference of Austrian University Colleges of Teacher Education (RÖPH) on the benefits of audit procedures for the higher education sector and on their contribution to the quality improvement of quality assurance. - Assessment by the Board of AQ Austria
Consideration of the perspective of the Board of AQ Austria on the importance of the HS-QSG for the strategic quality improvement of university colleges of teacher education and quality management.
Publication in spring 2026
The results of the analysis will be published in a comprehensive publication in spring 2026. On the one hand, it will reflect the work of AQ Austria and serve as a basis for the quality improvement of the audit procedure; on the other hand, it will offer valuable suggestions and impetus to higher education institutions and other target audiences. The publication will also be supplemented by a description of the sector of university colleges of teacher education and a statistical evaluation of all audit procedures.
With this publication, AQ Austria aims to further strengthen exchange within the higher education sector and beyond. Targeted dissemination measures are also planned following the publication.