As country after country decrees partial or total lockdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of universities and colleges closing and switching to e-learning has soared. However, few of these institutions are well prepared for this sudden, disruptive move.

On May 20, 2020 an online QAA International Partners’ Forum (Great Britain) was held. More than 60 representatives of quality assurance agencies from all over the world took part in the Forum to share experiences and ideas about the current challenges facing higher education globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On May 20, 2020 the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) held a webinar for heads of quality assurance agencies on strategic response to COVID-19. The webinar was aimed at discussing strategic aspects of how to deal with the negative impact of the pandemic on HEIs, agencies and education quality assurance system.

On March 26, 2020 the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) published a statement on COVID-19 pandemic, where peculiarities of work of the association and accreditation agencies during the pandemic are explained. ENQA encourages its members to show flexibility in their own review processes, adapt their current activities where necessary and seek ways to support higher education institutions, who are facing an unprecedented disruption to their normal operations. Meanwhile, the association is working remotely.