The National Centre for Public Accreditation conducts 3 types of accreditation of clusters of educational programmes:
- public accreditation (3-4 experts);
- international and public accreditation (5 experts including 2 foreign experts);
- joint accreditation together with a foreign accreditation agency (5-6 experts including experts from a foreign partner agency).
A cluster of educational programmes usually comprises of a maximum of 6 programmes which may be professionally evaluated by one review panel. The procedure of public accreditation lasts from 4 to 6 months. In case of a positive decision an educational institution obtains a certificate of public or international accreditation of educational programmes for a period of up to 6 years. In case of a joint accreditation an educational institution additionally obtains a certificate of accreditation from a foreign accreditation agency.
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Step 1 An offer to undergo public and international accreditation Educational programmes included in the Premier league, 1st or 2nd leagues of the National Aggregated Ranking by Subjects are offered to undergo public and international accreditation |
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Step 2 Application for accreditation
Receiving the regulatory and methodological materials in order to prepare an educational programme for public accreditation Agreeing the dates of the site-visit of an External Review Panel (within a week after receiving the application) Conducting a training webinar for the teaching staff responsible for accreditation (upon request) |
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Step 3 Preparation of the Self-evaluation Report by the HEI Submission of the regulatory and methodological materials for self-evaluation to an educational institution and writing a Self-evaluation Report on an educational programme Conducting self-evaluation for compliance with the standards of public accreditation and preparation of a Self-evaluation Report in Russian and English by a HEI (about 2 months) Submission of a Self-Evaluation Report to NCPA (no later than 35 days prior to the site visit of an External Review Panel) |
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Step 4 Preparation for the visit of the External Review Panel Formation of an External Review Panel involving representatives of academic and professional communities, student members and foreign experts Conducting a training webinar for the members of an External Review Panel |
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Step 5 External Review of the programmes of the HEI Site visit of an External Review Panel to an educational institution (3 days). The Panel consists of 2 foreign and one Russian expert, student member and representative of employers Preparation of a final review report by the members of a Review Panel, coordinating the report with an applicant organization (3 weeks) |
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Step 6 Preparation of the analytical materials for making the decision |
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Step 7 Making the decision on accreditation Consideration of the Summary of the educational programme at the meeting of the National Accreditation Board Making a decision on public accreditation of an educational programme (a cluster of programmes) |
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Follow-up procedure Issuance of the Certificate of public accreditation of an educational programme in case of positive decision of the National Accreditation Board for the period for up to 6 years Publication of the information on public accreditation in mass media, reference books and on the Internet in both Russian and English |
