Arts higher education programmes
Programmes leading to higher awards in Music, Dance, Drama, Restoration and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Design and the Plastic Arts, which come under the Government of Catalonia's Department of Education, have formed part of the European Higher Education Area since the 2010-2011 academic year. Since 2012, and on commission by the Department of Education, AQU Catalunya, through its Institutional and Programme Review Commission's subject-specific committee for the Arts and Humanities, has been the body in charge of the ex-ante accreditation, monitoring/follow-up, modification and accreditation (VSMA) of programmes leading to higher awards in the Performing Arts and Plastic Arts.
In keeping with the transparency which is required of the university institutions and the higher education centres within the framework of the European Higher Education Area, the higher education institutions should possess internal quality assurance systems and policies (IQAS) for the training programmes which are offered, and they should be formally established and publicly available. Along this line, the Department of Education and AQU Catalunya have established the bases of the AUDIT-HAS programme for the orientation and assessment of the design of the IQAS of the centres providing higher artistic studies.
Verification and modification
To carry out the verification of arts higher education programmes, consideration is given to the methodological material of the VSMA Framework and application is made of the Model for the drafting of the verification report on recognised arts higher education programmes (2016) [Catalan].
Model for the drafting of the verification report on recognised HAS degrees [Catalan]
Procediment per a la verificació dels títols dels ensenyaments artístics superiors (desembre 2023) [Catalan]
Procediment per a la modificació dels títols d’ensenyaments artístics superiors (desembre 2023) [Catalan]
Follow-up
To follow up arts higher education programmes, application is made of the Guide for the follow-up of arts higher education programmes [Catalan], which is an adaptation of the Guide for the follow-up of recognised Bachelor's and Master's degrees to the specific features of arts higher education programmes.
Model for the drafting of the follow-up report on recognised arts higher education programmes [Catalan]
Teaching indicators for the provision and analysis of arts higher education programmes [Catalan]
Accreditation
AQU Catalunya has published the Guide to the accreditation of arts higher education programmes in order to carry out accreditation of the awards for arts higher education and Master's degree programmes. This methodology is based on the Guide to the accreditation of recognised Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes, and has been prepared taking into consideration the standards and guidelines for quality assurance in the EHEA (the ESGs) and the regulatory characteristics of higher education study programmes. It sets out the standards and the accreditation procedure. The six standards are as follows:
- Quality of the training programme
- Relevance of the public information
- Efficacy of the programme's internal quality assurance system
- Suitability of teaching staff for the training programme
- Effectiveness of learning support systems
- Quality of programme (learning) outcomes
Guide to the accreditation of arts higher education programmes
AUDIT-AHEP
Methodology
AQU has drafted and published the Guide for the assessment of the design of the internal quality assurance system of arts higher education programmes. This document has a content and a structure similar to those of the Guide for the assessment of the design of the internal quality assurance system of university education in view of the general equivalence of the arts higher education programmes to university degrees. Nevertheless, AQU Catalunya has adapted some dimensions to the context of the arts higher education programmes and has incorporated the accumulated experience of recent years in the assessment of the IQAS of university centres.