BRIDGEHANDBOOK

JOINt pROGRAmmEs AND REcOGNItION Of JOINt DEGREEs

Edited by Luca Lantero

BRIDGEHANDBOOK

JOINt pROGRAmmEs AND
REcOGNItION Of JOINt DEGREEs
Handbook developed within the framework of the
BRIDGE project, with the cooperation of thefollowing people and institutions:pNc - punto Nazionale di contatto Italia (project
coordinator): manuela costone, chiara
finocchietti, Giovanni finocchietti, francesca
Giordano, Luca Lantero
Archimedes foundation, Estonia: Anastassia
Knor, Gunnar Vaht
National commission for further and higher
education, malta: James calleja, Jane Nind,
Josephine sultana
Directorate general for higher education,
portugal: maria manuela couto paiva, Ana
mateus, Leonor santa clara, Hugo Alexandre
sena
ministry of education, culture and sport, spain:
maria del mar Duque, Juan carlos parodi Román
We thank also the participants to the BRIDGE
final conference in malta, 18-19 October 2012,
for their support and feedback on the content of
this handbook.
the BRIDGE consortium:

the Best Recognition Instruments for the
Dialogue between Global Experts BRIDGE Project has been carried out in theframework of Erasmus mundus Action 3 promotion of European Higher Education.
this project has been funded with support
from the European commission. thispublication reflects the views only of theauthor, and the commission cannot be held
responsible for any use which may bemade of the information contained therein.
first edition: October 2012

X

INDEXINTRODUCTION

pag.

6

CHAPTER 1
JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

pag.

8

1.1 How to speak a common language: definitions
1.2 The recognition of joint degrees: a formal issue
1.3 The components of qualifications: what is important to know
1.3.1 Name of qualification
1.3.2 Name and status of awarding institutions
1.3.3 Accreditation of a course
1.3.4 Nature of a qualification
1.3.5 Level of qualification
1.3.6 Official length of programme
1.3.7 Workload
1.3.8 Access requirements
1.3.9 Access to further study
1.3.10 Information on learning outcomes

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15
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17
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18
18
19

CHAPTER 2
cREAtION pHAsE

pag. 20

2.1 Higher education systems involved
2.1.1 The sources issue
2.1.2 How to make ends meet: the reference target

pag. 21
pag. 21
pag. 223

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Index

4

2.2 Higher education institutions and different qualifications
2.2.1 Different types of higher education institutions
within binary systems
2.2.2 'Unofficial' institutions which issue
official qualifications
2.2.3 'Official' institutions which issue nonofficial qualifications
2.2.4 Unrecognised institutions which claim to berecognised: the phenomenon of diploma mills
2.2.5 Institutions which operate in a system but belong
to another: trans-national institutions (TNE)
2.3 Qualifications of the same level and different nature
2.4 A very useful tool: the qualifications framework
2.4.1 European qualifications framework - EQF
2.4.2 Qualifications framework for the European higher
education area - QF for the EHEA

pag. 24
pag. 25

CHAPTER 3
sELEctION pHAsE

pag. 40

3.1 Only one joint evaluation for a single course
3.1.1 Admission to the course without aformal qualification
3.1.2 'Recognition of prior learning'
3.1.3 The concept of ‘consequentiality of degrees’
3.1.4 Selection board composition
3.2 Admission to the course: qualifications anddocuments required
3.2.1 The level of qualifications required
3.2.2 Documents required for the admission
3.3 Information for future students
3.3.1 Some useful documents
3.3.2 Grading and credit systems: some clarifications

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CHAPTER 4
AWARDING pHAsE

pag. 54

4.1 A question of clarity: an automatic recognition
procedure does not exist
4.2 Format of the final Diploma: what are the elements
to be included
4.2.1 Format of a Joint Diploma
4.2.2 Format of Double/Multiple Diplomas
4.3 Documents additional to a diploma:
Diploma Supplement and joint certificates
4.3.1 Joint Diploma Supplement
4.3.2 Joint certificates and legalisation

pag. 56

ANNEXES
Annex 1 - List of ENIC-NARIC centres and Erasmus Mundus
National Structures
Annex 2 - National qualifications frameworks
Annex 3 - Recognised higher education institutions
Annex 4 - Registers of higher education programmes
Annex 5 - Quality assurance agencies
Annex 6 - Catalogue of projects on joint programmes
Annex 7 - BRIDGE cases

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pag. 67

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pag. 160

5I

INtRODUctION
the current Handbook came into being after two years work done within the
BRIDGE Project - Best Recognition Instruments for the Dialogue between Global
Experts, a project funded in the framework of Action 3 of the Erasmus mundus
programme.
It was studied in order to offer practical tools and suggestions for the Erasmus
mundus consortia at the following stages:• creation of joint programmes;• assessment of the prospective candidates for the Erasmus mundus programmes;• award of double, multiple and joint degrees by the Erasmus mundus consortia.
for this reason, we have subdivided the Handbook into three parts concerning the
Joint programme and the difficulties associated with the recognition ofqualifications:• Creation phase: it is necessary to take into account the differencesamong various higher education systems;• Selection phase: candidates are chosen on the basis of the evaluationof their foreign qualification and of the status of the awarding institution;• Awarding phase: when the double, multiple or joint degrees areawarded and the Diploma supplement is issued, it is necessary to comply
with the different national regulations on joint programmes and joint
degrees.

BRIDGE
Joint
Programme
Phases7

1JOINt DEGREEs
AND REcOGNItION:
sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

cHAptER 1
Before going through the analysis of the three different phases in the life of a Joint
programme (c-s-A), we must turn to some introductory subjects that are useful to makeclear the principal points linked to the themes of recognition in relation to joint programmes:• the meaning of certain terms used throughout the Handbook(1.1 How to speak a common language: definitions),• the nature of joint degrees in relation to the difficulties of recognition(1.2 The recognition of Joint Degrees: a problem of form),• the general elements of a qualification (1.3 The components of a qualification).

1.1 How to speak a common language: definitions
the main purpose of the BRIDGE project is to strengthen cooperation among theErasmus mundus National structures and the ENIc/NARIc centres. for thisreason we must begin to analyse the joint programmes by starting with the two
principal documents of networks mentioned, in order to obtain an unequivocal
definition for our Handbook:• the Erasmus mundus programme Guide as a reference document for
National structures1 on one hand, and• the Recommendation on the Recognition of Joint Degrees and its
Explanatory memorandum, carried out by the committee of theconvention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher
Education in the European Region (the Lisbon Recognition convention LRc) for the ENIc/NARIc network2.

Official
Reference
Documents

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/programme/programme_guide_en.php
https://wcd.coe.int/com.instranet.Instraservlet?command=com.instranet.cmdBlobGet&InstranetImage=320284&secmode=1&DocId=
822138&Usage=2129BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 1

the Erasmus mundus programme Guide defines a Joint Degree as“a single diploma issued by at least two higher education institutions offering an
integrated programme and recognised officially in the countries where the degreeawarding institutions are located”,
and the Recommendation of the LRc said that a Joint Degree“should, for the purposes of this Recommendation, be understood as referring toa higher education qualification issued jointly by at least two or more higher
education institutions or jointly by one or more higher education institutions andother awarding bodies, on the basis of a study programme developed and/or
provided jointly by the higher education institutions, possibly also in cooperation
with other institutions.”
furthermore it adds that“a joint degree may be issued asa. a joint diploma in addition to one or more national diplomas,
b. a joint diploma issued by the institutions offering the study programme inquestion without being accompanied by any national diploma,
c. one or more national diplomas issued officially as the only attestation of thejoint qualification in question.”
As mentioned, while the LRc Recommendation does not make any distinction
between joint degrees e double/multiple degrees, the programme Guide separately
defines the two types, by affirming that a Double or multiple Degree are“two or more national diplomas issued by two or more higher education
institutions and recognised officially in the countries where the degree-awarding
institutions are located.”
With these given definitions in mind, considering that they do not diverge muchfrom each other, we can define a Joint Degree in this Handbook as:
Joint
DegreeDefinition

10

a single diploma corresponding to at least two official national qualifications
issued by at least two official higher education institutions on the basis of astudy programme developed and/or provided jointly by them.

JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

and a Double or multiple Degree as:
two or more national diplomas issued by two or more higher education
institutions on the basis of a study programme developed and/or provided
jointly by the higher education institutions.

Double/Multiple
DegreeDefinition

In both definitions, the term Diploma designates the official document attesting thequalification.
for the definition of a Joint programme, we use the product within the JOImAN
project and that of the tuning Glossary:a study programme developed and/or provided jointly by two or morehigher education institutions, possibly also in cooperation with otherinstitutions, leading to the award of a double, multiple or joint degree.3

Joint
Programme
Definition

1.2 The recognition of Joint Degrees: a formal issue
since there is a correspondence between a joint degree and two or more official
qualifications recognised by countries where the awarding institutions are located,
we can affirm that:a Joint Degree is exclusively a method of issue of the national final qualifications
within a Joint programme.
for this reason, within the Explanatory memorandum of the LRc Recommendation
on JD, it is confirmed that “joint degrees should be recognised at least as
favourably as other qualifications from the education system from which they
originate."
In fact, it is incomprehensible how “it often seems more difficult to obtainrecognition of a joint degree than of a 'pure' foreign national degree. Thisis unjustified in view of the overall policy goal of stimulating international
and inter-institutional cooperation and academic mobility.”

Difficulties in
Joint Degree
recognition
procedures

If two or more national qualifications correspond to the same joint degree andthese qualifications are regularly recognised within other systems,
3

Good practice Report for the management and Administration of Joint programmes: Annex 5 - Joiman Glossary (https://www.joiman.eu)

11BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 1

what reasons cause this difficulty within the procedures of recognition of the joint
degree?
Again we read what is said within the Explanatory memorandum of the LRc
Recommendation on Joint Degrees:
Lack ofpertinent andfocusedInformation“information on education systems as well as on individual institutions,programmes and qualifications is one of the key challenges facing thoseworking with the recognition of qualifications [...] the problem is not one ofa lack of information, but rather a lack of pertinent and focused
information.”
If a national qualification is clearly recognised within a system because it presents
typical characteristics, this is not valid for joint degrees, where the structure, formand even the language in which the qualification is composed and named are ata variance with the normal accepted models.
therefore it will be necessary to provide all the data possible so that the credential
evaluators (e.g. Higher Education institutions, employers, evaluation centres etc.)
can comprehend if national qualifications correspond to joint degree to beevaluated, as presented in the memorandum:“in the case of joint degrees, it is particularly important that a Diploma Supplement[and more in general the certification relative to the qualification] be issued withthe degree that would clearly describe the various components of the degrees inrelation to the education systems within which they have been earned.

Recognition asa formal issue

And so, therefore the recognition of joint degrees is exclusively a formal
problem tied to the clear and exhaustive presentation of the elements ofnational qualifications who arrange joint qualifications, and therefore is nota substantial problem tied to the impossibility of a recognition.

so what are the elements that a credential evaluator must consider for an
evaluation of a qualification or moreover, which pertinent and focused informationis necessary?

12

JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

1.3 The components of qualifications: what is important toknow
Beginning with the experience from the ENIc/NARIc4 centres and from theinformation found on the Diploma supplement5 - one of the most important sourcesof information on the qualification and its system in which it was awarded - we canreassume the elements of a qualification that credential evaluators must know inorder to deliver an evaluation.6

1.3.1 Name of qualification
It is fundamental to indicate the name of the qualification as currently official andas being referred to the higher education system. Each qualification in a determined
system has its own name which distinguishes it on a national level and defines its
specific elements. this is fundamental in the case of joint degrees where we havemore national qualifications issued simultaneously: it is important to know the namesof all national qualifications and of those corresponding to final joint degrees thatare issued.
these will inevitably have a generic name that does not correspond to the effective
name of the national qualification (i.e. International master, Erasmus mundus
master; Joint master; European master; etc.).
As a rule, titles of foreign qualifications should be provided in the original
language, without translation.

Notranslations!

the reason why titles of foreign qualifications should not be translated is that atranslation in this case implies an assessment, and this assessment should only beundertaken by competently recognised authorities.7

1.3.2 Name and status of awarding institutions
the names of the institutions that have issued national qualifications corresponding
to the joint degree ought to be known: this information will indicate whether the
institutions of higher education are official within national systems. furthermore, we
can also obtain information about their status (i.e. universities, universities of applied
http://www.enic-naric.net
Example of the Diploma supplement: http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/ds/ds_en.pdf
6
see also: European Area of Recognition manual - practical guidelines for fair recognition of qualifications (http://www.eurorecognition.eu)
7“Attention is drawn to the fact that transliteration is distinct from translation. Transliteration implies reproducing the sounds rendered by
one alphabet or writing system in another alphabet or writing system, such as rendering a word written in the Cyrillic alphabet or inJapanese characters in the Latin alphabet. Transliteration enables readers unfamiliar with the alphabet or writing system of the original
language to identify words or expressions from that language and should be undertaken using standard systems of transliteration where
they exist.” - Revised Recommendation on criteria and procedures for the Assessment of foreign Qualifications - Lisbon Recognition convention
committee (2010)
4
5

13

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 1

sciences, polytechnics, etc.) and on the nature of the qualifications they released.
Also in this case, the name of the institution in the original language will be shown.
In the case that it can be of help, another language (usually English) can be shown
alongside the official common name, though bearing in mind that these translations
are not always official and sometimes make it difficult to identify the institution
precisely.
In addition, some terms used for the name of an institution take on different
meanings depending on the national context in which they operate, therefore
names such as 'Institute', 'polytechnic' and 'college' may have different meanings.
We have different types of higher education institutions:• Academic oriented and vocational oriented institutions: in the so-calledbinary systems, we have different types of institutions depending on thenature of the studies given (academic, vocational, research).
• 'Unofficial' institutions that issue official qualifications: there are manysystems in private or unofficial institutions which are given the opportunity
to organise accredited programs or issue recognised qualifications; these
institutions usually organize different types of courses so attention should
be given to check which ones have credits/recognitions and which ones
do not.
• ‘Official’ institutions that issue non official qualifications: there are manysystems of official/recognised institutions, which issue some qualifications
that do not belong to the country’s higher education system of reference,
and are therefore only issued in the name and on behalf of itself.
• 'International' institutions: some institutions of higher education do notbelong formally to any system but are recognised by all or many
countries, these include for example the United Nations University or
the European University Institute.8• Trans-national institutions (TNE): institutions that work in one country but
which refer to another system of higher education (i.e. Branch campus).
• Diploma Mills: unrecognised and independent institutions of national
systems of higher education that claim to be recognised and award
degrees with substandard or no academic study and without recognition
by official educational accrediting bodies.9

Typologies
of Higher
Education
Institutions

Regarding these institutions: the Erasmus mundus programme is open to HEIs belonging to officially recognised national systems, but how
should we behave in the case of institutions not related to any national system but that issue qualifications recognized by all countries?
9
cimea - against the mills: how to spot and counter diploma mills (2010) - http://www.cimea.it/default.aspx?IDc=2259
8

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JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

this list is useful for us to understand how the status of higher education institution
may vary according to the higher education national system that we consider:therefore in line with the agreements for the constitution of joint programmes, wemust always be sure of the foreign nature of the institution and the relevant
qualifications it may or may not release.

1.3.3 Accreditation of a course
Another key element regarding the quality requirements of a course of study is its
accreditation. this must be done at a national level and depending on theinstitutions participating in the joint programmes.
It must be taken into account that not all courses organised by recognised
institutions have this feature, or that some unrecognised institutions canarrange accredited courses. (1.3.2).

Accredited
institution
doesn't mean
accredited
courseAlthough there are numerous examples of accreditation of courses at a
supranational level, these experiences are not yet part of the standard practice foraccreditation in most countries.

1.3.4 Nature of a qualification
Not all courses of study pursue the same purpose: some prepare students toresearch and therefore are based on studies of an academic nature, while others
pursue professional purposes. the nature of a qualification is a key element indetermining its assessment.
In the binary system of higher education there are different institutions that offer
courses of various kinds - academic or vocational oriented programmes (1.3.2):
in most cases, these courses belong to the same cycle / level of education, butthey differ in nature, therefore the final qualifications do not correspond to eachother. consider a course attended at a masters level in a University of Appliedsciences and at the same course attended at an 'academic' University: in mostcases, the first degree would not give you access to Doctoral programmes because
the student has acquired knowledge, skills and abilities in the field of scientificresearch.
Is it possible to create joint programmes between institutions of a different
nature or establish joint degrees that correspond to final qualifications of adifferent nature?

Joint
Programmes
among different
institutions

15

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 1

to answer this question we must bear in mind that there are joint programmes ofthis type. starting from a policy of realism rather than theoretical, the answer tothis question is certainly positive. the combination of research skills to otherprofessional skills may turn out to be positive. At this point, the criteria to put to use
would be that of a given added value to such a course for students. In any case,these types of joint programmes involve the problems related to the evaluation of
the final joint qualification (academic or professional?). for this reason, in thesecases, one would need to be much more precise about the nature of national
qualifications issued jointly.

1.3.5 Level of qualification
Each higher education system is divided into different cycles/levels: as a result of
the Bologna process, the majority of European countries have adopted a
distribution of studies in higher education, dividing them into 3 main cycles.
However, there are subdivisions of the national studies that do not reflect theclassification of Bologna.10
furthermore, the period of study, learning outcomes and the specific purpose of aqualification in different cycles do not always coincide among the various national
systems.
for this reason, the indication of the level or cycle of studies is useful as data for a
final assessment of the qualifications or studies, but it is certainly not the only criteria
to use to obtain a correct equation of studies done.
In additions to the subdivision on the Bologna process, we have different scales
for the classification of qualification that are used in systems outside of the Bologna
process (i.e. IscED, EQf, NQfs, etc.): for this reason, one must always return theparameter of reference used in case that you indicate a cycle / level to which a
qualification belongs.11
However it should be noted that the qualifications of different systems placedat the same cycle / level are not directly equivalent between them: the levelis an element of general classification of the qualification and can therefore
be seen as an abstraction, by introducing a neutral reference point fordifferent qualifications.

Level as thestarting point

http://www.ehea.info
some National Qualifications frameworks and some national classifications of qualification are divided into several levels that are not
attributable to any supranational scale, therfore a level 7 degree in a A system may differ from a degree of the same level in a B system .

10
11

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JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

1.3.6 Official length of programme
the duration of a course is a very important parameter for the assessment of aqualification, but sometimes this information may be misleading if read together
with the other elements (such as workload - 1.3.7).
first of all, the duration may vary depending on whether the course is part-time or
full-time and it is always good to report such information in the documentationaccompanying the qualification.
It should be noted that the number of years of a course is never the only
element useful for evaluation of a qualification or for the comparison of two
qualifications belonging to different systems: this element must be read taking
into account the other elements of the course, of which one is learning
outcomes (1.3.10).

Does 1+1
make 2?

Is it possible to organize a joint programme between institutions that offer coursesof different durations?
the answer is certainly positive and there are several examples and good practices
adopted by the institutions of higher education that have as their aim the creation of
joint programmes between courses belonging to the same level but of different duration.

