The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG) promote a shared understanding of quality assurance in learning and teaching across countries and stakeholders. They have significantly influenced—and will continue to shape—the development of national and institutional quality assurance systems.

Institutions and quality assurance agencies use the ESG as a foundational reference for both internal and external quality assurance processes in higher education. Additionally, the European Quality Assurance Register (EQAR) which is responsible for the register of quality assurance agencies that comply with the ESG.

The ESG primarily address quality assurance in learning and teaching, including the learning environment and its connections to research and innovation. ESG also acknowledge that institutions should maintain policies and procedures to uphold the quality of other core activities, such as research and governance.

Download the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG)