Institutional accreditation
Since 2011, institutional accreditation has been the only regular external quality assessment in Estonian higher education.
It is a legal requirement designed to evaluate a higher education institution’s capacity to ensure the quality of learning and teaching as well as research, development, and creative activities (RDC).
At the same time, it provides institutions with a development platform and expert feedback for continuous improvement.
All higher education institutions undergo institutional accreditation at least once every seven years.
The Accreditation Model since 2025
In the current external quality evaluation model, quality agreements have been established across three evaluation areas and nine quality criteria:
1. Institutional Management
- Strategic Management and Development
- Human resource management
- Infrastructure and information management
2. Learning and Teaching
- Development of studies and study programmes
- Learning and Teaching
- Support systems for learning and teaching
3. Research, Development and/or Creative Activities (RDC)
- Setting of the Goals and Quality Management in RDC
- Effectiveness of RDC and its impact on society
- Support System for RDC and Career Support for Early-Career Researchers
Guidelines that support the understanding of mandatory quality criteria are recommendatory in nature and provide institutions with flexibility in planning their development.
View the quality criteria and guidelines here.
Key Updates Compared to the Previous Accreditation Model
1. Reduced number of quality standards
The number of criteria has been reduced from 12 to 9, combining previous areas more logically and avoiding overlaps.
2. Extended validity of regular RDC evaluation decisions
One of the most significant updates relates to amendments to the Research, Development and Innovation Organisation Act. If an HEI already holds a positive regular RDC evaluation decision, a positive institutional accreditation decision extends its validity.
Experts do not directly assess research performance; instead, they analyse the institution’s self-evaluation and data to determine how effectively it ensures and develops RDC quality.
If necessary, the Minister of Education and Research may initiate an additional evaluation—for example, if declining trends are observed and the institution has not planned adequate measures to address them.
This connection between institutional accreditation and the extension of RDC evaluation decisions reduces administrative burden for universities.
3. Integration of quality culture
The new model treats quality culture as a core principle embedded in all activities rather than as a separate assessment standard. This reflects the understanding that quality culture influences all aspects of management, learning, and research.
4. Simplified and more focused self-evaluation
The institutional self-evaluation report is limited to 60 pages, focusing on trend analysis, critical self-reflection, and strategic conclusions.
5. Student participation in self-evaluation
Institutions are required to involve students in preparing the self-evaluation report.
6. Development-oriented approach
In addition to the traditional evaluation process, institutions may participate in follow-up seminars with the evaluation panel to discuss expert observations and choose a focus topic for receiving additional feedback from experts.
7. International dimension
The evaluation panel continues to include international experts, who form the majority of the panel.
This ensures international comparability and enhances the visibility of Estonian higher education in the global context.
8. Evidence-based assessment
The evaluation uses both institutional data and centrally collected national indicators (e.g. graduate employment and satisfaction, student and programme trends).
This approach provides a more objective and comparable evidence base for analysis.
Documents regulating institutional accreditation
Please see documents regulating assessments in higher education