1.3.7 Workload
the workload is usually expressed in all credit systems. In the world of education,a credit denotes a given amount of work achieved to a minimum standard. In anarrow sense, the term is based on classroom hours, teaching hours, contact hours
or something similar. If a credit is truly to indicate workload, it should encompass
all activities relevant to the study programme, including not only classroom hours,
laboratory, work, seminars and discussion groups, but also independent study, thewriting of theses and term papers, practice periods and even examinations.12
the most used credits system within the countries of the European Union is
the Ects - European credit transfer and Accumulation system13, but it is not
the only present in Europe or in the rest of the world: in some countries there
are national credit systems and other systems of credits used by the individual
institution and they are also based on different parameters (i.e. only teachingor contact hours, global work for student, etc.).
12
13

Not only ECTS

Qualifications - Introduction to a concept; council of Europe higher education series No 6 - sjur Bergan (2007)
http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/ects_en.htm

17BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 1

In the case of joint programmes, it will be necessary to be very clear about thecredit system used, and reach a definition of a single parameter of conversion of
the national credit system: Ects, in this case, is very useful.

1.3.8 Access requirements
When we speak of the requirements for the access to a course, we usually use theterms ‘access’ and ‘admission’ interchangeably, but the two terms do not have thesame meaning: the term ‘access’ concerns the requirements for the generalentrance to higher education studies, while the term ‘admission’ denotes the specificrequirements that allow you to follow a formal course.
the policies for the access to higher education are different in different systems
and can vary even within the same system depending on the nature of the institutionof higher education that we consider: in some systems, access is subordinate to
the presence of a formal degree; other times, a certain number of credits foradmission to a course is only required, or in other countries the recognition of priorlearning can be used in order to allow access for a course without a qualification
formally obtained.
Knowing the rules of access to a course, the status of required input or possible
exceptions for non-holders of a formal qualification is an essential element within
the joint programmes, where the selection of students must decided jointly between
the partners of the joint course that will then apply the different national rules on
the theme of access to the courses.

No
consequentiality

It is also to be kept in mind that in some systems there is no rule ofconsequentiality of qualifications: one could get access to a course atDoctoral level (3rd cycle according to the Bologna process) with a Bachelor
level qualification (1st cycle according to the Bologna process).

1.3.9 Access to further study
A certain degree brings with it the 'academic rights', which usually allow access tofurther education.
Depending on the nature of qualification (1.3.4) and the type of diploma theinstitution releases (1.3.2), a qualification will allow access (i) to all courses of next
cycle/level, (ii) only certain cycle/courses of the next level or (iii) to no course of
study.

18

JOINt DEGREEs AND REcOGNItION: sOmE cLARIfIcAtIONs

As regards the possibility of access to some courses (ii) or to no course (iii), we
can have the case of a joint degree which correspond to two national degrees (Aand B):
a first national degree (A) gives access to a course (e.g. phD) and the second
national degrees (B) doesn’t give access to the same type of courses (despite
being of the same level of A).

Same level but
different rights

At this point how will the joint degree be evaluated abroad if the applicant requests
access to a course of a next level?
Unfortunately, multiple solutions are needed for this case and it is based on thepractices adopted by the entity that assesses the joint qualification. In any case, it
is always advisable to correspond to the same joint degree of national
qualifications of the same nature and that give access to that very same courses.

1.3.10 Information on learning outcomes
Learning outcomes indicate what the holder of a given qualification is expected toknow, understand and able to do. taking into account learning outcomes in arecognition procedure means that the evaluation procedure may be more directly
focused on the outcomes reached and competences obtained, instead of only
relying on the input criteria of the programme (i.e. length, workload, etc.). theprincipal question asked to the graduate will no longer be 'what did you do toobtain your qualification?' but rather 'what can you do, now that you have obtained
your qualification?'.14
In no case should a recognition decision be based on only quantitative criteria,such as length of study, without some attempt being made to assess the quality of
applicants' learning outcomes and qualifications.15
With regard to joint degrees, the institutions that organised them must
establish common learning outcomes for the one proposed course: this stepis essential in the creation of a joint programme.

One
programme,same outcomes

European Area of Recognition manual - practical guidelines for fair recognition of qualifications (http://www.eurorecognition.eu)
Explanatory memorandum - Revised Recommendation on criteria and procedures for the Assessment of foreign Qualifications (adopted
by the Lisbon Recognition convention committee at its fifth meeting, sèvres - 2010)

14
15

19

2
cREAtION pHAsE

cHAptER 2
the “creation phase” is the first part of a joint programme life cycle and it concerns
its development and implementation. During this phase it is important to consider
all the life elements of a course in order to avoid problems to arise during the actual
development of the joint programme, both within the partner institutions whichorganise the course and towards students who will obtain the final degree.
According to the objectives of the project, hereafter the elements of the creation
phase, related to the recognition aspects of the final qualifications issued at theend of a joint programme, are reported.
therefore, let’s start with the main recommendation indicated by the
JOImAN1 project and summarised with the bright expression: tHINK fIRst!

Think First!

2.1 Higher Education Systems involved
A joint programme is realised by institutions which belong to different Higher
Education systems with their own structure and a specific national legislation. forthis reason, it is fundamental to know the system and the national legislation ofeach higher education institutions which organise the joint programme.

2.1.1 The sources issue
What sources we can use to get information on a higher education system?
the first information source is certainly represented by the institutions which take
1
JOImAN - Joint Degree management and Administration Network; How to manage Joint study programmes? Guidelines and Good
practices from the JOImAN Network (2011) - https://www.joiman.eu

21

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2part in the realisation of the course. Is this enough? Indeed, are the sources always
reliable?
the experience as a National structure has taught us that within a higher education
institution the structure of the national system and the realisation rules of a course
are not always clear, especially from the teaching staff, which is requested toperform many academic tasks.
therefore, it is fundamental to involve the administrative staff which deal withthese processes within the higher education institutions, both for the checkof the information provided and for the viability of the solutions proposed torealise a joint course.

Not only
Scholars

Indeed, the realisation of a joint programme involves the institutions at all levels,
so the key elements are:(i) A sharing of information and solutions adopted for the realisation of the courseand(ii) the awareness of the necessity to fulfill the obligations adopted for therealisation of the programme from all the components of the institution.
the information on the national systems and the solutions adopted will be sharedand checked together with the reference national authorities, which in the case of
the Erasmus mundus programme are identified with the National structures, or in
all the other cases with the centres of the ENIc/NARIc2 network.
this suggestion does not want to go against the mutual trust principle between theinstitutions organising the joint course, instead it wants to strengthen this aspect
between the partners, by proposing a check procedure at a national level of theinformation shared by the consortium.

2.1.2 How to make ends meet: the reference target
Now let’s pass to the organisation of the national higher education systems
according to the subdivision on three cycles of the Bologna process; the institutions
can propose the courses organised by them in the following way:2

22

the list of the Erasmus mundus National structures and the ENIc/NARIc centres is available in the Annex 1

cREAtION pHAsE(A) a 3-year first cycle and a 2-year second cycle;(B) a 3-year first cycle and a 1-year second cycle;(c) a 4-year first cycle and a 2-year second cycle;(D) a 4-year first cycle and a 1-year second cycle;(E) a 5 or 6-year single cycle.

Which kindof cycle
do you use?

How to organize a second cycle joint course between these systems?
In the case of the organization of a course between an institution A and an
institution B or between an institution B and an institution D, not many problems
are reported, indeed the second cycle courses have the same duration, therefore
the joint course will meet this criteria. the only point which could result problematicis the request of the course admission degree, which will not must be a four-year
degree, but a first level degree.
Now let’s pass to a second cycle joint course between A and D:
case 1: 2-year programme
In this case, the holders of a degree from the institution D must make a further effort:
students with a four-year first cycle degree (D) will be requested to study one more
year than students with a three-year first cycle degree (A) in order to obtain thesame degrees.
case 2: 1-year programme
In this case, it is necessary to fill one course year for the issue of the degree fromthe institution A with a biennial duration: this will be possible by allowing theadmission to the joint course after the first year of second cycle studies for the
students from A and by recognising the fourth year of the course for the students
from D as the first year of the degree from A.
In the cases 1 and 2 there is a common factor: it concerns the organisation of asecond cycle joint programme exclusively for undergraduate students from these
two institutions.
What to do in order to organize a joint programme opened to all students andindependent from the first cycle courses of the two institutions?

23

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

In this case it is necessary to establish an admission criteria for a unique course
opened to all students, such as the possession of a four-year degree: this casecould attract students from other systems similar to D, but that would not be
favourable for students from A who could not enter the course.
Granted that in order to solve this case there are other solutions, more orless creative, it is fundamental to highlight the importance of identifying
upfront the reference target: that is deciding if the course is addressed to'national' students or to students from the partner institutions, or if it isaddressed to 'international' students from other systems (as in the case of
Erasmus mundus).

National orInternational
Students

However, the recognition procedures of study periods carried out is fundamental
to solve cases where the higher education systems are organised in cycles ofdifferent duration and workload.
this point is fundamental also in cases of single cycle courses (5 or 6 years) usuallyconcerning subjects such as Architecture, Engineering, medicine, pharmacy and
Veterinary medicine.
today, some institutions (especially in the Engineering sector) believe that it isnecessary to request a further effort of students who attend joint programmes (and
who will obtain more national qualifications) in respect to students who attend
national programmes: at this point, it is necessary to focus on how much extra
workload will be required by considering that students who attend a joint
programme are already requested to or they should be requested to make agreater effort than students who attend national programmes 3. It is clear that also
in this case it is necessary to focus on the reference target, that is on the selectionof the best students with the skills and the enthusiasm necessary for facing theincrease of the workload.

2.2 Higher Education Institutions and different
qualifications
As we have seen (1.3.2), there are different typologies of higher education
institutions within the various national systems:
all these institutions can issue 'official' qualifications within their system, but these3

24

see: Joint and Double Degrees in Europe and With Europe - prof. Giancarlo spinelli; politecnico di milano (Italy)

cREAtION pHAsE

qualifications can be of 'different' nature.
It is fundamental to know the status of the partners within a joint programme
in order to be clear and transparent as much as possible about the 'value'
and the academic and professional rights of the final qualifications issued,
especially if they assume the form of a joint degree.

Status of ourpartners

the only indication of the recognition and the official character or not of an
institution is not enough to realise a joint programme and to be sure about the
future recognition of the final qualifications issued.
As already mentioned on the paragraph 1.3.2, the list is reported in order toprovide concrete examples related to national systems, by being aware that thesolution for the proposed cases depends on the national system to which the final
qualification is presented and on the national rules and procedures for the degree
recognition.

2.2.1 Different types of higher education institutions withinbinary systems
In the so-called binary systems, there are different types of institutions dependingon the nature of the studies carried out (academic, professional, research).
Here are two examples:
Example 1: the Netherlands
there are two types of institutions in this national system: Hogescholen(HBO), whose paths has a professional nature while Universiteiten (WO)
has an academic nature. there is also a difference between the wording of
the qualifications issued by these institutions, which are all official: the WO
issue degrees of Bachelor of Arts/science (1st cycle) e of master ofArts/science (2nd cycle), while the HBO those of Bachelor (1st cycle) andmaster (2nd cycle). to be admitted to a phD programme, bridge programmes
and further requirements could be requested to whom holds a qualificationfrom an HBO, while this is not requested for qualifications from a WO.

Example 1

Let’s think about a joint programme between an institution similar to an HBO
belonging to a national system A and another similar to a WO belonging
to a different national system B.

25

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

Example 1

In the case where they issue a second cycle joint degree (A+B), would thisdegree allow the admission to a phD within a third national system (c)?
Besides, could a qualification that allows the admission to the third cycle ina system B be valid also for a system A, where the national system do notallow it?
In order to organise a joint programme with these features – and this could be avalue added for students, given that they could face a disciplinary area byacquiring both academic and professional skills – it will be necessary to be veryclear about the different nature of the qualifications and also to be aware of how
much it can work in different systems: again it is important to focus on the purposeof the course and on which is the reference target.
Example 2: france
there are cases of binary systems where two different institutions issue
qualifications of equal nature. this is the case in france, where Universitésand Grandes Écoles have different purposes. they are governed by different
authorities and their programmes are uneven: the Grandes Écoles offer 2year structured courses called classes préparatoires (preparatory course orcram schools) followed by 3-year courses for the achievement of a single
final Diploma (5 years in total), without an intermediate degree; while
universities are structured following the Bologna process with a 3+2 system+ Doctoral studies (the so-called LmD system).

Example 2

Let’s think about a second cycle joint course between an institution similar toa Grande École belonging to a national system A and another similar to a
Université belonging to a different national system B.
Unlike Example 1, a joint degree between A and B allows the admission tophD programmes, but the organisations of a second cycle joint course canpresent other problems related to the structure of the courses.
Let’s think that within the system A – similar to the Grandes Écoles –education is organised on a 2+3 system, without an intermediate
qualification, and that in B – similar to Universités – on a 3+2 system with
two qualifications well distinguished between the first and second cycle.
Besides this, let’s think that in B a formal first cycle qualification is requested
to enter a second cycle.

26

cREAtION pHAsE

How can students from A – without a formal qualification after a three year
long course but only with a equivalent workload – enter the master Level
joint course organised also by B – where they request a first cycle formal
qualification to enter the second cycle?

Example 2

Also in this case institutions can adopt different solutions to enable the realisationof joint courses with these features, but it is important to highlight that these elements
must be considered since the beginning, by checking always all the internal rules
to enter courses within the different systems and the structure of the courses related
to a certain institution or discipline (as in the case of a single cycle with a total
duration of 5 or 6 years).

2.2.2 'Unofficial' institutions which issue official qualifications
there are many systems in private or unrecognised institutions, which are given theopportunity to organise accredited programmes or issue recognised degrees: these
institutions usually organise different types of courses, so attention should be given
to check which ones are accredited and which ones are not.
Here are two examples:
Example 1: Italy
Besides the official institutions which issue recognised qualifications, there
are some types of private institutions which are entitled to issue only certain
official degrees: that is the Higher school for Language mediators (Scuole
superiori per mediatori linguistici) which can issue official degrees only forthe first cycle and the specialisation Institutes/school in psychotherapy(Istituti specializzati in psicoterapia) which issue official degrees only for thethird cycle. Also, in the fine arts and design studies field there are a very few
institutions which have obtained a special authorisation to issue some official
first cycle degree through the approval of a specific Decree. those institutions
may validly issue only some type of official Italian qualifications, while therest of them without an explicit authorisation do not have legal value, so they
are not official: the other non-recognised qualifications are issued in the nameof and on behalf of the private institution.

Example 1

certainly it will be possible to organise a joint programme with an institution similar
to those listed in the previous example. However, it will always be necessary tocheck the course accreditation and the validity of the final degree corresponding
to the joint one.

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

Example 2

Example 2: United Kingdom
some UK institutions have the status of Listed Body. these institutions delivercourses that lead to degrees awarded by Recognised Bodies: therefore it
will not be the private institution to release the degree, but the recognised
institution itself. If the approved institution issued a qualification, it would
have no value and therefore it should be considered as an unofficial
qualification. there are other cases where the Recognised Bodies validate
qualifications achieved at institutions which are outside the UK and they arerecognised within the system where they operate: in all these cases it will benecessary to check which rules for the degree recognition from the so- called
transnational education institutions are in force in the system which theinstitution organising the course belongs to. Not always do these rules help
the recognition of the final degrees obtained with the procedure of 'validationof degrees'.
In the case where the Listed Body involved in the organisation of a joint course issituated outside the UK, even if it validly issues a qualification from a British
university, it would be necessary to check its status and its accreditation/recognitionin the country where it operates: not always does this accreditation exist or the
institution itself has managed to obtained it according to the national rules of thecountry where it is located.

2.2.3 'Official' institutions which issue non official
qualifications
Unlike the case just discussed, there are many systems of official/recognised
institutions, which issue some qualifications that do not belong to the country's
higher education system of reference, therefore they are issued only in the nameof and on behalf of itself. they are given the opportunity to organise accredited
programmes or issue recognised degrees: such institutions usually organise different
types of courses, so careful attention should be given to check which ones havean accreditation/recognition and which ones do not.
Here are two examples:

Example 1

28

Example 1: spain
In this system there is a difference between Máster universitario as título
oficial – the first issued since 2008 – which corresponds to the second cycleof the Bologna process, and Máster as título propio, which are unofficial

cREAtION pHAsE

qualifications issued in the name and on behalf of one institution. they areprovided by recognised universities as well as private spanish institutions:these qualifications, while not official, are valid in the private labour market.

Example 1

Example 2: Brazil
In this system there are two types of second cycle programmes which are
positioned at the pos-graduação level of the study courses. they are definedas lato sensu and stricto sensu programmes: the former does not require any
national accreditation from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento dePessoal de Nivel Superior - CAPES. they have a professional nature, so they
are not accredited programmes at national level, while the second include
both Mestrado and Doutorado courses, which corresponds respectively tothe second and third cycles of the study courses, according to the subdivisionin cycles by the process of Bologna.

Example 2

In the case of joint courses with official institutions which issue qualifications notofficially belonging to the national system, it will always be necessary to check thenature of the final degree in order to get a joint degree corresponding toqualifications with a different nature in terms of academic and professional rights,
especially for a question of transparency towards students.

