15.5 Study programmes, variants, subjects of accreditation: What to look out for in accreditation?

It is of paramount importance to the Accreditation Council that the subject of accreditation is clearly stated in the accreditation report. This may sound trivial, but in practice it is sometimes not. It is strongly recommended that the subject of accreditation is clarified at the latest at the beginning of the assessment process, ideally during the award of the contract to an Agencies or when the contract is concluded. FAQ 15.2 shows that the examination regulations are generally the only relevant place in which study programmes are described. In contrast, websites, final documents etc. are only relevant for accreditation insofar as deviations from the specifications in the examination regulations do not occur or should be corrected quickly.

The following examples serve to illustrate which procedures the Accreditation Council has already encountered and what the correct procedure is in each case.

(1) A department of a higher education institution applied for the accreditation of four study programmes in a bundle in ELIAS. However, the attached accreditation report included eight study programs, as the programs were offered with and without practical semesters and the Agencies considered these to be different study programmes. Dual “variants” were mentioned in passing. However, a look by the Accreditation Council at the joint examination regulations made it clear that these

• the four basic study programmes,
• these four programs including an additional internship semester and
• Four dual courses based on the specialist cores

were each defined as independent study programmes. – As the department wanted to reaccredit its entire offering, the only correct solution would have been for the agency/peer review panel to assess the twelve study programs and for reaccreditation applications to be submitted accordingly for all twelve programs.

(2) An Agencies accepted an assignment from a higher education institution to assess a study programme, but without the part-time option identified as a variant in the examination regulations. – This is not correct. The entire study programme is always the subject of accreditation; parts of it cannot be accredited separately. Higher education institutions and Agencies should only have agreed on the assessment of the entire study program including the part-time option.