QAA signs agreement with the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education

QAA has signed a new Memorandum of Understanding with the Cyprus Agency of Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education (CYQAA). As a fellow member of ENQA, CYQAA is responsible for the institutional, departmental and programmatic evaluation and accreditation of higher education in the Republic of Cyprus, and undertakes quality assurance in higher education on the basis of the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG).

The MoU commits QAA and CYQAA to work together in key areas, including sharing information on the respective higher education and quality systems of the UK and Cyprus, working together to advise on quality assurance and enhancement practices that affect transnational education, and exploring ways in which QAA and CYQAA can collaborate to support the development of transnational education arrangements in Cyprus.

Cyprus is very important for UK transnational education (TNE), being the second largest host country for UK higher education TNE in Europe after Greece, with nearly 12,000 UK TNE students in the 2022-23 academic year.

This year Cyprus has been a country of focus for QAA’s Quality Evaluation and Enhancement of UK TNE (QE-TNE) Scheme. A Cyprus Country Guide, developed with the support of CYQAA, has recently been published for members of the Scheme. This report focuses on the higher education landscape and quality arrangements in Cyprus and provides top tips for UK providers aiming to engage in TNE in the country.

In a recent visit to Cyprus, QAA conducted the first in-person institutional evaluation under the QE-TNE Scheme, visiting the University of West London and its partner, CIM-Cyprus Business School. CYQAA were able to participate in this visit as observers.  

Piers Wall, QAA’s Head of International Membership Services and Transnational Education said: ‘It was fantastic to meet CYQAA in person in April and now formalise that relationship through the signing of this MoU. Cyprus is very important to the UK HE sector and we look forward to furthering our collaboration with CYQAA.”