2.2.4 Unrecognised institutions which claim to be recognised:
the phenomenon of Diploma Mills
the so-called diploma mills or degree mills are independent institutions which
operate without recognition by the higher education national systems. Upon
payment of consistent fees, they unlawfully award academic degrees within shortperiods of time (from seven days to a few months) with no need to pass any kindof exam or to follow a structured academic path.
the existing terminology refers both to degrees and institutions as 'non-recognised','non-recognisable', 'non-accredited', 'fake' or 'bogus'.
the spectrum of the institutions which operate in this field is wide and varied: someinstitutions are actually fake, as well as agencies which copy or counterfeit original
diplomas and degrees and 'non-accredited' institutions which carry out educational
activities and grant degrees which are not officially recognised by any educational
system.
Notwithstanding a few exceptions, each country has drafted its own guidelines forthe accreditation of both higher education institutions and degrees they issue, by

29

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

listing all the requirements to be met in order to grant accreditation.
Academic degrees and qualifications awarded by a 'non-accredited' institution
cannot be recognised in any other foreign country. Nonetheless, this does not meanthat all the institutions not recognised by the Government are bogus.
It is indeed necessary to consider a few factors to understand the role of 'nonaccredited' and fake institutions in the frame of the national higher education
systems.
first of all, in many countries it is possible to create private institutions that manage
education services – which in some cases even reach excellent levels; secondly,
worldwide higher education systems are not homogeneous and, finally, theguidelines for the lawful recognition of institutions and their accreditation are basedon different legislative systems.
the majority of fake institutions on the market conceive themselves as belonging to
the national higher education systems, where degrees have no legal value or where
institutions are accredited by private agencies recognised by the government andnot by a specific law.
finally, accreditation mills are also worth mentioning: they are agencies that,without any recognition, award accreditation to higher education institutions inorder to grant them some kind of legal recognition. the accreditation they award
is absolutely useless for the recognition of academic degrees but it is used by the
diploma mills, as a sort of trick to attract students.
Let’s have a look at some examples:

Diploma Mills

30

Belford University; texas - UsA (http://www.belforduniversity.org)
this institution with its headquarters in texas claims to award degrees based
exclusively on professional experience: the 'students' can perform all theoperations to order their degree by phone or online, through operators
based in the Us or the UK. there are also real discounts for customers whowish to purchase full training packages, such as a B.A, an m.A and a ph.D.
the Belford University is not accredited by any official Us agency, even if
the site claims to be on the Universal council for Online Education
Accreditation - UcOEA and the International Accreditation Agency for
Online Universities - IAAOU, both accreditation factories. Belford's motto is'No studies, no admissions, no attendance'.

cREAtION pHAsE

Ecole superieure Robert de sorbon; france (http://www.sorbon.fr)
this institution, also known as the Université francophone Robert de sorbon,
operates in france and claims to issue recognised qualifications on the basisof contacts with U.s. institutions. As it is possible to notice, the name is very
similar to that of sorbonne, the famous parisian university. the website statesthat the degrees may be validly issued under the recognition of AAcRAO(American Association of collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers), but
it is impossible to find any institution with this name or any member
association which is registered at the AAcRAO.
freie und private Universität Herisau; switzerland (http://www.unihe.ch)

Diploma Mills

this institution has been operating for many years even in Italy especiallythrough the use of the press. Indeed in the eighties and nineties there weremany advertisements in several newspapers, where the claim was made to
be able to 'graduate' anyone without any problems concerning the language
instruction and without the necessity to leave their workplace. today it
operates mainly through a website where 'those who have acquired a highlevel of professional and scientific experience can obtain a prestigious
academic degree' and where 'the programmes of study and the assessment
criteria are closely related to the quality and professional experience of eachcandidate'.
most of these institutions operating in different systems are looking for accredited
partners in order to close agreements for the realisation of joint programmes, or
simply more generic agreements in order to use the name and the good reputationof the official institutions within their 'advertising messages'.
for this reason, it is recommended to give the maximum attention to the institution
status and to always check the nature of a university by contacting the national
institutions in charge of providing information on the recognition of the institutions(ministries, ENIc/NARIc centres etc.)4.

4
Us databases of diploma mills: maine - http://www.maine.gov/education/highered/Non-Accredited/alphalist.htm; michigan http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Non-accreditedschools_78090_7.pdf and Oregon
http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx

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2.2.5 Institutions which operate in a system but belong toanother: trans-national institutions (TNE)the formation of such trans-national institutions is a complex phenomenon that took
form in the nineties, capturing the attention of national and international evaluatorsof academic higher education.
the 'code of Good practice in the provision of transnational Education'(UNEscO/council of Europe)5 certifies that this form includes 'All types ofhigher education study programmes, or sets of courses of study, or
educational services (including those of distance learning) in which thelearners are located in a country different from the one where the awarding
institution is based. such programmes may belong to the education systemof a state different from the state in which it operates, or may operate
independently of any national education system.'

What is a TNE
institution?

there are different types of transnational institutions depending on the audience
to whom they are addressed, the country where they operate, or the national
system of reference.
Here are some examples:
Branch campus
Institution A in a country X opens a branch campus (A1) in a country Y, which
offers programmes and degrees to students from both X and Y and also from Z (athird country). the accreditation or recognition of A (and its programmes anddegrees) in the country of origin X is sometimes extended by the same authority X
to the branch campus also (A1) with their programmes and degrees. for what
concerns the assessment by the host country Y, or Z receiver/third country, thebranch campus A1 and its degrees are often not recognised, even if the head
institution (main campus) in the country X and the related degrees usually enjoy
recognition in both Y and Z.
Franchised institution/programmeInstitution A of a country concedes to B (the franchised institution/organization
representative) in a country Y the right to offer their own programmes and degrees
532

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/highereducation/recognition/code%20of%20good%20practice_EN.asp

cREAtION pHAsE

to students from X, Y and/or Z. In many cases, the institution B provides only partof the course, which can include institution A giving recognition in the form oftransfer credits for the issue of the final qualification, on the part of A, provided
that disciplinary courses activated by B correspond to the previously agreed
criteria. In other cases, A can also enable B to allow the activation of full coursesof study, with the consequent issue of the corresponding final degrees, validated
by A always under the conditions specified in the particular franchise agreement.
for what concerns the assessment by the host country Y, the institution B is often
not recognised in a country Y, even if the institution A with its degrees (issued in X)
can be recognised.
International institution
It is an institution that offers programmes or degrees, so-called international (orEuropean). they are not attributable to any particular national education system.
these institutions often have branch campuses in several countries. Another typeof international institution - which have branches in several countries with links, indifferent ways, with international organisations (supranational or with roots in a
specific country) - consists of those which organise courses exclusively addressedto students or professionals from developing countries.
International institutions who belong to this category are created byagreements among different countries, such as the European University
Institute6 and the United Nation University7: even if they do not formallybelong to any national system, these institutions are officially recognised bymost countries.
for this reason, the claim to be an 'officially recognised institution in a country'
for the participation to a structured programme as the Erasmus mundus does
not consider this phenomenon which, despite not being very widespread,include some 'supranational' and high quality institutions.

'International'
institutions

In the case of a joint course with a tNE institution it is always recommended tocheck its recognition and accreditation also in the country where it operates, evenif such an institution is officially recognised by another system: the reason for thisverification is due to the quality check of the courses and of the instruction whichusually the designed authorities find difficult to check from the country of origin.

6
7

http://www.eui.eu
http://unu.edu

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2.3 Qualifications of the same level and different nature
Now let’s focus on the nature of the qualification rather than on the institution whichissues it:
as mentioned in the paragraph (1.3.5) different qualifications can correspond to
the same level.
Let’s have a look at two examples by using the tools necessary to understand anational higher education system, the Qualifications framework:
Example 1: Italy
for what concerns Italy, there is a National Qualifications framework (QTI
- Quadro dei titoli italiani)8 referred to the Bologna process: at the second
cycle courses there are the degrees of the Laurea Magistrale and those of
the Master universitario di primo livello, both Italian official qualifications
issued by universities.
they correspond to the same level, but are they equivalent?
Both these official degrees belong to the second cycle, but they have different
features and purposes. Indeed, the Laurea Magistrale is a 2 year degree
course (120 Ects credits) which allows entry to third cycle courses (e.g.
phD), while the Master universitario di primo livello – even if being an
official Italian degree – has a minimum duration of 1 year (min. 60 Ects
credits) and does not allow the admission to phD and to third cycle
programmes, since this type of course does not belong to the general
requirements established at national level, but it is offered under theautonomous responsibility of each university. Indeed, these courses have amore professional nature than those of the Laurea Magistrale and theirobjective is to provide graduates either with advanced scientific knowledge
in a given field or with further professional education and training for better
occupational opportunities.

Example 1

Example 2: United Kingdom
Let’s consider the Diagram of higher education qualification levels in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland9: at the level 7, which corresponds to

Example 28934

http://www.quadrodeititoli.it
http://www.ecctis.co.uk/europass/documents/ds_chart.pdf

cREAtION pHAsE

the second cycle of the Bologna process, there are different qualifications:
Masters Degrees, Integrated Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas,
Postgraduate Certificate of Education and Postgraduate Certificates.
Have all these qualifications the same nature and do they always allows
entry to the next level?
Also in this case these qualifications have different purposes, therefore theassessment of a Postgraduate Diploma will be different from that of a Master
Degree: also in this case, just the indication of the level will not provide all
the specific elements of the national qualification and of its academic andprofessional rights.

Example 2

Let’s think that the joint degree issued at the end of a joint programme is equivalent
to two national qualifications, the Laurea Magistrale (second cycle degree thatgives access to the third cycle) and the Postgraduate Certificate (second cycle
qualification that does not give access to the third cycle) or vice-versa (Masteruniversitario and Master Degree):in the case of an assessment in a third national system, to which degree is it
necessary to give the place in order to enter a third cycle programme or for otherpurposes?
this example is useful to understand how the generic indication of 'official
second cycle degree' within a joint programme can be misleading, both forcredentials evaluators and students attending the course.

Contradictionin levels

2.4 A very useful tool: the Qualifications Framework
A Qualifications framework (Qf) is a useful tool for the description of all or somequalifications (sectorial qualifications framework) referred to a national system or,in general, to different systems between them. furthermore, it is useful to understandthe whole structure of an education system.
the descriptive method used by a Qf is based on the classification of thequalifications through different levels, which are different one from anotheraccording to descriptors called 'learning outcomes'. they describe the outcomes,in terms of skills, knowledge and abilities, which the holders of the qualifications at
a given level will have acquired through the issue of a degree or a professional
certification.

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

126 QFs

for what concerns the global scenario, 126 countries are adopting or havealready adopted their own Qf10 within the education system. the reform
processes for the education systems and the problems related to thequalifications recognition have affected – and are affecting more and more
• the international panorama. As well as many processes of regional reform• regions intended as global macro-areas, such as Europe, commonwealthcountries, Asiatic countries and the caribbean area, have certainly
influenced many internal national systems as well as countries outside ofthese areas.
In the Annex 2 some National Qualifications frameworks are reported. they canbe a useful tool to understand the different national systems.
therefore, when talking about the Qualifications framework it is always necessary
to consider the different national patterns, which can be structured on cycles/levelsof different number, and at least two generic 'European' patterns: the European
Qualifications framework - EQf and the Qualifications framework for theEuropean Higher Education Area - Qf for the EHEA
In order to indicate the cycle/level of a qualification it will always be necessary toindicate the reference framework (e.g. first cycle degree according to the Bologna
process; Level 6 EQf; etc.): just the indication of the cycle/level could be misleading
and confusing despite of the quantity of existing National Qualifications
frameworks.

2.4.1 European Qualifications Framework - EQF
In 2002, ministries responsible for the policies on the lifelong learning of the EU
member countries, asked the European commission to create a framework usefulfor the qualification recognition and for promoting the dialogue between theacademic and professional systems of different countries, also pushed by thepolicies created by the Bologna process.

10
Albania; Angola; Antigua & Barbuda; Argentina; Armenia; Australia; Austria; Azerbaijan; Bahrain, Bangladesh; Barbados; Belarus;
Belgium; Belize; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei Darussalam; Bulgaria; cambodia; canada; chile; colombia; croatia;
cyprus; czech Republic; Denmark; Dominica; Egypt; Eritrea; Estonia; Ethiopia; finland; france; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece;
Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Hong Kong; Hungary; Iceland; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Italy; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kiribati; Korea;
Kosovo (under UNscR 1244); Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao people’s Democratic Republic; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Lithuania; Luxembourg;madagascar; malawi; malaysia; maldives; malta; mauritius; mexico; mongolia; montenegro; montserrat; morocco; mozambique;myanmar; Namibia; Nepal; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Oman; pakistan; papua New Guinea; philippines; poland; portugal;
Republic of moldova; Romania; Russian federation; saint Lucia; samoa; serbia; seychelles; sierra Leone; singapore; slovakia; slovenia;
south Africa; spain; st. Kitts & Nevis; st. Lucia; st. Vincent and the Grenadines; suriname; swaziland; sweden; switzerland; tajikistan;
thailand; the Bahamas; the comoros; the Democratic Republic of congo; the former Yugoslav Republic of macedonia; the Gambia; timorLeste; tonga; trinidad & tobago; tunisia; turkey; tuvalu and Vanuatu; Uganda, Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United
Republic of tanzania; Viet Nam; Zambia; Zimbabwe.

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cREAtION pHAsE

the challenge the EQf has to face is not easy: on one hand the system will keep
its structure, while on the other hand it will be necessary to choose a single
reference framework. Besides this, since the EQf wants to include all the existing
qualifications in a lifelong and lifewide learning perspective – from education andprofessional training to higher education and from children to adults training – theframework has been structured on 8 reference levels, from the basis qualifications(such as those of elementary school) to more advanced ones (such as the phD).
Each level is determined by a series of descriptors which indicate the learning
outcomes of the qualifications attributable to such level, in terms of knowledge,
skills and abilities which the qualification holder must have acquired, independently
from the system or from the methods through which the qualification has beenobtained (formal, non formal or informal path). for this reason, the EQf reference
levels move the attention from a traditional approach – based on standardised
programmes and courses and on the value of the qualification – to a scheme
related to the learning outcomes.
the last three levels of the EQf - respectively levels 6, 7 and 8 – are now
compatible with the three cycles – respectively the first, the second and thethird cycle – of the Qf of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)
according to the Bologna process: for this reason, the qualifications
belonging to such cycles/levels are compatible between them on the basisof shared descriptors – the learning outcomes of the EQf and the Dublin
Descriptors for the Bologna process.

EQF & QF
for the EHEA

It is important to notice that the EQf does not have intention to replace any education
or training national system but it is just a useful tool to ease the cooperation between
different countries. Indeed, each country will be able to create its own nationalframework for the qualifications based on a number of levels different from that of
the EQf, but it will be necessary to relate them to the European framework.

2.4.2 Qualifications Framework for the European Higher
Education Area - QF for the EHEA
the Bologna process is a European reform process which includes 47 countries11.
Its objective for 2010 was to create a European Higher Education Area - EHEA,
consistent with its goals of transparency and readability of the formative paths anddegrees; the opportunity to continue studies easily or find a employment in another
Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, croatia, cyprus, czech Republic, Denmark,Estonia, finland, france, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Holy see, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, malta, moldavia, montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, poland, portugal, Romania, Russian federation, serbia, slovak Republic,
slovenia, spain, sweden, switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of macedonia, turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 2

European country; a better capacity to attract the European Higher Education
towards the non European countries. One of its main goals is to create national
degrees frameworks, according to the Berlin communiqué12 by the ministries fromthe countries involved in the process. the attending countries are encouraged toelaborate a national framework of their higher education qualifications subdivided
on three cycles, the so-called National Qualifications framework - NQf.
this tool has the objective to describe each qualification in terms of student
workload, level, learning outcomes, skills and profiles in order to offer a morecorrect readability and comparability of the degrees in the different systems.
Besides all this, the framework will be useful to give an idea of all the European
degrees towards third countries, in order to summarise all the courses offered at a
European level.
Also the Qualifications framework of the Bologna process is structured on different
levels, called “cycles” based on different learning outcomes, defined as Dublin
Descriptors – produced by a think tank after the ministerial conference of prague(2001)13: they are generic because it is possible to apply them to a great rangeof disciplines and profiles. furthermore, they keep in consideration the different
possible structures of the national higher education systems.
therefore, the Dublin Descriptors are general enunciations of the traditional
outcomes achieved by students who took a degree after successfully carrying out
a given study cycle; they are to be intended as prescriptions and they do not
represent minimum thresholds or requirements, and they are not exhaustive: thedescriptors aim is at identifying the nature of a degree as a whole. they do nothave a disciplinary nature and they are not limited only to some academic or
professional areas.
According to the Bologna process, in all countries, the higher education courses
must be structured on three cycles:

The Bologna
cycles• a first cycle: from 180 to 240 Ects credits;• a second cycle: from 60 to 120 Ects credits;• a third cycle of doctoral studies which is not necessary to express in formof credits (in the most countries it lasts 3 years). In order to apply for it, itis necessary to have achieved 300 Ects credits – about 5-year study
course.
12'to create a European Higher Education Area' - conference of ministers responsible for Higher Education in Berlin on 19 september
2003
13'towards the European Higher Education Area' - conference of ministers responsible for Higher Education – prague, 19 may 2001

38

cREAtION pHAsE

In general, the degrees corresponding to each cycle guarantee the access to thenext cycle, according to the internal rules established by the different member
countries systems. It is possible to include different types of courses in a single cycle.
they can have different duration and different formative objectives and becharacterised by a more academic or more professional nature.
As it is easy to understand, the Qf of the EHEA is different from the EQf because
it deals exclusively with qualifications referred to in the Higher Education field
based on three study cycles. that is to say, all the qualifications usually referred tothe university courses.
Besides, such framework is based on the concept of 'credits', that is a unit ofmeasurement to establish the engagement necessary in terms of work hours for theachievement of a qualification or also the 'weight' in terms of hours of eachqualification. the credit system used by the Qf of the Bologna process is the Ects
– European credit transfer and Accumulation system.

39

3
sELEctION pHAsE

cHAptER 3
the student selection phase within a joint programme does not identify itself
exclusively with the selection procedure phases, but also includes the organisationof these procedures and all the useful information for students who will be selected.
According to our project objectives, we will discuss the selection phase elements
related to the aspects of qualifications recognition: we will focus on thequalifications held by prospective applicants who intend to participate in a joint
programme.
Usually, the objective of a course is to attract students who would like to attend it
in. In the case of a joint programme they can come from higher education systems
which are totally different between them, have their own internal rules and areprovided with the documentation of the national system of reference, including
documents written in different languages, etc.
the documentation requests and the information provided to prospective
students must consider such differences and the existence of many higher
education systems with their own national rules, which sometimes differ fromthose used by the partner institutions of the joint course, therefore: BE
fLEXIBLE!

BE FLEXIBLE!

the possibility to attract students from other systems could be void by a rigidness
in the request of only some documents according to the standard procedure
adopted for the enrolment to national courses - different from the joint ones whichhave an 'international' nature. therefore, it is recommended to be flexible in the
choices.

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3

3.1 Only one joint evaluation for a single course
Jointevaluation
procedureIn the case of joint courses, it is fundamental to be clear first of all within the
consortium which organises the course: evaluation criteria for the prospective
students will be established, by also formulating a joint evaluation procedure.
As we have noted, for the evaluation of prospective students qualifications there
are more rules to be considered: first of all those of the national systems of theinstitutions which organise the course and besides the rules within the institutions
themselves.
Dealing with a joint course conceived as a single course, it is recommended – andrightful – to establish a single selection phase as well as clear rules for students
who are interested in attending the course.
It is always better to avoid carrying out more selections depending on the numberof institutions organising a joint course: there is the risk of using evaluation criteria
and rules which do not meet the parameters of each partner.

3.1.1 Admission to the course without a formal qualification
Let’s think about a second cycle joint course organised by two institutions A and B,
where the institution A selects its own students who will also have to carry out aperiod in the second institution B and where both issue the final degree.
Let’s suppose that for the admission to the course in A it is necessary to have acertain number of credits – for example 180 Ects credits – even without thepresentation of a formal first cycle qualification – while the institution B accepts
students who only hold a formal qualification.
If we allow the institution A to select the students, we could have problems with theenrolment to the course in the institution B: it could not be acceptable that thestudents are regularly enrolled according to the national rules even if they havebeen selected by A for the participation to a joint course.
to be even more explicit, let’s think about the case of the organisation of a second
cycle joint course between an institution A where there is a single five-year course
and an institution B where there is a second cycle two-year course: at the end of
the third year students from A will not obtain a formal qualification – since it is afive-year course – therefore they would not meet the admission criteria in B – a

42

sELEctION pHAsE

possession of a first cycle formal qualification.
there are different solutions adopted by the higher education institutions to solve
such problem but what is important to highlight is:(i) the admission criteria to the courses in A and in B will have to be shared
before the selection of the students and that(ii) It is always necessary to carry out a joint selection that involves both
institutions, without delegating such aspect to only one of the partners
organising the joint course.

