ShareThe CAIP approves an agreement on the authorisation of foreign education centres in Catalonia
The Institutional and Programme Review Commission (CAIP) introduces adjustments to the current procedure.
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The Institutional and Programme Review Commission (CAIP) approved at its latest meeting, held on 25 February, an agreement on the evaluation procedure for the authorisation of centres providing education in accordance with foreign education systems.
These agreements were approved following the entry into force of Royal Decree 905/2025 of 7 October, which amends Royal Decree 640/2021 of 27 July on the creation, recognition and authorisation of universities and university centres, and the institutional accreditation of university centres; Royal Decree 1509/2008 of 12 September regulating the Register of Universities, Centres and Degrees; Royal Decree 1002/2010 of 5 August on the issuance of official university degrees; and Royal Decree 822/2021 of 28 September establishing the organisation of university education and its quality assurance procedures, which includes a requirement for these centres to have an Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS), whose design and implementation must be certified.
This amendment requires specifying how the evaluation of these centres should be addressed within the procedures currently applied by AQU Catalunya, in order to ensure a consistent, coherent approach in line with the applicable regulatory framework.
In accordance with its responsibilities —as set out in Article 4 of its internal regulations— the CAIP agreed that evaluation requests related to the authorisation of centres delivering programmes in accordance with foreign education systems in Catalonia and received by AQU Catalunya up to 31 January 2026 will be assessed according to the current AQU Catalunya methodology. Under this agreement, when contacting centres to initiate the evaluation process, they will be informed that they must certify the design and implementation of their Internal Quality Assurance System (IQAS) in accordance with the applicable regulations.
As for requests received after 31 January 2026, they will be assessed according to the current AQU Catalunya methodology, and the IQAS design will be evaluated in accordance with the guide and procedure for the certification of Internal Quality Assurance Systems in higher education centres. This agreement remains in force until the formal approval and entry into force of a specific methodology and evaluation procedure applicable to these centres.
The full agreement can be found here.