About us

HAKA’s main task is to assess the quality and promote quality culture of educational and training instiutions. HAKA conducts evaluations and development activities in the field of higher education, vocational education and training, continuing education, and general education. The Agency aims at bringing the best international practices to Estonia and contributing to the advancement of education quality in other countries.  

HAKA operates as an independent unit within the Estonian Education and Youth Board (as of 1st of August 2020) and is goverened by a Supervisory Board composed of representatives of various stakeholder groups. HAKA is registered in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).  

HAKA as a recognised quality agency   

Since 2013,HAKA has been a full member of ENQA (the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education) and is registered on EQAR (the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education). This also means that all assessment results in higher education are published on DEQAR (The Database of External Quality Assurance Results). A prerequisite for maintaining the membership of ENQA and EQAR is an external evaluation of the agency, which assesses the its compliance with the ESG (Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area). HAKA passed the evaluation successfully in 2013, 2018 and 2023.  

In addition to ENQA, HAKA actively participates inand is a full member of several other quality networks: INQAAHE (International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education),

 CEENQA (Central and Eastern European Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education), 

EQAVET (European Quality Assurance in Vocational Education and Training). 

HAKA’s core activities   

HAKA carries out various types of assessments as well as development activities with the aim of supporting the advancement of educational institutions and promoting a culture of quality. 

HAKA’s main fuctions

The main functions of the Estonian Quality Agency for Education are described in the Statutes of the Education and Youth Board (in Estonian), chapter 4.

  • Development and establishment of the principles of quality assessment in the field of education;
  • Improvement of the quality in education and the valuing and dissemination of the best quality assurance practices in cooperation with educational institutions and other partners;
  • Institutional accreditation of higher education institutions;
  • Thematic review;
  • Quality assessment of vocational education;
  • Expert assessment of the right to provide education in higher education institutions and vocational education institutions;
  • Quality assessment of continuing education;
  • Quality assessment of general education;
  • Review of applications for the use of the services of other quality agencies and provision of assessments of quality assessments carried out in educational institutions in Estonia by other quality agencies;
  • Management of accreditation and quality assessment databases and enabling their public use;
  • Preparation of analyses of quality assessment results and conduct of surveys;
  • Participation in international cooperation on education quality, incl. representation of Estonia in matters pertaining to the quality of education, and in quality assessments carried out in foreign states;
  • Training activities and provision of advice related to assessment and quality of the field of education;
  • Implementation of quality-related development projects and conduct of pilot evaluations in the field of education.