Jointadmission
criteria

3.1.2 'Recognition of prior learning'
Recognition of prior learning (RpL) describes a process used by some higher
education institutions around the world to evaluate learning acquired outside theclassroom for the purpose of assigning academic credit. common ways in which
individuals have acquired university-level learning include: corporate or militarytraining, work experience, civil activity, and independent study.
Improving the recognition of prior learning, including non-formal and informal
learning is a specific objective of the Bologna process, therefore many countries
have adopted different rules for such an activity.1
therefore, in some systems it is possible to enter courses without the possession of
a formal qualification, but through a qualification procedure of the prior learning,
so some institutions participating in a hypothetical joint programme could accept
students within the joint course by using such procedure – for example the standard
procedures adopted by the Open Universities whose target is the adult education.
Also in this case it is possible to note how fundamental it is to have an informationexchange between partner institutions of the joint programme, given that the RpL
standard procedure can be the same in a system but different – or forbidden – inanother one.

3.1.3 The concept of ‘consequentiality of degrees’
some higher institution systems can be defined ‘consequential’: for the admission
to a second cycle course, a first cycle qualification is required. While for theadmission to a third cycle course, a second cycle qualification is required.
1

http://www.ehea.info/article-details.aspx?ArticleId=14

43

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3

this rule is not applied to all the systems, indeed it can happen that some institutions
accept first level qualifications for the admission to phD courses – such as in the
UK – or they calculate a certain number of years which are sufficient to enter acourse independently from the indication of the level of the studies carried out.
Let’s imagine a third cycle joint course (phD) organised by an institution with aconsequential system (A) and a second institution with a non-consequential system(B), to which a student applies for with a four-year Bachelor degree, which certifies
the possibility of admission to phD courses in its own system (X) without otherrequirements.
for the institution A the candidate does not meet the course admission requirements,
while both in B and in X the student can enter phD courses.
If there are specific rules for the admission to a given course in a higher education
system and they do not allow the enrolment to a course without the possession ofa degree of a previous level (‘consequential’ system), all the consortium partners
will have to be aware that such admission requirements are met within the selectionof students.

3.1.4 Selection Board Composition
Dealing with a single evaluation, within the partner institutions it will be necessary
to select students through the appointment of a ‘selection Board’ composed byrepresentatives of all the institutions organising the joint programme.

Selection
Board

the selection Board will have to be composed by both representatives of
the academic field (scholars) and by representatives of the administrative
field (administrative staff): as we have noted, (2.1.1) both competencies arenecessary during the selection phase of prospective students in order toevaluate the degrees presented by them under the academic andadministrative point of view.
In practice, it will be necessary to repeat the procedure usually developed withineach higher education institution in the case of the admission to the courses, but inthis case it will be necessary to consider joint rules and procedures and the needsof each institution partner of the consortium organising the course.
It is always recommended to indicate a unique and a comprehensive information
source for the prospective students in order to collect all the applications from only44

sELEctION pHAsE

one student Office of the joint course, by avoiding that each institution
autonomously receives the applications.
the constitution of a single student Office for the course is also useful to respondin an unambiguous way to the clarification enquires by prospective students.

3.2 Admission to the course: qualifications and documents
required
As we have noted before, a joint programme is a single course organised by more
institutions.
for this reason, it will be necessary to establish the qualifications which theprospective students will have to hold for the admission and the documents requiredby the different institution the enrolment to the course: this is done by considering
the internal rules of the single institutions participating in the joint programme andtheir national rules referred to the admission to the courses.
the preliminary remarks is an ‘official’ qualification from a higher education system
issued by an ‘official’ institution.

3.2.1 The level of qualifications required
the first point to be analised concerns the level of the joint course which we areorganising and therefore the qualifications that the students will have to hold foradmission to the course.
Let’s think about a second cycle joint course: is the request of a ‘first cycle’qualification enough to make prospective students understand which degree wewill accept?
Unfortunately, such indication is not correct by different points of view, indeed (i) thereference parameter is not reported, that is we are requiring a first cycle qualificationaccording to the Bologna process, besides – also by indicating such reference (ii)
we would commit the error of ‘eurocentrism’, without considering that the Bologna
subdivision could be unknown by students from other foreign systems and finally (iii)
it would be possible that we receive qualifications of a different nature.
It is impossible to find the perfect solution for this problem related to the qualification
required and to the comprehension of such requirement by prospective students
from all over the world.

45

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3

But we can give some useful suggestions to be as clear as possible about
this point, by indicating, among the requirements, the possession of aqualification:

Elementsof thequalification
required(A) Of a certain minimum number of years of the course – 3 or 4 –depending on how the second cycle course is structured (2.1.2);(B) Of a certain level, by indicating another reference in addiction to the
Bologna process (Bachelor, undergraduate, level 6 EQf, etc.) or, in the casethat a Bologna level is used, by providing a useful instrument to understandthis subdivision in cycles;(c) Which allows the admission to second cycle courses (or master level,
level 7 EQf, etc.) in the country where it is issued (principle of reciprocity;)(D) Which has a certain nature – academic or professional – according to
the course we are organising: therefore in the case of an ‘academic’ course,
we will require ‘academic’ qualifications.
We need to indicate all these elements in order to understand which is theadmission qualification required, indeed even if there is only one of them which do
not consider also the others, it could be misleading for our prospective applicants:• If we indicated only the level (B) – as we have noted – there would be thepossibility that we receive qualification of a different nature – not consistent
with (D);• Let’s suppose to indicate only a certain denomination, such as 'Bachelor degree'
we have to know that such qualifications in some systems have a duration of
only two years – non consistent with (A) – and usually they do not allow theadmission to second cycle courses;• If we did not consider (c), there would be the possibility that we receive firstlevel qualifications – consistent with (B) – which in the system of origin do notallow the admission to further courses, therefore without the academic rights
necessary for the admission to the course.
In summary, we should indicate the following elements in order to provide
information about the qualification required for the admission to the joint course:(A) minimum duration in years;(B) level/cycle and reference scale;(c) possibility of admission to the next courses in the reference foreign system(D) nature of the qualification.

46

sELEctION pHAsE

3.2.2 Documents required for the admission
for that which concerns the documentation that the prospective students have topresent, it is important to reason in terms of flexibility and to share the national
standard procedures with the partners.
Besides this, each document attests or certifies a given data and it is possible that
it is not useful to other purposes, therefore we will have to be always aware of the
purpose for which we require a given documentation and how it has to bedelivered to us.
It will be necessary to establish in advance which documents will be required toprospective students. these documents must be shared by all the consortium
organising the joint programme.
Which are the documents required and in which form?
(A) curriculum vitae: this document is useful to reconstruct the educational
background of the applicant. this document is useful also to have a generalframework of the prospective student competencies, in order to verify all the
professional and academic experiences carried out.

Curriculum
vitae

the information contained in a curriculum vitae is written directly by the student,
therefore – especially in the case where the cV is written in a language different
from the applicant mother tongue (such as English) – it is possible that the inserted
information does not utilise a correct language or shows an incorrect translationof the institution or of the qualifications carried out. for this reason, such an
instrument is not useful to certificate an academic career, but only to give general
information about the path carried out.
(B) proof of identity: a copy of a passport or some type of acceptable
identification is usually required as an added check that the applicant is who
he or she claims to be, and that the names on all the documents are identical.
In some cases, there can be nonconformities between the names indicatedon the documents and those referred to the degrees they have presented,
therefore in all these cases it will be necessary to require further clarifications
to the prospective student.

Proof ofidentity

A common case is that related to the date of birth: in some systems this depends
on the reference document and the uses or the local practices. In this case, it is47

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3

necessary to consult the consortium.

Diploma(c) Diploma in original version or certified copy: at this point we will require
the Diploma, that is the official document attesting the qualification obtained
and required in order to be admitted to our course: usually this document isissued directly by the higher education institution.
Also a ‘certified copy’ of the Diploma can be required: certified copies are madeand signed by someone working in an official capacity, who attests to the fact thatthe copy is 'identical to the original'. certified copies only serve as proof that the
copy is true to the original document and can never be taken as proof that theoriginal diploma is authentic.
Is it necessary to require also the qualifications obtained previously to that usefulfor the admission to the course?
It is recommended to require at least the qualification previous to the main one
useful for the admission to our joint course. therefore, in the case of a third cycle
joint course, it is recommended to require the first and second cycle qualifications
previously obtained by the applicant. this is useful to better understand theacademic career carried out until that moment and to verify the admission todifferent courses. Also this point has to be verified together with the partners by
establishing a general rule according to the rule adopted by each of them in thisfield.
Does the original or certified copy of the Diploma guarantee that a degree is official
or valid in a given system?
the answer is NO!
Indeed, it is necessary to verify if the institution which has issued the degree officiallybelongs to a higher education system and that degree is accredited/recognisedin the country of origin (2.2 e 2.3). It is also necessary to verify if such degree
effectively belongs to that person.
the last annotation: some systems have standard templates for national diplomas(i.e. Russia, china, etc.), while in other systems it depends on the awarding
institution (i.e. Italy, UsA, etc.), therefore attention should be given to this data toverify qualifications to be evaluated.

48

sELEctION pHAsE(D) Legalisation of documents: according to the legislation of some countries
official documents must be legalised. It is necessary to require this legalisationby using an instrument born for this purpose, that is the ‘Hague Apostille'2.

Legalisationof documents

the presence of the Apostille shows that the signature on the document is official
and it belongs to the legal representative of an institution which issues degrees,
but who guarantees us that the degree has been issued by a recognised institution?
Nobody! Indeed many diploma mills (2.2.4) issue their diplomas with the Apostilleeven if it does not deal with official qualifications and the institution does not belong
to any higher education system, therefore also in the case of an Apostille it will benecessary to verify always the recognition of the institution awarding the degree.
Also in this case the institution organising the course will have to exchange
information on the local procedures used to verify the truthfulness of the documents
and achieve a single shared procedure.
(E) Diploma supplement, transcripts or List of subjects: for the admission toa new course, it is necessary to know, in addition to the general subject ofstudy of the degree for the admission to the course, also the list of the exams
and subjects developed within the course; in many cases, a Diploma does
not give this information.

Diploma
Supplement
andtranscripts

for this reason, it will be necessary to require a document which shows the list of
the subjects discussed during the course, the evaluation scale and the credits
obtained, in addition to each other useful related information.
Usually, these documents are called “transcripts” and they are attached to the final
Diploma.
Also the Diploma supplement is an instrument which provides this and other very
useful information for the purposes of a degree evaluation: the only point to behighlighted is that the Diploma supplement is not issued by all the countries
because it is an instrument of the Bologna process.
therefore, in the case where a Diploma supplement is required, it will always benecessary to foreseen the request of documents alternative to that, such as the2
the Hague Apostille allows a public document from one country to be recognised as a valid document in another country, among countries
that have signed the Hague Agreement. this is done by having an authority affix a stamp on the document to certify its authenticity.

49

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3transcripts or the list of subjects, by bearing in mind that each higher education
institution and each country have their own rules for the issue of such documents:
so it is necessary to be flexible about this point.

Certified
Translations(f) certified translations: in many cases, in addition to copies of documentsin the original language, applicants are required to submit certified
translations of the most important documents as well. the definition of acertified translation may differ from country to country, but most importantly,
these are translations that have been formally verified according to accepted
practice in the country in question.
In the case of joint programmes, the institutions organising the course can decideto require documents translated in only one language and to not require suchtranslations for the languages of the countries where these institutions operate.
It is necessary to highlight that a translation does not substitute the original
document: indeed, often it happens that a translator does not know the technicalterms to describe a qualification in another language, therefore the translation of
the degree name could be wrong.
In order to evaluate a degree it would be important to know its name in thelanguage of origin and with respect to the higher education system of belonging(1.3.1): the translation is useful to make the subjects of a qualification
comprehensible through a known language (subjects, credits, marks, dates,
awarding institution, etc) but not for its assessment.
the following documentation is requested of a prospective student during theselection phase:(A) curriculum vitae;(B) proof of identity;(c) Diploma in original version or certified copy;(D) Legalisation of documents;(E) Diploma supplement, transcripts or List of subjects;(f) certified translations.

'Achievable'
documents

50

Additional documents can be required depending on the partner institution
rules or on their national legislation but:

sELEctION pHAsE(i) the typology of additional documents will have to be defined between
the institutions before the beginning of this phase;(ii) these documents will have to be explicitly required to future students
during the phase of presentation of the candidacies to the course;(iii) It must be possible to obtain the required documents from foreign
students: sometimes we ask for some documents that do not exist in foreigncontexts.

'Achievable'
documents

3.3 Information for future students
During this phase of the life of a joint programme it should be necessary to provide– as we have already discussed – all the information to future applicants and to
define also the aspects about the students administration.
In compliance with the objectives of the present Handbook, we will analise only
some administrative aspects concerning the students, by always bearing in mind
that all the provided information must be clear, simple and comprehensible.

3.3.1 Some useful documents
there are some documents which can be useful to manage the relationships
between our future students and the partner institutions organising the joint
programme.
the first of them is certainly a ‘statement’ signed by the applicant granting
permission to obtain personal information: in order to verify the information
provided by candidates, it is necessary to obtain an explicit authorization
for handling their personal data, by considering that in many systems it is
not possible to access to any personal information concerning the previous
career of the student without this explicit authorization.

Statementfor personal
data
handling

furthermore, such authorization is useful to publish a possible classification for theevaluation of students participating in the selection for entering the course.
A second instrument useful to the relationship with the students is suggestedby the Erasmus mundus programme: the ‘student agreement’.

Student
agreement

the programme Guide3 defines the student Agreement as:3

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/programme/documents/2012/em_programmeguide_dec2011_en_new.pdf

51

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 3"an agreement signed by the consortium and student enrolled in the joint[masters] course explicitly indicating any academic, financial andadministrative modalities related to the student's participation in the joint
course and, if applicable, the award and usage of the scholarship."Student
agreement

this is a kind of document, where they indicate rights and duties of the future
students and the commitments the institutions engage to carry out – by explicitly
inserting the name of the national degrees which will be issued at the end of thecourse – it is certainly an instrument of transparency useful to institutions – withrespect to the duties of students, and for students, according to their rights.
the Education, Audiovisual and culture Executive Agency (EAcEA)4 provide
examples of student Agreements useful to all the joint courses5 developed by the
Erasmus mundus consortia managing the joint courses within the programme.
It is useful to provide a website or webpage exclusively dedicated to joint course
where to insert:(A) the subjects of the joint course;(B) the list of the institutions participating in the programme;(c) the name of the national qualifications which will be issued at the endof the course;(D) All the information related to the selection procedure for the admission
to the course;(E) a single contact for the clarification and information requests.

Joint website

It is not recommended the realisation of more webpage within the sites of theinstitutions participating in the course: indeed, the information provided to students
would be missing and there would be the risk to provide different answers to thesame questions, by reasoning in a ‘national’ and not in a ‘joint’ perspective.

3.3.2 Grading and credit systems: some clarifications
there are different voting systems in the various higher education systems and very
often they differ not only for what it concerns their numeric structure (usage ofnumeric ascending and descending scale; percentages, letters, etc.) but the cultural
aspects of the national system: here is the problem related to the marks conversion
in the different systems or institutions.
4552

http://eacea.ec.europa.eu
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/tools/good_practices_en.php

sELEctION pHAsE

A mark can have very different meanings depending on the qualification. Besides
this, it is possible that the mathematical equivalence does not reflect the culturalcomplexity behind it, leading to an oversimplified ‘translation’ of the mark of origin.
By adding the fact that in some systems there are evaluation scales within theinstitutions and therefore it is possible to find qualifications from the same system
but with a different evaluation, the panorama becomes further complicated.
It is very rare to find official conversion mark scales within the different systems aswell as official conversion formulas studied at a national level in order to ‘translate’a mark obtained abroad with a national one.
Let’s think about the case where a given mark constitutes an admission requirement
for a joint course: which parameter can help our applicants to understand if theymeet this requirement?
the solution of a summarizing table including all the existing systems cannot be
adopted, given that the candidacies for the admission to the course could comefrom any country. It would be possible to use the Ects grading scale, but also inthis case there would be systems which we have not considered.
It is recommended to study an internal conversion procedure to evaluate theperformances of the degrees presented for the admission to the course, in addition
to establish a single voting system within the joint programme.
Let’s think also about the used credit system: as we know there are different
concepts of ‘credit’ referred to the workload (1.3.7); which system should be used?
Also in this case, the Ects credits are very helpful and they can constitute thesystem to be adopted by the whole consortium organising the joint programme.
this means that each institution will issue a given number of credits by using a single
reference scale in order to not confuse students participating in the course andwho must evaluate the final qualification.
It is not possible to adopt the solution of using different credit systems on the basisof the institution where the course is held within a joint programme. However it isbetter to avoid it since finally the qualification will must ‘speak only one language’.

53

4
AWARDING pHAsE

cHAptER 4
the Awarding phase is the last phase of the life of a joint programme concerning
the issuing of the final diploma and the related documents.
Also in this phase there are different elements to be considered before awarding
a degree (such as the format of the final diploma or the issues concerning therecognition procedures).
It is important to notice that the joint course does not end - neither does therelationship with students - when you award the final diploma: students have got
one of your qualification for their entire life.
It means that they can use this qualification in different ways (for the access tofurther studies or to the labour market) and they can present it to different bodies(universities or employers): during these practices they could be required to provide
further elements, it means that, even after some years, the institutions which has
issued the final diploma must produce supporting documents or give further
information about the degree concerned.
Besides this, the presentation of a qualification to other entities involves the usabilityof the name of the institution which has issued it, then there will always be aconnection between the student and the awarding institution.
therefore, considering the elements of this stage concerning the life of a joint
programme, we should always bear in mind that a durable relationship willbe established between the awarding institution and their students, so: fEEL
cONNEctED!!!

FEELCONNECTED!!!

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 4

4.1 A question of clarity: an automatic recognition
procedure does not exist
It is a common belief that there is a sort of automatic qualification recognition within
EU countries or between countries participating in the Bologna process: this error
creates many problems when qualification holders or higher education institutions
have to face academic recognition procedures.

No automatic
EU-widerecognitionof degrees

then, there is no automatic EU-wide recognition of academic qualifications:people may therefore need to go through a national procedure to getacademic degrees recognised in another EU country. Individual governmentsof EU countries remain responsible for their education systems and are free
to apply their own rules, including whether or not to recognise academic
qualifications obtained abroad.
Also within the Bologna process there are no automatic recognition procedures
among countries participating in this international process: taking part in the
Bologna process is a voluntary decision made by each country and its higher
education community to endorse the principles underlined in the European Higher
Education Area. the Bologna process does not aim to harmonise national
educational systems but rather to provide tools to connect them. the intention is toallow the diversity of national systems and universities to be maintained while theEuropean Higher Education Area improves transparency between higher education
systems, as well as implements tools to facilitate recognition of degrees andacademic qualifications, mobility, and exchanges between institutions. so, there
are not any automatic recognition procedures but we have instruments whichfacilitate recognition: an enterely different thing.
this preamble is fundamental in the case of joint programmes which involve theparticipation of institutions coming from different countries that award official
national qualifications at the same time (also in the case of EU programmes suchas Erasmus mundus): qualifications are valid exclusively in each system where
awarding institutions are placed. for other countries it will be necessary to follow
a specific recognition procedure - more or less complicated - according to nationalrules and on the purpose for which the recognition is requested.

