FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The process by which a (non‐)governmental or private body evaluates the quality of a higher education institution as a whole or of a specific educational program in order to formally recognize it as having met certain pre‐determined minimal criteria or standards.

According to the Law on Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, accreditation is carried out on a voluntary basis and the educational organization independently selects the agency in which it will be accredited, which are located in the national register of accreditation bodies.

In accordance with the Law on Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, accreditation of educational organizations or educational programs is carried out at the expense of educational organizations.

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan "decision on accreditation or refusal of accreditation is made by the Agency due to the results of an examination of educational institution`s application and the documents, the list of which is determined by the Agency".

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan "the terms and conditions of accreditation are defined in the contract on accreditation between the educational institution and accreditation agency".

According to the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the agency accredits the educational institution and education program in line with its standards and criteria.

Domestic legislation does not limit the rights and activities of foreign agencies for accreditation of educational institutions and educational programs of Kazakhstan, in accordance with the Education Act of the Republic of Kazakhstan the educational institutions "have the right to carry out national and international institutional, specialized accreditation in the accreditation bodies entered in the register of the authorized body."

However, the government funding and the ability to issue a state diploma will receive only those educational institutions that have a license to conduct educational activities on education programs of technical and vocational, post-secondary, higher and postgraduate education and accredited by accreditation bodies, including in the register of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Order of Acting Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated June 27, 2012, № 304 "On creation of the National Register of Accreditation Bodies of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan").

Therefore, to obtain the aforementioned advantages the educational institution must be accredited by independent accrediting bodies, while their educational programs can be accredited either by national or international accrediting bodies.

IQAA is a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and was admitted to the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

Also, IQAA is a full member of:

- The Central and Eastern European Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (CEENQA);

- The International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) ;

- Asia Pacific Quality Network (APQN);

- Council for Higher Education Accreditation  (CHEA).

The procedure of institutional and program accreditation is designed by the Agency in accordance with the European and international standards, which include 4 main stages. More

The procedure of institutional and program accreditation is designed by the Agency in accordance with the European and international standards, which include 4 main stages. More

At the completion of all stages of accreditation from the preparation of self-assessment report by the educational institution to external visit, due to the results of self-assessment report analysis and examination of the external visit report the agency prepares a report for the Accreditation Council.

As the result of the meeting of the Accreditation Council regarding the consideration of educational institutions and education programs one of the following decisions is made:

- accredit for 5 years;

- accredited for 2 years;

- not to accredit the educational institution or education program.

As it has already been stated before a decision taken by the Accreditation Council, which is an elected, collegial body, composed of representatives of the academic community, employers, and students. Accreditation Council is responsible for the approval of regulatory documents and the decision-making on accreditation.

For these purposes, there are corresponding structural bodies of the agency, dealing with complaints and appeals.

If the educational institution does not agree with the decision of the Accreditation Council, it needs to appeal to the Appeals Commission.

If the educational institution reveals irregularities in the activities of the Agency at any stage of the accreditation it should lodge a complaint to the Complaints Commission.

In addition, there is a special tab FEEDBACK on the agency's website, with the help of which you can ask a question, send comments, suggestions, or remarks.

All detailed information on IQAA and its activities is available on the agency's website.