Quality assurance (QA) in higher education generally takes the form of a set of principles and procedures that ensure the standard of awards and enhance the quality of the academic provision. QA is important to guarantee the quality of the award for graduates and prospective applicants, to ensure responsiveness to the labour market, to assure that the university is performing at the correct level, and to give accountability that funds are being correctly used; as well as for the international recognition of the degree. QA is obtained both through external mechanisms and internal mechanisms.
European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes
The European Approach to the Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes in the EHEA was adopted recently (Yerevan Conference 2015). During the running of the MER2030 EMJMD programme, the MER Consortium aims at implementing the QA European Approach, which is permitted by legislation in France, Belgium, UK and Spain.
It will be useful to set standards for MER2030 EMJMD that are based on the agreed tools of the EHEA without applying additional national criteria, and to facilitate integrated approaches to joint QA that genuinely reflect and mirror the joint character of this programme. Together with selecting a suitable EQAR-registered QA Agency the MER Consortium has fixed a series of milestones in order to get the full implementation of the EQAR during by the date if the graduation of the first MER2030 EMJMD intake in 2023.