Do not create
false
expectations

56

It is recommended to inform prospective students about our joint course
concerning the fact that the qualifications issued at the end of the course will
be valid exclusively within national systems of belonging of the institutions

AWARDING pHAsE

which issue them. Otherwise we risk creating different expectations because
the terms ‘European’ or ‘International’ referred to joint programmes could
be misunderstood.

Do not create
false
expectations

there is also the risk to confuse EU professional recognition procedures - which
are established according to the Directive 2005/36/Ec1 - with the academic
recognition procedures: through the Directive we have the opportunity to recognisea specific license to practice a regulated profession among EU countries, which isa different thing of an academic degree recognition procedure. Anyway, aprofessional recognition procedure needs an administrative check in order to grant
the qualification to practice a profession, then the procedure is anything but
automatic. In order to better understand the difference between the academic
recognition procedures and the professional recognition procedures and thespecificity of the Directive 2005/36/Ec, we have to bear in mind that it deals withthe right of free movement of professionals within the EU area and it is controlled
by the DG Internal market and services2, so it does not deal with only academic
questions which are instead managed by the DG Education and culture3, where
there are no mutual recognition rules.

4.2 Format of the final Diploma: what are the elements to
be included
the format used to issue a qualification at the end of a joint programme is certainly
one of the most important elements of this phase. Here are the elements usuallyreported in a diploma:• Official name of the degree in the national context: i.e. Master of Arts,
Laurea Magistrale, Mestrado, etc.;• Name of the course and of the subject: i.e. (in) chemistry, (in)International management, (in) Engineering, etc.;• Official name and seal/logo of the awarding institution: i.e. University,
college, polytechnic, etc.;• Name of the holder and personal details: i.e. student registration number,date of birth, etc.;• Dates: i.e. graduation date, issuing date, academic year, etc.;• Indication on the accreditation status of the institution/course and/or on
national legislations that grant the power to issue the qualification;

Elementsof theDiploma1
Directive 2005/36/Ec of the European parliament and of the council of 7 september 2005 on the recognition of professional
qualifications: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriserv/LexUriserv.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:255:0022:0142:en:pDf
2
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/internal_market/index_en.htm
3
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htm

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 4

Elementsof theDiploma• signature of the legal representative and/or other signatures: i.e. Rector,
Dean of the faculty, president, etc.;• final mark/points and (if applicable) credits.
Besides these documents there are others depending on the national format andthe corresponding legislation within a higher education system, but usually theseelements are present in all the diplomas.
furthermore, it is important to bear in mind that within some systems the legislation
does not allow issuing joint degrees: obviously, in these cases there would be only
the possibility to issue double or multiple final qualifications, maybe by preparing
joint certificates to be attached to the national qualifications. Anyway, theimpossibility to issuing joint degrees is often due to internal regulations or to a strict
approach of the institutions on these topics. Indeed, the systems which categoricallydeny to issue joint qualifications are very few: sometimes a legal vacuum or ashortage of clarity of the national legislation is used more as an excuse than as apossibility of innovation and growth within the internationalisation sector.
Why is it recommended to issue a joint degree at the end of a joint
programme rather than different national qualifications related to the jointly
organised course?

Why a joint
diploma is
recommended

Without answering to this question it is difficult to deeply understand why
the European commission within the Erasmus mundus programme favours
courses that issue joint degrees rather than courses that issue double ormultiple degrees.
the main reason why a joint degree is issued at the end of a joint programmeis related to the fact that a sINGLE cOURsE ends with a sINGLEQUALIfIcAtION.
this statement could seem banal, but if we think about all the implications related
to the issuing of more academic degrees corresponding to a single course, thisbecomes more concrete. Indeed:• A holder could present different degrees to access to the same public
competition or to a course with a classification list and achieve different
scores for the different qualifications, which actually derive from a single courseof study;

58

AWARDING pHAsE• A credential evaluator could become suspicious in checking different
qualifications issued in the same period of time, with the same date and without
any indication related to the single course attended;• In some systems (i.e. Italy) the national legislation forbids the enrolment to morecourses of studies simultaneously: if this case occurs, the Italian degree issued
contextually with the foreign one would not be valid (this rule is not appliedin the case of joint degrees).
As we can notice it is fundamental to specify that more academic degrees
correspond to a single course, therefore both on the joint degree and the double
or multiple one there would be always the reference to the jointly organised single
programme: otherwise we would not be transparent towards qualification holders
and to those who will evaluate their degrees.
therefore, issuing final degrees as double or multiple degrees does not mean tohave fewer problems related to the format of the degree when a single joint degree
is issued, given that it is necessary to specify also that the different national diplomas
issued are related to a joint degree.

4.2.1 Format of a Joint Diploma
In order to issue a joint degree, that is a single diploma for students who finish a
joint course, it is important to bear in mind some precaution to be made clear about
the nature of the foreign qualifications corresponding to the joint one and all theelements so that the credential evaluators can assess them correctly:

1. It is always important to insert the name of all the national qualifications
corresponding to the joint degree: it is possible to indicate the type of degreewith a generic name, such as ‘International master in’ or ‘Erasmus mundus
master Degree in…’, but below the qualification it is necessary to indicate thenational references with the official names of the degrees (i.e. Master of Arts,
Laurea Magistrale, Mestrado, etc.). to insert only generic denominations suchas ‘master’ or ‘Bachelor’ or ‘International Degree’ does not make sense anddoes not help who will have to evaluate the degree. Besides the name of thequalification, it is recommended to indicate also the national normativereferences related to the degree issued, that is information usually reported on
the diplomas from each institution.

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2. In addition to the official names of the institutions in their language of origin, it
is recommended to indicate all the logos of the awarding institutions
corresponding to the related national degrees. If there are other institutions
participating in the organisation of a joint degree but not awarding any degree,these can be indicated by using other instruments, such as the Diploma
supplement or certificates additional to the academic degree in order not tocreate confusion about the validity and usability of the joint degree.

3. Below the degree, it is also recommended to report all the signatures and therelated positions of the legal representatives of the institutions awarding thedegree, or the signatures of who usually sign the final degree within theinstitutions. If it is difficult to obtain all the signatures (for example for theirelevated number) from the awarding institutions, it is possible to choose only
one joint signature to be affixed on the diploma, but inserting always anindication where it is declared that this signature is affixed on behalf of theinstitutions partner (and this has to be inserted within the agreement between
the institutions in order to establish a joint programme).

4. furthermore, according to the practice concerning all the national degrees, it isfundamental to indicate name and surname of the student (together with otherdata such as date of birth and student registration number), the final mark andthe total number of Ects credits - by indicating also the reference scale (forexample Ects), the graduation date and the academic year.
Because of the complexity of a joint degree in respect to that of the national
degrees, the last advice is to report a caption within the diploma in order to refer
to an attached certificate for further details, such as a Diploma supplement or
another certificate.

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AWARDING pHAsE

An example of joint diploma is herewith reported:

logo/seal of the University 1

logo/seal of the University 2

logo/seal of the University 3

Record number / student registration number

Joint Master Degree in Environmental Engineering[Name of the Joint programme]
this is to certify that

[Name of student]

place & date of birth: xxx

having successfully completed the prescribed joint courseof study since xxx until xxx
at the [Name of the consortium or Network]
consequently, on behalf of the participating universities of this joint programme is awarded theMaster Degree in Environmental Engineering[awarding date][final mark and credits]
University name 1
Legal representative

University name 2
Legal representative

University name 3
Legal representative(official stamp and signature)(official stamp and signature)(official stamp and signature)

Official names of the national degrees corresponding to the Joint master Degree:
country 1: University name 1 and national degree name 1 (e.g Laurea magistrale in ... - Dm 270/2004 etc.)
country 2: University name 2 and national degree name 2 (e.g máster Universitario en ... - Real Decreto etc.)
country 3: University name 3 and national degree name 3 (e.g mestrado em ... - Decreto-lei etc.)

for further details on the present joint programme, please refer to the related Diploma supplement

4.2.2 Format of Double/Multiple Diplomas
In the case of double or multiple degrees, issuing only more national diplomas with
their traditional format - as it occurs for students who attend a national and not a
joint course - is not enough nor appropriate. Because as we saw, if within a national
degree it is not mentioned that this qualification was achieved attending a single
joint programme, we could have some problems concerning the usability of thedegree and its evaluation.
therefore, also if more national qualifications are issued, within themselves it will
be important to insert the name of the joint programme and a note where it isexplicitly specified that this national qualification is not the only one which was
issued to the student for that course of study. so it will be possible to insert a61

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reference to the Diploma supplement as in the case already mentioned at theprevious point, or something which clearly indicates that the course attended wasorganised jointly, such as:

Indication
within a
DoubleDiploma• ‘the XXX course is organised jointly by XXX consortium in the frameworkof the Erasmus mundus programme’;• ‘the present diploma is awarded in collaboration with other XXX higher
education institutions according to the XXX joint programme’;• ‘this is a double/multiple degree awarded in the framework of the XXX
joint programme’.
In the case where final double or multiple degrees are issued, it is always
recommended to attach an only one Diploma supplement or only one jointcertificate (including a non official one) to them, in order to provide information
about the course organised by more institutions and about the different national
degrees achieved: this means that even if it is not possible to issue a joint degree,
it will be advisable to issue at least a joint certificate or a joint Diploma
supplement.

4.3 Documents additional to a diploma:
Diploma Supplement and joint certificates
As we saw in the case of a joint degree, even more in the case of double or joint
degrees, it is necessary to indicate the elements useful to a correct evaluation of
the final qualifications issued within our joint programmes. We need to bear inmind that many credential evaluators base their evaluation mainly on the final
diploma issued, considering all the other documents attached to it only in a second
moment: therefore, it is fundamental to indicate all the elements related to the course
within a final diploma (see 4.2).

4.3.1 Joint Diploma Supplement
the Diploma supplement is a document used within the countries participating in
the Bologna process and it does not go without saying that all the systems and theforeign institutions which do not participate in this international process know or
use this instrument in their evaluation procedures: this is a fundamental point in theapproach to different higher education systems and it is also related to thedescription of the qualification elements (grades, credits, level, etc.).
In the case of more qualifications in the form of double or multiple degrees, it isrecommended to issue a single Diploma supplement that summarises all the62AWARDING pHAsE

elements of the joint course, indicating the national qualifications achieved, theparticipating institutions and all the elements useful to a correct evaluation of the
final qualifications.
At this point, it is necessary to analyse the different sections of a Diploma
supplement in order to identify the difficulties related to the issuing of a single joint
document.
1. Information identifying the holder of the qualification(s):In this section the only point that could be tricky is the indication of the Student
identification number or code (1.4). If we use different identification numbers
according to the institutions participating in the course, it will be necessary to report
all this indications by specifying the different higher education institutions:• University 1: student identification number XXX• University 2: student identification number YYY• University 3: student identification number ZZZ
2. Information identifying the qualification(s):certainly, this is the most important section, given that here there will be theindication concerning all the national qualifications corresponding to the joint
degree or related to the national degrees issued in the case of double or multiple
degrees. With reference to 2.1 - Name of qualifications and (if applicable) titles
conferred (in original languages), the Diploma supplement Explanatory Notes
adopted by the Lisbon Recognition convention committee (June 2007)4 state:"Give the full name of the qualification in the original language(s) as it is styled in
the original qualification e.g. Kandidat nauk, Maîtrise, Diplom, etc. The original
name of the qualifications may be transliterated into the alphabet or writing systemused for the language in which the Diploma Supplement is issued (e.g. Latincharacters for Supplements issued in English or Cyrillic for Supplements issued in
Russian). Indicate if the award confers any nationally accepted title on the holder
and what this title is e.g. Doctor, Ingénieur etc, and, if appropriate, a specificprofessional competence, such as “teacher of French”. Indicate if the title isprotected in law. If the qualification is a joint degree, this should be indicated."4

http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/doc/ds/ds_en.pdf

63

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 4

Official namesof national
degrees

therefore, at point 2.1 it is necessary to indicate all the official names of thequalification issued by the awarding institutions participating in the joint
programme, both in double or multiple degrees and joint degrees:
Joint Degree name (e.g. International Joint Master Degree in ...)• University name 1: national degree name 1 (e.g Laurea Magistrale in ...)• University name 2: national degree name 2 (e.g Máster Universitario en ...)• University name 3: national degree name 3 (e.g Mestrado em ...)At the point 2.3 Name and status of awarding institutions (in original languages)
it is necessary to indicate all the awarding institutions related to the previous
qualifications, by considering the following indications reported in the Explanatory
Notes:"Indicate the name of the institution awarding the qualification in the original
language. Where a degree is issued jointly by two or more institutions, the namesof the institutions issuing the joint degree should be indicated, with indication of
the institution at which the major part of the qualification has been obtained, if
applicable. The status of the institution refers above all to whether it has
successfully undergone a quality assurance and/or accreditation exercise orprocedure, and this should be clearly indicated. It may also be relevant to givethe profile of the institution. If the provider is transnational or borderless, this should
be clearly noted. As a (fictitious) example, this information could be given in thefollowing form:[Name of the institution] is a private non-university institution which has undergone
external quality assurance by agency X in [name of the country] in 2003 withsatisfactory results."
It is recommended to indicate the typology of accreditation/recognition of thehigher education institution or to provide the references for checking this statusthrough the indication of the official lists of recognised institutions provided bydifferent countries (see Annex 3).
If there are other institutions participating in the joint programme but they have notissued any qualification, it is recommended to insert them within the point 2.4 Nameand status of institutions administering studies (in original languages). In this part,
it is possible to indicate again the same awarding institution and those who
participated in the course, or to indicate all the consortium or network members
who organised it:

64AWARDING pHAsE

composition of the consortium:• University 1 (awarding institution)• University 2 (awarding institution)• University 3 (awarding institution)• University 4 (participating institution)• University 5 (participating institution)...
3. Information on the level of the qualification:
3.1 Level of qualification is useful to identify the level of the degrees issued, but it
will be necessary to indicate it through a single reference parameter, such as the
Bologna process or the EQf: for example “2nd cycle degrees according to the
Bologna process" or "level 7 EQf".
If we decide to indicate the levels according to the National Qualification
frameworks, it will be necessary to specify the country of reference with regard to
the national qualification issued.
concerning the Access requirements (3.3), it will be necessary to indicate thoseestablished jointly by the consortium.
4. Information on the contents and results gained:
With regard to the point 4.1 Mode of study, it is opportune to indicate how the
programme was undertaken (e.g. full-time, part-time, intermittent/sandwich, elearning, distance, including placements etc.) but also to specify that it is a joint
programme.
At the point 4.3 Programme details (e.g. modules or units studied), and theindividual grades/marks/credits obtained, we should insert the information of thejoint course which, being a single programme of study, will indicate the courses
attended, but it will be necessary to clearly indicate what parts of the qualification
have been earned at what institution.
concerning the other points (4.4 Grading scheme and, if available, grade
distribution guidance and 4.5 Overall classification of the qualification), it will benecessary to indicate the consortium for the students evaluation.

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 4

5. Information on the function of the qualification:

Access tofurther study

5.1 Access to further study could vary according to the national qualification
issued, therefore, in the case where all the qualifications give the access tothe same typologies of courses we could provide a generic indication (e.g.
"Access to phD courses" or "Access to 3rd cycle programmes according to
the Bologna process"), otherwise it will be necessary to indicate what
qualification gives access to what course within the national system:• National degree name 1A (e.g Laurea magistrale in ...): access to
National course name 1B• National degree name 2A (e.g máster Universitario en ...): access to
National course name 2B• National degree name 3A (e.g mestrado em ...): access to Nationalcourse name 3B
If one ore more of the national qualification, give access to a ‘regulated profession’in the countries of reference, then it is recommended to indicate this data at point
5.2 Professional status.
6. Additional information:
At point 6.1 Additional information it will be possible to insert more detailed
information about the joint programme, the consortium structure and all the course
elements, as indicated also in the Explanatory Notes: "If the qualification is a joint
or double/multiple degree, or if it was earned under a transnational or borderlesseducation arrangement, this should be noted here."

Information
sources66

At point 6.2 Further information sources, it will be useful to indicate any
further useful information sources and references where more details on
qualifications could be sought. Another information to be included is certainly
the consortium website and, in the case of an Erasmus mundus course, theEAcEA webpage related to this programme.
Indicating the National structures within the Erasmus mundus programme(in the case of an Erasmus mundus course), and the centres of the
ENIc/NARIc network (in the case of a country belonging to this network)
could be useful to who will evaluate the final qualifications, for this reason itis recommended to report this indication within this point (see Annex 1).

AWARDING pHAsE

7. Certification of the supplement:
In the parts related to the Signature (7.2) and the Official stamp or seal (7.4), it
is recommended to empower a single consortium institution (usually thecoordinator) to affix the signature of the legal representatives on behalf of theconsortium and all the institutions. In this case, unlike the joint diploma, it will bepossible to affix a single signature and stamp, but it is always recommended toindicate that it is affixed with the proxy of all the institutions partner.
8. Information on national higher education systems:
this is the trickiest point in the case of joint degrees or double/multiple degrees: isit necessary to indicate all the systems related to the national qualifications issued,
only one or any one of them?
In this case there are many solutions, but it is advisable to exclusively report
the charts of the national systems or the indication of the charts of the different
National Qualifications frameworks, in addition to the indication of thewebsites where this information can be found: in order not to weigh down
the document it is enough also to indicate only the official resources available
online describing the national system.

Information
on national
systems

4.3.2 Joint certificates and legalisation
If it is possible to issue exclusively double or multiple degrees and national Diploma
supplements, it is always recommended to produce a joint certification which
reports the joint programme features in a single document: this certification does
not claim to be official and does not replace the national diplomas or the Diploma
supplement, but it could be useful to students in order to present a single summary
document of the single course attended.
Besides this, because it is not official, the consortium itself will be able to produce
it without having to keep to any legal strictness of the different systems, which could
deny a modification within the national format of diplomas and Diploma
supplement.
If we consider the different official or non official joint certificates to be issued to
students (diplomas, Diploma supplement, transcript, etc.), we must bear in mind
that there is the possibility that they are presented to foreign institutions of any

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Chapter 4

system in the world, even after many years. therefore, we must bear in mind that,as it is requested in order to enter our courses, the foreign institutions will must verify
the authenticity of the documents presented.
How do we prove that a document is original?
this operation is developed through the ‘legalisation’ procedure: an officiallyappointed body in a given national system, will declare the signature affixed
on a given document (such as a diploma) corresponds to that of the legal
representative of the institution who actually awarded the qualification.

