Emirates College for Advanced Education secures global quality accreditation

Emirates College for Advanced Education has become one of the latest international institutions to receive global accreditation from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), the UK’s independent quality body and a global leader in quality assurance for higher education.

Global accreditation is awarded to international institutions who have passed QAA’s rigorous International Quality Review (IQR), which measures global institutions against international quality assurance standards set out in Part 1 of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).

The review, which took place in April 2021, was completed by a team of three independent reviewers, including an international expert and a student reviewer appointed by QAA. In making their conclusions, the independent review team confirmed that Emirates College for Advanced Education (ECAE) meets all 10 of the ESG.

The review team also identified a number of features of good practice including:

• A strong college-wide culture for quality improvement and enhancement.
• The way that the College has harnessed existing processes and capitalised on them in enhancing student learning opportunities in the migration to online delivery during the Covid pandemic.
• The community of practice forum’s role in supporting staff in enhancing teaching and learning across the College.

Dr Ebrahim Alhajri, Vice-Chancellor of ECAE, said: 'This accreditation signifies a commitment to quality in the higher education sector. ECAE’s compliance with this internationally-renowned accreditation is evidence that the College has been able to distinguish itself in innovating and achieving excellence in higher education through offering high quality academic programs.'

Vicki Stott, QAA Executive Director of Operations and Deputy Chief Executive said: 'Many congratulations to ECAE on this magnificent achievement. By obtaining international accreditation, the College has demonstrated that it meets international best practice. The IQR process enables international institutions to benchmark their approach to quality assurance against European quality standards and further strengthens the global partnership between UK, European and international higher education.'

ECAE has obtained QAA institutional accreditation for a period of five years, subject to a satisfactory mid-cycle review. This allows them to display QAA’s IQR Accreditation Badge, demonstrating that their quality assurance procedures are comparable with international best practice.

By securing global accreditation from QAA, international institutions can clearly spotlight their quality standards internationally, and more easily open dialogue with institutions outside their own country. For more information about the IQR process, visit our website. If you are interested in your institution signing up and wish to discuss this further, contact Stephanie Sandford, Director of International and Professional Services at s.sandford@qaa.ac.uk.

The full report of the Emirates College for Advanced Education international quality review is now available on QAA’s website.