Legalisation of
diplomas

But at this point, if we consider a joint diploma or a joint Diploma supplement,
where there are more signatures corresponding to the legal representatives of theinstitutions which awarded the national qualifications, where should the document
be legalised?
this information must be clear first of all within the consortium organising the joint
course in order to avoid the student legalising the document more than once andthe national authorities to reject the legalisation for the presence of more signatures,part of which are unknown to the national system (those of the foreign institutions).
therefore, it is recommended to identify a single institution representing the others
in order to produce the legalisation of the documents, which usually occurs throughthe affixing of the Apostille5 on the degree or on the document. It is important to
notice that the Apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the
document, but it certifies the signature (and the capacity of who placed it) and thecorrectness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified. this meansthat the check of the accreditation or not of the institution that awarded a degree
will be done through the check of its status together with the national authority
qualified for the recognition and accreditation of the higher education institutions.
Issuing a legalised degree can be an advantage for students who will present it
abroad, given that many systems request this procedure with regard to thepossibility of access to recognition procedures.

5

68

Hague convention of 5 October 1961.

1
LIst Of ENIc-NARIc cENtREs
AND ERAsmUs mUNDUs
NAtIONAL stRUctUREs
INfORmAtION sOURcE:
ENIc-NARIc WEBsItE
OctOBER 2012

ANNEX 1
Austria
NARIC Centres
ENIC NARIC Austria
Federal Ministry for Science and Researchteinfaltstrasse 8, A-1014 WienÖsterreichphone: +43 1 531 20 5921
fax: +43 1 531 20 7890
E-mail: naric@bmwf.gv.at
Web: http://www.bmwf.gv.at/naric/

EM National Structures
OeAD-GmbH - Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in
Education and Research
Erasmus mundus National structure
Ebendorferstrasse 7
A-1010 Wien
phone: +43 1 53408 440
fax: +43 1 53408 499
E-mail: martina.friedrich@oead.at
Web: http://www.oead.at/erasmus-mundus

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Belgium
Flemish Community
NARIC Centres
NARIC-Vlaanderen
NARIC-Flanders
ministry of Education and training Agency for Quality Assurance in Education andtraining (AKOV)
Hendrik consciencegebouw toren c2
Koning Albert II-laan 15
B-1210 Brussels, Belgium
phone: +32 2 553 89 58
E-mail: naric@vlaanderen.be
Web: http://www.naric.be

EM National Structures
Vlaams Departement Onderwijs en Vorming
Koning Albert II-laan 15
B-1210 Brussel
phone: +32 2 553.98.70
fax: +32 2 553.98.80
E-mail: johan.geentjens@ond.vlaanderen.be
Web: http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=26225&navi=3030

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Belgium
French Community
NARIC Centres
NARIC de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
NARIC of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels
ministry of the federation Wallonia-Brussels
Directorate General for Non-compulsory Education and scientific Research
Rue A. Lavallée 1
B-1080 Brussels, Belgium
phone: +32 2 690 87 47
fax: +32 2 690 87 60
E-mail: equi.sup@cfwb.be
Web:http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=24808&navi=2087

EM National Structures
Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche scientifique dela Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles
Rue A. Lavallée 1
B-1080 Bruxelles
phone: +32 2 690 89 01
fax: +32 2 690 87 60
E-mail: christian.goethals@cfwb.be
Web: http://www.cfwb.be73

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

Belgium
German-speaking Community
NARIC Centres
Ministerium der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft Belgiens
Abteilung Unterricht, Ausbildung und Beschäftigung
Gospertstraße 14700 Eupen
phone: +32 87 596300
fax: +32 87 556475
E-mail: unterricht@dgov.be
Web: http://www.bildungsserver.be

EM National Structures
Agentur für Europäische Bildungsprogramme VoG
Gospertstraβe 1
B-4700 Eupen
phone: +32 87 596384
fax: +32 87 556474
E-mail: edgar.hungs@aebp.be
Web: http://www.dglive.be/agentur

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Bulgaria
NARIC CentresНационален център за информация и документация (НАЦИД)National center for Academic Recognition and mobility
National centre for Information and Documentation (NAcID)
52a "D-r G.m.Dimitrov" Blvd.
1125 sofia, BULGARIA
phone: +359-2-817-38-24
fax: +359-2-971-31-20
E-mail: naric@nacid.bg
Web: http://www.nacid.bg

EM National Structures
Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC)
15, Graf Ignatiev street, 3th floor
BG-1000 sofia
phone: +359 2 9155 086
fax: +359 2 9155 049
E-mail: sborisova@hrdc.bg
Web: http://www.hrdc.bg75

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

CyprusNARIC CentresΚυπριακό Συμβούλιο Αναγνώρισης Τίτλων Σπουδών
Cyprus Council for the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications
p.O. Box 12758,
2252 Nicosia, cyprus
phone: +357 22 402 472 ; +357 22 402 473
fax: +357 22 402 481
E-mail: info@kysats.ac.cy
Web: http://www.kysats.ac.cy

EM National Structures
Ministry of Education and Culture
Corner of Kimon and Thucydides
cY-1434 Nicosia
phone: +357 22800622
fax: +357 22427560
E-mail: dmartidou@moec.gov.cy
Web: http://www.moec.gov.cy

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Czech Republic
NARIC CentresStředisko pro ekvivalenci dokladů o vzdělání
Centre for Recognition of Documents on Education
U dvou srpů 2
150 00 praha 5czech Republic
phone: +420 257 011 335
fax: +420 257 531 672
E-mail: naric@csvs.cz
Website:http://www.naric.cz/
contact person:Štepánka skuhrová, Head of ENIc/NARIc

EM National Structures
National Agency for European Educational Programmes - Centre forInternational Services
Na poříčí 1035/4
cZ-praha 1
tel: +420 221 850 602
fax: +420 221 850 250
E-mail: tereza.babkova@naep.cz / mundus@naep.cz
Website: http://www.naep.cz/

77BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

Denmark
NARIC Centres
Styrelsen for Universiteter og Internationalisering
Danish Agency for Universities and Internationalisation
Bredgade 43
DK-1260 copenhagen K
Denmark
phone: +45 33 95 12 00
fax: +45 33 95 13 00
E-mail: anerkendelse@ui.dk
Web: http://en.iu.dk/recognition/

EM National Structures
The Danish Agency for International Education
ministry of science, technology and Innovation
fiolstraede 44
DK-1171 København K
phone: +45 3395 7059
fax: +45 3395 7001
E-mail: maf@iu.dk
Web: http://www.iu.dk

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Estonia
NARIC Centres
Akadeemilise Tunnustamise Infokeskus (Eesti ENIC/NARIC)
Estonian ENIC/NARIC
foundation Archimedes
L.Koidula 13A
10125 tallinn Estonia
phone: +372 697 9215
fax: +372 697 9226
E-mail: enic-naric@archimedes.ee
Web: http://www.archimedes.ee/enic/

EM National Structures
Centre for Educational Programmes
Foundation Archimedes
L. Koidula 13A
10125 tallinn
Estonia
phone: +372 699 6498
fax: +372 697 9226
E-mail: anastassia.knor@archimedes.ee
web: http://www.archimedes.ee/hkk

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Finland
NARIC Centres
Opetushallitus/Utbildningsstyrelsen
Finnish National Board of Education(ENIC-NARIC Finland)
p.O. Box 380
fI-00531 Helsinki
finlandphone: +358 29 533 1000
fax: + 358 29 533 1035
E-mail: recognition@oph.fi
Web: http://www.oph.fi/recognition

EM National Structures
Centre for International Mobility (CIMO)
Hakaniemenranta 6 (p.O. Box 343)
fI-00531 Helsinki
phone: +358 207 868 542
fax: +358 207 868 603
E-mail: mundus@cimo.fi
Web: http://www.cimo.fi

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FranceNARIC Centres
ENIC-NARIC France
CIEP
1 avenue Léon Journault
92318 sèvres cedex
francephone: +33 1 70 19 30 31
fax: +33 1 45 07 63 02
E-mail: enic-naric@ciep.fr
Web: http://www.ciep.fr/enic-naricfr/

EM National Structures
Agence Europe-Education-Formation France (Agence 2e2f)
25, Quai des chartronsf-33080 Bordeauxphone: +33 5 56 00 94 64
fax: +33 5 56 00 94 80
E-mail: erasmus.mundus@2e2f.fr
Web: http://www.2e2f.fr/erasmus-mundus.php

81BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

Germany
NARIC Centres
Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen im Sekretariat der
Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminister der Länder in der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland
Central Office for Foreign Education in the Secretariat of the Standing
Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs in theFederal Republic of Germany(ENIC-NARIC Centre)
p.O. Box 2240
D-53012 Bonn - Germany
phone: +49 228 501 352, -264
fax: +49 228 501 229
E-mail: zab@kmk.org
Web: http://www.kmk.org/zab.html

EM National Structures
Nationale Agentur für EU Hochschulzusammenarbeit
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst e. V.
Kennedyallee 50
D-53175 Bonnphone: +49 228 882 716
fax: +49 228 882 555
E-mail: mundus@daad.de
Web: http://www.eu.daad.de82

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GreeceNARIC Centres
D.O.A.T.A.P.
Hellenic NARIC
54 Ag.Konstantinou str.
GR-10437 Athens - Greece
phone: +30-210-5281000 (information)
fax: +30-210.523.95.25
E-mail: information_dep@doatap.gr
Web: http://www.doatap.gr

EM National Structures
Ministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs
Directorate for European Union, Section B – Programmes
37 Andrea papandreou str.
GR-151 80 maroussi, Athens
phone: +30 210 344 3183/195
fax: +30 210 344 2477
E-mail: euro2@minedu.gov.gr
Web: http://www.minedu.gov.gr

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Hungary
NARIC Centres
Magyar Ekvivalencia és Információs Központ, Oktatási Hivatal
Hungarian Equivalence and Information centre, Educational Authority
Budapest, szalay u. 10-14.
H-1055 - Hungary
phone: +36 1 374-2212
fax: +36 1 374-2492
E-mail: recognition@oh.gov.hu
Web: http://www.naric.hu

EM National Structures
Tempus Public Foundation
Lónyay utca 31 – H-1093 Budapest
postal address: pOB 508 – H-1438 Budapest
phone: +36 1 237 1300
fax: +36 1 239 1329
E-mail: erasmus.mundus@tpf.hu
Web: http://www.tka.hu; http://english.tpf.hu

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Iceland
NARIC Centres
Kennslusvid Haskola Islands
Office for Academic Affairs, University of Iceland, v. sudurgotu, 101
Reykjavik, Icelandphone: +354 525 43 60
fax: +354 525 43 17
E-mail: thordkri@hi.is
Web: http://www.naric-enic.hi.is

EM National Structures
University of Iceland – Office of International Education
Háskólatorg v. sudurgötu
Is-101 Reykjavik
phone: +354 525 4311
fax: +354 525 5850
E-mail: karitas@hi.is
Web: http://www.lme.is85

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

Ireland
NARIC Centres
National Qualifications Authority of Ireland/Údarás Náisiúnta Cáilíochtaína hÉireann
Qualifications Recognition at the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland
5th floor,
Jervis House, Jervis street,
Dublin 1 - Irelandphone: +353 1 887 1500
fax: +353 1 887 1595
E-mail: info@qualrec.ie
Web: http://www.qualrec.ie

EM National Structures
Higher Education Authority
Brooklawn House, shelbourne Road
IE-Dublin 4phone: +353 1 231 7100
fax: +353 1 231 7172
E-mail: gerry@hea.ie / eoconnell@hea.ie
Web: http://www.hea.ie

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Italy
NARIC Centres
NARIC Italia - CIMEA
Italian ENIC/NARIC centre
Viale Ventuno Aprile, 36
I – 00162 Rome, Italy
phone: +39 06 8632 1281
fax: +39 06 8632 2845
E-mail: cimea@fondazionerui.it
Web: http://www.cimea.it

EM National Structures
Punto nazionale di contatto Erasmus Mundus
Viale Ventuno Aprile, 36
I – 00162 Rome, Italy
phone: +39 06 8632 1281
fax: +39 06 8632 2845
E-mail: info@erasmusmundus.it
Web: http://www.erasmusmundus.it

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LatviaNARIC Centres
Akadēmiskās informācijas centrs (Latvijas ENIC/NARIC)
Academic Information centre (Latvian ENIc/NARIc)
post: Valnu iela 2
LV-1050 Riga - Latvia
Office: Brivibas iela 33, (4th floor), Riga
phone: +371 67225155
fax: +371 67221006
E-mail: aic@aic.lv
Web: http://www.aic.lv

EM National Structures
State Education Development Agency
1, Valnu street
LV-1050 Riga
phone: +371 6755 9493
fax: +371 6781 4344
E-mail: antra.mengele@viaa.gov.lv
Web: http://www.viaa.gov.lv/lat/88

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Liechtenstein
NARIC Centres
Informationsstelle für Anerkennungsfragen (NARIC Liechtenstein)National Academic Recognition Information centre (NARIc Liechtenstein)schulamt
Austrasse 79
postfach 684
fL – 9490 Vaduz
principality of Liechensteinphone: +423/ 236 67 58
fax: +423/ 236 67 71
E-mail: helmut.konrad@sa.llv.li
Web: http://www.sa.llv.li

EM National Structures
Agentur für Internationale Bildungsangelegenheiten (AIBA)
postplatz 2
postfach 22
LI-9494 schaanphone: +423 236 7220
fax: +423 236 7240
E-mail: info@aiba.llv.li
Web: www.aiba.llv.li

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Lithuania
NARIC Centres
Studijų kokybės vertinimo centras
centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (Lithuanian ENIc/NARIc)
A. Goštauto g. 12,
Lt-01108 Vilnius - Lithuania
phone: +370 5 210 47 72
fax: +370 5 213 25 53
E-mail: enicnaric@skvc.lt
Web: http://www.skvc.lt

EM National Structures
Education Exchanges Support Foundation
Gelezinio Vilko str.12
Lt-01112 Vilnius
phone: +370 5 261 0592
fax: +370 5 249 7137
E-mail: martynas.sukys@smpf.lt
Web: http://www.smpf.lt

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Luxembourg
NARIC Centres
Ministère de la Culture, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche
ministry of culture, Higher Education and Research
18-20, montée de la pétrusse
L-2912 Luxembourg
phone: +352 478-5139
fax: +352 26 29 60 37
E-mail: jean.tagliaferri@mcesr.etat.lu
Web: http://www.cedies.public.lu

EM National Structures
No contact point91

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Malta
NARIC Centres
National Commission for Further and Higher Education
casa Leoni, 476,
st Joseph High Road,
st Venera - malta
phone: +356 2754 0051
fax: +356 21 801411
E-mail: qric.malta@gov.mt
Web: http://www.mqc.gov.mt

EM National Structures
National Commission for Further and Higher Education
casa Leoni, 476,
st Joseph High Road,
st Venera - malta
phone: +356 2754 0051
fax: +356 21 801411
E-mail: james.j.calleja@gov.mt
Web: http://www.mqc.gov.mt

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The Netherlands
NARIC Centres
Afdeling Onderwijsvergelijking
International Recognition Department
Dutch ENIc/NARIc
Kortenaerkade 11, postbus 29 777
2502 Lt Den Haag, the Netherlands
phone: +31 70 426 0260
fax: +31 70 426 0395
E-mail: http://www.nuffic.nl/contact
Website: http://www.nuffic.nl

EM National Structures
Nufficpostbus 29777
NL-2502 Lt Den Haagphone: +31 704 260 237
fax: +31 704 260 259
contact: http://www.nuffic.nl/international-students/meet-us/contact-form (forgeneral questions from higher education institutions and students)
Website: http://www.nuffic.nl

93BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

NorwayNARIC Centres
Nasjonalt organ for kvalitet I utdanningen (NOKUT)
NOKUt – Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education
p.O. Box 1708 Vika
0121 Oslo, Norway
phone: +47 21 02 18 60
fax: +47 21 02 18 01
E-mail: postmottak@nokut.no
Web: http://www.nokut.no/no/Utenlandsk-utdanning/Generell-godkjenning/

EM National Structures
Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Higher Education(SIU)
pO Box 1093
N-5809 Bergenphone: +47 55 30 38 00
fax: +47 55 30 38 01
E-mail: mundus@siu.no
Web: http://www.siu.no94

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PolandNARIC Centres
Departament Nadzoru I Organizacji Szkolnictwa Wyższego,
Ministerstwo Nauki I Szkolnictwa Wyższego
Department of Higher Education Organization and supervision
ministry of science and Higher Education
ul. Wspólna 1/3
00-529 Warszawa - polandphone: +48 22 52 92 266; +48 22 52 92 526
fax: +48 22 628 35 34
E-mail: enic-naric@nauka.gov.pl
Web: http://www.nauka.gov.pl/higher-education/recognition-of-foreignqualifications/recognition-of-academic-qualifications/

EM National Structures
Foundation for the Development of Education System
ul. Mokotowska 43
pL-00-551 Warszawa
phone: +48 22 463 1249
fax: +48 22 622 3710
E-mail: mundus@frse.org.pl
Web: http://www.frse.org.pl95

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 1

Portugal
NARIC Centres
NARIC Portugal
Av. Duque d’Ávila, 137
1069-016 Lisboa, portugal
phone: +351 21 312 6000 or +351 21 312 6098
fax: +351 21 312 6020
E-mail: manuela.paiva@dges.mec.pt
Web: http://www.naricportugal.pt

EM National Structures
DGES/MEC – Direcção Geral do Ensino Superior
Av. Duque D’Avila 137
pt-1069-016 Lisboa
phone: +351 21 126 154
fax: +351 21 126 020
E-mail: leonor.santaclara@dges.mec.pt
Web: http://www.dges.mctes.pt/erasmusmundus

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Romania
NARIC Centres
Directia pentru Echivalarea si Recunoasterea Diplomelor (DERD)
Direction for Equivalence and Recognition of Diplomas
str. Gen. Berthelot 28-30
sector 1, 010168, Bucureşti - Romania
phone: +40 21 313 26 77, +40 21 405 63 12, +40 21 405 62 44
fax: +40 21 313 10 13
E-mail: gianina.chirazi@medu.edu.ro
Web: http://www.cnred.edu.ro

EM National Structures
National Agency for Community Programmes in the Field of Education
and Vocational Training
133, calea serban Voda, 3rd floor, 4th District
RO-040205 Bucharest
phone: +40 21 2010716
fax: +40 21 3121682
E-mail: valentina.neg@anpcdefp.ro
Web: http://www.llp-ro.ro97

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Slovak Republic
NARIC Centres
Stredisko na uznávanie dokladov o vzdelaní, Ministerstvo školstva
Slovenskej republiky
centre for the Recognition of Diplomas, ministry of Education of the slovak
Republic
stromová 1
813 30 Bratislava 1, sR
phone: +421 2 59 238 121
fax: +421 2 59 238 124
E-mail: naric@minedu.sk
Web: http://www.minedu.sk/sUDV/sudv.htm

EM National Structures
Slovak Academic Association for International Cooperation (SAAIC)
svoradova 1
sK-811 03 Bratislava
phone: +421 2 209 222 01
fax: +421 2 209 222 09
E-mail: mundus@saaic.sk
Web: http://www.saaic.sk

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Slovenia
NARIC Centres
Ministrstvo za izobraževanje, znanost, kulturo in šport, ENIC-NARIC
centerministry of Education, science, culture and sport, ENIc-NARIc centre
masarykova cesta 16,1000 Ljubljana - slovenia
phone: +386 1 478 46 00, +386 1 478 47 45
fax: +386 1 478 47 19
E-mail: enicnaric-slovenia.mvzt@gov.si
Web:http://www.mizks.gov.si/si/delovna_podrocja/direktorat_za_visoko_solstv
o_in_znanost/enicnaric_center/

EM National Structures
Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational
and Training Programmes (CMEPIUS)
Ob železnici 16
sI-1000 Ljubljana
phone: +386 1 620-94-61
fax: +386 1 620-94-51
E-mail: erasmus-mundus@cmepius.si
Web: http://www.cmepius.si

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Spain
NARIC Centres
NARIC España
spanish NARIc - NARIc España
ministerio de Educación, cultura y DeportesG de títulos y Reconocimiento de cualificaciones
paseo del prado, 28 - 28014 madrid
phone: 00 34 91 506 55 93
fax: 00 34 91 506 57 06
E-mail: naric@mecd.es
Web: http://www.educacion.gob.es/naric

EM National Structures
Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte
Dirección General de Política Universitaria
c/ Ramirez de Arellano, 29. 6ª planta sUR
E-28043 madrid
phone: +34 91 550 6727
E-mail: erasmus.mundus@mecd.es
Web: http://www.educacion.gob.es/educacion/
universidades/convocatorias/entidades/erasmus-mundus-2.html

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SwedenNARIC Centres
Högskoleverket (HSV)(ENIC-NARIC Sweden)
swedish National Agency for Higher Education
p.O. Box 7851
sE – 103 99 stockholm, sweden
Visiting address:
Luntmakargatan 13, stockholm
phone: + 46 8 5630 8500
fax: + 46 8 5630 8650
E-mail: hsv@hsv.se
Web: http://www.hsv.se

EM National Structures
Internationella programkontoret för utbildningsområdet – International
Programme Office for Education and Training
Kungsbroplan 3A, 2 tr (Box 220 07)
sE-104 22 stockholm
phone: +46 8 453 72 00
fax: +46 8 453 72 01
E-mail: rebecka.herdevall@programkontoret.se
Web: http://www.programkontoret.se101

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United Kingdom
NARIC Centres
The National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom
UK NARIc
Oriel House - Oriel Road
cheltenham - Gloucestershire
GL50 1Xp - United Kingdom
phone: +44 (0) 871 330 7033
fax: +44 (0) 871 330 7005
E-mail: ENIc_NARIc@naric.org.uk
Web: http://www.naric.org.uk

EM National Structures
British Council Wales
1 Kingsway
UK-cardiff cf10 3AQ
phone: +44 29 2092 4311
fax: +44 29 2023 7494
E-mail: erasmus@britishcouncil.org
Web: http://www.britishcouncil.org/erasmus-programmes-erasmus-mundus.htm

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ENIC Centres

Albania

Sektori i Njohjes se Diplomave dhe Bashkepunimit Nderkombetar
Division of Diploma Recognition & International cooperation
Durresi street nr 23 - tirana, Albania
phone: +355 4 2228347 fax: +355 4 2232002
E-mail: mgjika@mash.gov.al; senjod@mash.gov.al
Web: http://www.mash.gov.al/

AndorraDepartament d'Ensenyament Superior i Recerca
Department of Higher Education and Research - ministeri d'Educació i Joventut
Av. Rocafort, 21-23, AD600 sant Julià de Lòria - Andorra
phone: +376 743 300 fax: +376 743 313
E-mail: esuperior.gov@andorra.ad
Web: http://www.ensenyamentsuperior.ad

Armenia

National Information Centre of Academic Recognition and Mobility
27 Amiryan street - 0010 Yerevan - Armenia
phone: (+37410) 53 09 04; (+37491) 429 835 fax: (+37410) 53 09 04
E-mail: armENIc@cornet.am, g.harutyunyan@armenic.am
Web: http://www.armenic.am

Australia

AEI-NOOSR
Australian Education International - National Office of Overseas skills Recognition
GpO Box 1407 - canberra Act 2601 - Australia
phone: +61 3 5454 5245 fax: +61 2 6123 7892
E-mail: educational.noosr@deewr.gov.au
Web: http://www.aei.gov.au/services-And-Resources/pages/AEINOOsR.aspx

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Azerbaijan

Ministry of Education
Khatai av. 49 - Baku 370008, Azerbaijanphone: +99 412 963 414 fax: +99 412 963 490
E-mail: a_akhundov@yahoo.com
Web: http://www.min.edu.az

Belarus

Otdel Expertiz i Priznanii Dokumentov
foreign credentials Assessment Department (Belarusian ENIc)
moskovskaja str. 15 room 219 -220007, minsk, Belarus
phone: +375 17 228 13 13 fax: +375 17 222 83 15
E-mail: mitskevich@nihe.by, enicbelarus@gmail.com
Web: http://www.nihe.bsu.by

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Centar za informisanje/informiranje i priznavanje dokumenata iz
oblasti/područja visokog obrazovanja, Центар за информисање ипризнавање докумената из области високог образованја - centre forInformation and Recognition of Qualifications in Higher Education - sektor za
informiranje, saradnju/suradnju i priznavanje dokumenata - Сектор заинформисање, сарадњу и признавање докумената - sector for Information,
cooperation and Recognition of Documents
Kneza Branimira 12 - 88000 mostar - Bosnia and Herzegovina
phone: + 387 36 333 980 fax: + 387 36 333 991
E-mail: dzenan.omanovic@cip.gov.ba
Web: http://www.cip.gov.ba

CanadaCanadian Information Centre for International Credentials (CICIC)
centre d'information canadien sur les diplômes internationaux (cIcDI)
95 st. clair Avenue West, suite 1106 - toronto, Ontario, m4V 1N6 - canada
phone: +1-416-962-8100, poste/ext. 242
fax: +1-416-962-2800
E-mail: http://cicic.ca/691/ask-us.canada
Web: http://cicic.ca
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Croatia

Nacionalni ENIC/NARIC uredcroatian ENIc/NARIc Office
Donje svetice 38/5 - HR-10000 Zagreb, croatia
phone: +385 1 627 48 88 fax: +385 1 627 48 89
E-mail: enic@azvo.hr
Web: http://www.azvo.hr/enic/priznavanje-kvalifikacija

Georgiassip - ganaTlebis khariskhis ganviTarebis erovnuli centri
LEpL - National center for Educational Quality Enhancement
1, m. Aleksidze str. , 0193 tbilisi, Georgia
phone: +995 322 200 220 3543
E-mail: info@eqe.ge
Web: http://www.eqe.ge

Holy See

Congregatio de Institutione Catholica
congregation for catholic Educationpiazza pio XII, 3 - 00120 Vatican cityphone: +39 06 69 88 41 67 fax: +39 06 69 88 41 72
E-mail: enic@cec.va
Web: http://www.vatican.va/

IsraelGaf LeHa'arahat Tearim Academi'im miHu"l (Israeli ENIC)
Department for Evaluation of foreign Academic Degrees (Israeli ENIc) - ministryof Education
Lev Ram Building (room #110), 2 Devora Haneviah street - 91911 Jerusalem,
Israelphone: +972 2 560 2853 fax: +972 2 560 3876
E-mail: diplomot@education.gov.il
Web: http://www.education.gov.il

105

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Kazakhstan

The National Accreditation Center (NAC)
Office #504, Imanova st., 19, Astana 010000, Kazakhstanphone: +7 7172 787161 fax: +7 7172 787163
E-mail: nac.edu@bk.ru
Web: http://www.nac.edu.kz
National Information center on Academic Recognition and mobility
010000, Kazakhstan, Astana city, Orynbor street, 8phone: +7 7172 741378 fax: +7 7172 741362
E-mail: info@quality.edu.kz
Web: http://www.naric.kz/

Moldova

Information and Qualification Recognition Office
Department of International Relations and European Integration - ministry of
Education and Youth
Republic of moldova - chisinau, mD - 2033 - 1, piata marii Adunari Nationale
phone: (+373 22) 23 45 70 fax: (+373 22) 23 33 15
E-mail: international@edu.md
Web: http://www.edu.md/?lng=ro&menuItem=5&submenu0=5

MonacoCentre d'Information de l'Éducation Nationale
National Education Information center
18, avenue des castelans - 98000 mONAcO
phone: +377 98 98 87 74 fax: +377 98 98 41 74
E-mail: cien@monaco.mc
Web: http://service-public-particuliers.gouv.mc/Education/Enseignement/
Enseignement-superieur/centre-ENIc-monaco

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Montenegro

ENIC Centar Montenegro,Ministarstvo prosvjete i nauke
ENIc centre montenegro,ministry of Education and science
Rimski trg bb, 81000 podgorica - montenegro
phone: 00 382 20 405 301 fax: 00 382 20 405 334
E-mail: vanja_srdanovic@t-com.me, ranko.lazovic@gov.me
Web: http://www.mpin.gov.me/rubrike/enic-centar

New Zealand

New Zealand Qualifications Authority
mana tohu mātauranga o Aotearoa
pO Box 160, Wellington 6140 - New Zealandphone: +64-4-463 3000 fax: +64-4-802 3401
E-mail: pamela.hulston@nzqa.govt.nz
Web: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz

Russian FederationНациональный информационный центр по академическому
признанию и мобильности
National Information center for Academic Recognition and mobility
mikluho-maklaya st. 6, RUDN, 117593 moscow, Russia
phone: +07 495 958-2881, 955-0818 fax: +07 495 433-1511, 958-2881
E-mail: RussianENIc@sci.pfu.edu.ru
Web: http://www.russianenic.ru

San Marino

Dipartimento Pubblica Istruzione
contrada Omerelli 23 - 47890 Republic of san marino
phone: +378-0549882550 fax: +378-0549882301
E-mail: segr.pub-istr@omniway.sm

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SerbiaENIC Srbija - ENIC Serbia
ministry of Education and science of the Republic of serbia - sector for Higher
Education
Nemanjina 22, 11 000 Belgrade - 11000 Belgrade, serbia
phone: +381 11 363 11 71 fax: + 381 11 363 16 09
E-mail: enic@mpn.gov.rs
Web: http://www.mpn.gov.rs

Switzerland

Swiss ENIC-NARIC
Rectors’ conference of the swiss Universities
postfach 607 - cH – 3000 Bern 9phone: +41 31 306 60 32 fax: +41 31 306 60 20
E-mail: christine.gehrig@crus.ch
Web: http://www.enic.ch/

The former Yugoslav Republicof Macedonia
Informativen Centar - Ministerstvo za Obrazovanie i Nauka
Informative center - ministry of Education and scienceul. Dimitrie cuposki br. 9 - mK-1000 skopje, macedonia
phone: + 389 2 106-527 fax: + 389 2 3117-631
E-mail: nadezda.uzelac@mofk.gov.mk
Web: http://www.mon.gov.mk/

TurkeyAvrupa Birliği ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Birimi
European Union and International Relations Office - ENIc-NARIc turkey
Yükseköğretim Kurulu Başkanlığı (YÖK)
06539 Bilkent - Ankara - turkey
phone: +90 312 298 79 45 fax: +90 312 266 47 44
E-mail: naric@yok.gov.tr
Web: http://bologna.yok.gov.tr/?page=anasayfa&dil=en108

LIst Of ENIc-NARIc cENtREs & Em NAtIONAL stRUctUREs

UkraineMinistry of Education and Science, Youth and Sports of Ukraine
Information and Image centre
26/41 pavlovska street - 01135, Kyiv, Ukraine
phone: +38 044 486 18 23 fax: +38 044 486 23 29
E-mail: koba@enic.in.ua, sergienko@enic.in.ua
Web: http://www.mon.gov.ua/

USA

United States Network for Education Information (USNEI) / U.S. ENIC
U.s. Department of Education
400 maryland Avenue, sW - Washington, Dc 20202-8401
phone: +1 202-205-0704 fax: +1 202-401-2508
E-mail: rafael.nevarez@ed.gov
Web: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/edliteindex.html

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NAtIONALQUALIfIcAtIONs
fRAmEWORKs
INfORmAtION sOURcE:
ENIc-NARIc AND EHEA WEBsItEs
OctOBER 2012

ANNEX 2
Andorrahttp://www.ensenyamentsuperior.ad/images/stories/Documents/mAtEs%20En
glish%20Version.pdf (English)

Australia
http://www.aqf.edu.au (English)

Belgium• flemish community

http://nvao.com/nqf-vl (English)• french community

http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=25784&navi=2760 (french)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://www.enic-naric.net/documents/BA/BiH_Qf_2007_06_05_eng_final.pdf(English)111

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Canadahttp://www.cicic.ca/714/qualifications-frameworks.canada (English)
http://www.cicic.ca/715/cadres-de-qualifications.canada (french)
Ontario Qualifications framework.

http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/postsec/oqf/index.html (English)
http://www.tcu.gov.on.ca/epep/programs/oqf/index.html (french)

Denmark
http://en.iu.dk/transparency/qualifications-frameworks (English)

Estonia
http://www2.archimedes.ee/enic/index.php?leht=204&lng=2 (English)

Ireland
http://www.nfq.ie/nfq/en/ (English)

Italy
http://www.quadrodeititoli.it/Index.aspx?IDL=2 (English)Malta
http://www.mqc.gov.mt/malta-qualifications-framework (English)

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NAtIONAL QUALIfIcAtIONs fRAmEWORKs

The Netherlands
http://nvao.com/nqf-nl (English)

New Zealand
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/nzqf/ (English)

Portugal
http://www.dges.mctes.pt/NR/rdonlyres/90DBE647-5cB6-4846-B88f101180D9E425/5414/fHEQcommitteeReportfinal30mAIO2012.pdf (English)

Slovenia
http://www.nok.si/data/files/68_file_path.pdf (English)

Spain
http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2011/08/03/pdfs/BOE-A-2011-13317.pdf

Swedenhttp://www.hsv.se/download/18.7433f8012f7262642c80002636/12-520210-national-qualifications-framework.pdf (English)

Switzerland
http://www.crus.ch/information-programme/qualifications-framework-nqfchhs.html?no_cache=1&L=2 (English)

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Turkeyhttp://tyyc.yok.gov.tr (English)

United Kingdom
http://www.uknec.org.uk/documents/ds_chart.pdf (English)
scottish credit and Qualification framework.

http://www.scqf.org.uk (English)

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REcOGNIsED HIGHEREDUcAtION INstItUtIONs
INfORmAtION sOURcE:
ENIc-NARIc WEBsItE
OctOBER 2012

ANNEX 3
Albania
List of public HED institutions.

http://www.mash.gov.al/faqe.php?id1=1&id2=7&id3=25&lang=en (Albanianand English)
private Higher Education.

http://www.mash.gov.al/faqe.php?id1=1&id2=155&id3=138&lang=en(Albanian and English)

Andorrahttp://www.uda.ad - Universitat d'Andorra
http://www.udv.ad - Universitat de les Valls
http://www.uols.org - Universitat Oberta la salle
http://www.xena.ad/lcf/index.html - Lycée comte de foix

Armeniastate universities.

http://armenic.am/?laid=1&com=module&module=menu&id=122 (English)
private accredited universities and programmes.

http://armenic.am/?laid=1&com=module&module=menu&id=123 (English)

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Australia
the Australian Qualifications framework (AQf) Register is the national list of registered institutionsin the school, VEt and Higher Education sectors and their accredited AQf qualifications. fromJanuary 2012 registered higher education institutions and their accredited qualifications areavailable at: http://www.teqsa.gov.au

http://www.aqf.edu.au/RegisterAccreditation/AQfRegister/tabid/174/Default.aspx (English)

Austria
postsekundäre Bildungseinrichtungen / Institutions of post-secondary education.

http://www.bmwf.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/wissenschaft/hochschulwesen/p
ostsek_bildungseinrichtungen.pdf (English and German)

Azerbaijan
List of universities.

http://www.edu.gov.az/view.php?lang=en&menu=339&id=1696 (English)

Belarusstate-owned institutions.

http://edu.gov.by/en/main.aspx?guid=1701 (English)
privately-owned institutions.

http://edu.gov.by/en/main.aspx?guid=2391 (English)

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Belgium•Flemish Community
the Higher Education Register (Hogeronderwijsregister) is a legal register that contains all theaccredited higher education programmes in flanders, Belgium offered at registered higher
education institutions, included non-statutory (private) ones. the Higher Education Register presents
information in three ways:
1. Information about programmes and institutions
2. Information about studying in flanders
3. Information about the higher education system

http://www.hogeronderwijsregister.be/home (Dutch)
http://www.highereducation.be/home (English)• French Community
the website provides a directory of higher education institutions recognised and/or subsidised by
the ministry of the federation Wallonia-Brussels. search can be done by type of institutions orprogrammes.

http://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=23836&navi=149 (french)• German-speaking Community'Autonome Hochschule in der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft'.

http://www.ahs-dg.be/desktopdefault.aspx (German)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://cip.gov.ba/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=66&Itemid=7
6&lang=en (English)

Bulgaria
http://www.neaa.government.bg/en/institutions (English)
http://www.minedu.government.bg/left_menu/registers/vishe/registar_eng.html(English)119BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 3

http://www.neaa.government.bg/bg/institutions (Bulgarian)
http://www.minedu.government.bg/left_menu/registers/vishe/registar.html(Bulgarian)CanadaDirectory of Universities, colleges and schools in the provinces and territories of canada

http://www.cicic.ca/664/directory-of-universities-colleges-andschools.canada (English)
http://www.cicic.ca/665/repertoire-des-universites-colleges-etecoles.canada (french)

Croatia
http://mozvag.srce.hr/preglednik/pregled/en/nositelj/odabir.html (English)
http://mozvag.srce.hr/preglednik/pregled/hr/nositelj/odabir.html.

Cyprushttp://www.highereducation.ac.cy/en/ (English)

Czech Republic
http://www.naric.cz/docs/czech_HEI-list.pdf (English)

Denmark
http://en.iu.dk/education-in-denmark/danish-education-institutions (English)

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Estonia
http://www2.archimedes.ee/enic/index.php?leht=69&lng=2 (English)

Finland
List of recognised higher education institutions (universities and polytechnics).

http://www.minedu.fi/Opm/Koulutus/yliopistokoulutus/yliopistot/?lang=en(English)http://www.minedu.fi/Opm/Koulutus/ammattikorkeakoulutus/ammattikorkeakoul
ut/?lang=en (English)

FranceList of french universities.

http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid20269/liste-des-universitesfrancaises.html (french)
List of recognised higher education institutions authorised to award a 'diplôme visé' and a 'gradede master'.

http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/pid20536/bulletinofficiel.html?cid_bo=59279&cbo=1<http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/pid20536/bulletinofficiel.html?cid_bo=59279&amp;cbo=1> (french)
List of engineering schools habilitated to award 'titre d'ingénieur diplômé'.

http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid20256/liste-des-ecoles-dingenieurs.html<http://www.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/cid20256/liste-des-ecoles-dingenieurs.html> (Journal officiel, Arrêté du 24 février 2011 in french)

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Georgia
http://eqe.ge/eng/register/heis (English)

Germany
http://www.hochschulkompass.de/en/higher-education-institutions/search-for-ahigher-education-institution.html (English)

Greecehttp://www.doatap.gr/en/rechei.php (English)

Hungary
Recognised HED institutions.

http://www.oh.gov.hu/hatosagi_nyilvantartasok/felsooktatasi_intezmenyek/alla
mi_elismeressel (Hungarian)
List of Non-Hungarian HED institutions having a Branch campus in Hungary.

http://www.oh.gov.hu/hatosagi-nyilvantartasok/kulfoldi-felsooktatasi/magyarkoztarsasag-100921 (Hungarian)

Iceland
http://eng.menntamalaraduneyti.is/subjects/institutions/

Ireland
http://www.qualificationsrecognition.ie/irish-education-and-training-providers.html(English)122

REcOGNIsED HIGHER EDUcAtION INstItUtIONs

Israelhttp://che.org.il/en/ (English)

Italy
http://www.universitaly.it/index.php/maps (English)

Kazakhstan
http://www.edu.gov.kz/en/activity/higher_and_postgraduate_education/(English)

Latviahttp://www.aiknc.lv/en/list.php (English)

Liechtenstein
http://www.llv.li/amtsstellen/llv-sa-amtsgeschaefte-schularten/llv-saamtsgeschaefte-schularten tertiaere_stufe.htm (German)

Lithuania
http://www.aikos.smm.lt/aikos/institutions.htm (English)

Luxembourg
http://wwwen.uni.lu (English)

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Malta
http://gov.mt/en/services-And-Information/Business Areas/Education%20and%
20Learning/pages/Higher-and-further-Education.aspx (English)
https://www.education.gov.mt/page.aspx?pageid=10&depid=2 (English)

Moldova
http://www.edu.md/en/inv-superior/ (Romanian)Monacohttp://service-public-particuliers.gouv.mc/Education/Enseignement/Enseignementsuperieur/L-enseignement-superieur-a-monaco (french)Montenegro
http://www.mps.gov.me/rubrike/enic-centar/86623/18576.html (montenegrin)

The Netherlands
Research universities.

http://www.vsnu.nl/Universities/Research-universities.htm (English)
Universities of Applied sciences (HBO-Raad).

http://www.hbo-raad.nl/english (English)124

REcOgNISEd HIgHER EdUcATION INSTITUTIONSNew Zealand
http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/nzqf/ (English)

Norwayhttp://www.nokut.no/en/NOKUT-Knowledge/Surveys-anddatabases/Accredited-Institutions/ (English)

Polandhttp://www.nauka.gov.pl/higher-education/higher-education-institutions/ (English)

Portugal
http://www.dges.mec.pt/en/pages/naric_pages/higher_education/higher_education_institutions.html (English)

Romania
http://www.edu.ro/index.php/articles/c108/ (Romanian)Russian Federation
http://www.russianenic.ru/english/cred/index.html (English)

San Marino
http://www.unirsm.sm/en/university-republic-san-marino_126.htm (English)

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Serbiahttp://www.mpn.gov.rs/sajt/ustanove-visoke.php (English)

Slovak Republic
Accredited HED institutions.

http://www.portalvs.sk/en/informacie-o-vysokych-skolach (English)
List of recognised HED institutions.

http://www.minedu.sk/index.php?lang=sk&rootId=414 (slovak)

Slovenia
http://www.mizks.gov.si/si/delovna_podrocja/direktorat_za_visoko_solstvo_in_
znanost/sektor_za_visoko_solstvo/razvid_visokosolskih_zavodov/ (slovene)

Spain
http://www.educacion.gob.es/educacion/universidades/educacion-superioruniversitaria/que-estudiar-donde/universidades-espanolas.html
https://www.educacion.gob.es/ruct/home (spanish)
https://www.educacion.gob.es/centros/home.do (spanish)

Swedenhttp://www.hsv.se/highereducationinsweden/highereducationinstitutionsheis/listof
highereducationinstitutions.4.28afa2dc11bdcdc557480002332.html

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Switzerland
http://www.crus.ch/index.php?id=1825&L=2 (English)

Turkeyhttp://www.yok.gov.tr/en/content/view/527/222/ (English)

United Kingdom
http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/recognised-uk-degrees (English)

USA
Registry of accredited programmes and institutions:• U.s. Department of Education’s 'Database of Accredited postsecondary Institutions andprograms'.

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation (English)• council for Higher Education Accreditation’s 'Database of Institutions and programs Accreditedby Recognized United states Accrediting Organizations'.

http://www.chea.org/search/ (English)

127

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REGIstERs Of HIGHEREDUcAtION pROGRAmmEs
INfORmAtION sOURcE:
ENIc-NARIc NEtWORKOctOBER 2012

ANNEX 4
Albania
List of public institutions (public Agency of Accreditation for Higher Education).

www.albranking.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=72&Itemid=99 (Albanian)
List of private institutions (public Agency of Accreditation for Higher Education).

www.albranking.com/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12
6&Itemid=100 (Albanian)AndorraList of public institutions (public Agency of Accreditation for Higher Education).

www.bopa.ad (catalan)
List of private institutions (public Agency of Accreditation for Higher Education).

http://www.ensenyamentsuperior.ad (catalan)129

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Armenia
Higher Education in Armenia.

http://studyinarmenia.org/hea (English)
state universities.

http://armenic.am/?laid=1&com=module&module=menu&id=122 (English)
private accredited universities and programmes.

http://armenic.am/?laid=1&com=module&module=menu&id=123 (English)

Australia
the Australian Qualifications framework (AQf) Register is the national list of registered institutionsin the school, VEt and Higher Education sectors and their accredited AQf qualifications. fromJanuary 2012 registered higher education institutions and their accredited qualifications areavailable at: http://www.teqsa.gov.au

http://www.aqf.edu.au/RegisterAccreditation/AQfRegister/tabid/174/Default.aspx (English)

Austria
http://www.bmwf.gv.at/startseite/studierende/studieren_in_oesterreich/oesterr_hochschulwesen/studien_und_akademische_grade/

Belarus
National classifier “specialties and Qualifications” that contains all specialities provided byeducational institutions of Belarus.

http://edubelarus.info/uploads/base/ОКРБ%20011-2009.pdf (Russian)

130

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Belgium•Flemish Community
the Higher Education Register is a legal register that contains all the accredited higher education
programmes in flanders, Belgium. All Bachelor and master's programmes need accreditation inorder to be recognised as higher education programmes and to be able to award recognised
degrees. Accredited degree programmes meet, according to the NVAO (the independent
accreditation organisation of the Netherlands and flanders, Belgium) predefined quality standards.

http://www.hogeronderwijsregister.be/home (Dutch)
http://www.highereducation.be/home (English)• French Community
A repertoire of the studies programmes offered by HEIs of the federation Wallonia-Brussels (under
the link Annuaires). theses databases are mainly addressed to the students coming from thefederation Wallonia-Brussels.

http://www.enseignement.be (french)
this search engine including maps localization is managed by the ministry.

http://www.go4sup.be (french)
the database focusing on foreign students. this is administered by the Wallonia-Brussels campus
agency (the Information and promotion Agency of the federation Wallonia-Brussels).

http://www.studyinbelgium.be (English)• German-speaking Community
the 'Autonome Hochschule in der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft' offers four Bachelor
programmes: Bachelor Kindergärtner/Kindergärtnerin; Bachelor primarlehrer/primarlehrerin;
Bachelor Krankenpfleger/Krankenpflegerin and Bachelor in accounting.

http://www.ahs-dg.be/desktopdefault.aspx (German)

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Bosnia and Herzegovina
http://hea.gov.ba/kvalitet/evidencija_vsu/Lista.aspx (English)

Bulgaria
the current accreditation in the Bulgarian HE system is available at the site of the National
Evaluation and Accreditation Agency.
the distinction is at three levels: accredited HEIs, accredited professional fields (including all majors)
and individually accredited majors of the Regulated professions List.

http://www.neaa.government.bg/en (English)
http://www.neaa.government.bg/bg/institutions (Bulgarian)
Alternative link at the site of the ministry

http://www.minedu.government.bg/left_menu/registers/vishe/registar_eng.html(English)http://www.minedu.government.bg/left_menu/registers/vishe/registar.html(Bulgarian)CanadaDirectory of Universities, colleges and schools in the provinces and territories of canada
Répertoire des universités, collèges et écoles des provinces et territoires du canada.

http://www.cicic.ca/422/directory-of-universities-colleges-and-schools-incanada.canada (English)
http://www.cicic.ca/665/repertoire-des-universites-colleges-et-ecoles-ducanada.canada (french)

132

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Croatia
It contains all accredited Higher Education programmes in croatia.

http://mozvag.srce.hr/preglednik/pregled/hr/pocetna/index.html (croatian)
http://mozvag.srce.hr/preglednik/pregled/en/pocetna/index.html (English)

Cypruscyprus Higher Education institutions.

http://www.highereducation.ac.cy/en/index.html (English)
Approved programmes of private universities.

http://www.ecpu.ac.cy/en/approved_programmes.html (English)
Evaluated - accredited programmes of study by college.

http://www.moec.gov.cy/sekap/pdf/evaluation_college.pdf (English)

Czech Republic
List of accredited study programmes and fields of study.

http://www.msmt.cz/file/15150/ (czech)

Denmark
http://www.ug.dk (Danish)study in Denmark provides a list of English speaking programmes.

http://studyindenmark.dk/study-in-denmark/study-options (English)

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Estonia
Estonian Education Information system (Eesti Hariduse Infosüsteem) for information about study
programmes.

https://enda.ehis.ee/avalik/avalik/oppekava/OppekavaOtsi.faces
List of accredited study programme groups is also available on the website of Estonian
ENIc/NARIc.

http://www.archimedes.ee/enic/file/Oppekavagrupid_03112011.pdf (Estonianand English)

Finlandthe list of official degree titles (in finnish, swedish and English) for university and polytechnic
education can be found from the finnish database for legislative information.
• University degree titles, Decree 794/2004 and its amendments:

http://www.finlex.fi/data/sdliite/liite/4888.pdf
and http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/alkup/2012/20120421• polytechnics, Decree 352/2003:

http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2003/20030352

FranceRépertoire national des qualifications professionnelles which includes all recognised(vocational/professional) degrees and diplomas in france.

http://www.cncp.gouv.fr/gcp/pages/Accueil35701/Repertoire (french)

134

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Germany
the database of the Rector's conference for Higher Education.

http://www.hochschulkompass.de/en.html (English)
the website of the council of Accreditation: additional data about accredited study programs at
professional

academies(Berufsakademien)

andUniversities

for

civil

service(Verwaltungshochschulen).

http://www.akkreditierungsrat.de/index.php?id=4&L=0 (German and English)

GreeceHellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (currently evaluates Higher Educational
Institutions / schools / Departments).

http://www.hqaa.gr/
ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, culture and sports/ Directorate of postgraduate studies
and Research (Approval of postgraduate programs).

http://www.minedu.gov.gr/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&i
d=54&Itemid=461&lang=el<http://www.minedu.gov.gr/index.php?option=com_k2&amp;view=item&amp;layout=item&amp;id=54&amp;Itemid=461&amp;lang=el>

Hungary
List of recognised Hungarian HED institutions and programmes.

http://www.felvi.hu/felveteli/egyetemek_foiskolak (Hungarian)135

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 4

Ireland
Ireland has a national learner’s database titled Qualifax, which contains information on all
education and training programmes, including those offered by Higher Education Institutions. thesearch function can be used to identify courses by sector (e.g. Higher Education), discipline,
attendance options and location.

http://www.qualifax.ie (English)

Italy
Database of Italian HED courses.

http://www.universitaly.it/index.php/public/cercacorsi (English and Italian)
Database of Italian HED courses taught in English.

http://www.universitaly.it/index.php/public/cercacorsiInglese (English)
Database of joint programmes with Italian and foreign institutions.

http://www.cimea.it/ricerca.aspx (English)

Latviahttp://www.aiknc.lv/en/prog_grads.php (English)

Liechtenstein
http://www.liechtenstein.li/index.php?id=9&L=1 (German and English)

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Lithuania
the state Register of Accredited Institutions (all education levels, all types), accredited programs
and qualifications, both HED and VEt).

http://www.aikos.smm.lt (Lithuanian and English)

Malta
Qualifications database.

http://qualificationsdatabase.mqc.gov.mt (English)

Monacohttp://spp.gouv.mc/Education/Enseignement/Enseignement-superieur/Lenseignement-superieur-a-monaco (french)Montenegro
http://www.mps.gov.me/rubrike/enic-centar/86623/18576.html (montenegrin)

The Netherlands
http://www.ib-groep.nl/zakelijk/ho/croho/croho.asp (Dutch)
Dutch and flemish professional orientated and academic Higher Education programmes assessedby NVAO.

http://nvao.com (English)

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New Zealand
the New Zealand Qualifications framework (which holds all accredited courses available in the
country).

http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/nzqf/ (English)

Norwaythe New Zealand Qualifications framework (which holds all accredited courses available in the
country).

http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/nzqf/ (English)

PolandList of recognised HED institutions.

http://www.nauka.gov.pl/higher-education/higher-education-institutions/ (English)

Portugal
http://www.dges.mctes.pt/DGEs/pt/Ofertaformativa/cursosconferentesDeGra
u/cursos+conferentes+de+Grau.htm (portuguese)Romania
http://www.rncis.ro/portal/page?_pageid=54,1&_dad=portal&_schema=pORt
AL (English)

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Russian Federation
Russian ENIc/NARIc website.

http://www.russianenic.ru/english/index.html (English)
Accredited University programmes.

http://abitur.nica.ru/ (Russian)

SerbiaRegister of Higher Education Institutions and programmes.

http://www.kapk.org (serbian)
http://www.mpn.gov.rs (serbian)Slovak Republic
General information on the education system and institutions.

http://www.portalvs.sk/en/ (English)
List of accredited study fields.

http://www.portalvs.sk/en/studijne-odbory (English)

Slovenia
Recognised public HED institutions and recognised study programmes.

http://www.mvzt.gov.si/fileadmin/mvzt.gov.si/pageuploads/doc/dokumenti_vis
okosolstvo/razvid_VsZ/sEZNAm_JAVNIH_ZAVODOV_IN_pROG_-25-8-11OBJAVA.xls (slovene)

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Recognised private HED institutions and recognised study programmes.

http://www.mvzt.gov.si/fileadmin/mvzt.gov.si/pageuploads/doc/dokumenti_vis
okosolstvo/razvid_VsZ/sEZNAm_ZAsEBNIH_Vs_ZAVODOV_-25-8-2011OBJAVA.xls (slovene)

Spain
the spanish online Register of Universities, centres and Degrees (Registro de Universidades,
centros y títulos - RUct).

https://www.educacion.gob.es/ruct/home (spanish)
the spanish Register of Non-University Educational centres (Registro Estatal de centros Docentes
no Universitarios - RcD).

https://www.educacion.gob.es/centros/home.do (spanish)

Sweden
List of 'Degree awarding powers'.

http://www.hsv.se/qualityassurance/degreeawardingpowers.4.28afa2dc11bdc
dc557480001581.html (English)
the complete list of programmes and major subjects for swedish students. the information is
objective and provided by the swedish National Agency for Higher Education.

http://jamforutbildning.studera.nu (swedish)the swedish Institute provides information to foreign students.

http://www.studyinsweden.se (English)

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REGIstERs Of HIGHER EDUcAtION pROGRAmmEs

Switzerland
Database for the university qualifications.

http://www.uni-programme.ch/crus-sprdb-client/searchDetail.jsf (German, English,
french, Italian)Turkeyhttp://www.osym.gov.tr/belge/1-13589/2012-osys-yuksekogretim-programlarive-kontenjanlari-ki-.html (turkish)

United Kingdom
List of all the Recognised Bodies with degree awarding powers in the UK.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/recognised-uk-degrees/recognisedbodies (English)
List of the most up-to-date information on all the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (aswell as English language courses, pre-degree/foundation programmes).

http://www.educationuk.org (English)

USA
Registry of accredited programmes and institutions:• U.s. Department of Education’s 'Database of Accredited postsecondary Institutions and programs'.

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation (English)• council for Higher Education Accreditation’s 'Database of Institutions and programs Accreditedby Recognized United states Accrediting Organizations'.

http://www.chea.org/search/ (English)

141

5
QUALItY
AssURANcE AGENcIEs
INfORmAtION sOURcE:
ENIc-NARIc WEBsItE
OctOBER 2012

ANNEX 5
AndorraAgència de qualitat de l'ensenyament superior d'Andorra (AQUA)

http://www.ensenyamentsuperior.ad/index.php?option=com_content&view=artic
le&id=39&Itemid=37

Armenia
National center for professional Education Quality Assurance foundation (ANQA)

http://www.anqa.am

Australia
tertiary Education Quality and standards Agency (tEQsA)

http://www.teqsa.gov.au

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Austria
Austrian Agency for Quality Assurance (AQA)

http://www.aqa.ac.at

Belgium• Flemish Community
Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and flanders (NVAO)

http://nvao.com• French Community
the Agency for the quality evaluation of higher education (AEQEs)

http://www.aeqes.beBosnia and Herzegovina
Agency for Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance

http://hea.gov.ba

Bulgaria
National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency

http://www.neaa.government.bg

CanadaQuality Assurance in Education in canada

http://www.cicic.ca/420/quality-assurance-in-canada.canada
http://www.cicic.ca/373/assurance-qualite-en-education.canada

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QUALItY AssURANcE AGENcIEs

Croatia
Agency for science and Higher Education (AsHE)

http://www.azvo.hr

Czech Republic
Accreditation commission

http://www.msmt.cz/areas-of-work/akreditacni-komise

Denmark
AcE Denmark

http://acedenmark.eu
Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA)

http://english.eva.dk

Estonia
Estonian Higher Education Quality Agency (EKKA)

http://ekka.archimedes.ee
http://ekka.archimedes.ee/en

Finlandfinnish Higher Education Evaluation council (fINHEEc)

http://www.finheec.fi

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FranceAgence d'Evaluation de la Recherche et de l'Enseignement supérieur (AEREs)

http://www.aeres-evaluation.fr (English and french)

Georgia
National center for Educational Quality Enhancement (EQE)

http://eqe.ge

Germany
German Accreditation council

http://www.akkreditierungsrat.de

Holy See
Holy see’s Agency for the Evaluation and promotion of Quality in Ecclesiastical Universities and faculties (AVEpRO)

http://www.avepro.va

Hungary
Hungarian Accreditation committee (HAc)

http://www.mab.hu/joomla/index.php?lang=en

Italy
National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes (ANVUR)

http://www.anvur.org

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QUALItY AssURANcE AGENcIEs

Kazakhstan
National Accreditation center (NAc)

http://www.nac.edu.kz

LatviaHigher Education Quality Evaluation centre (AIKNc)

http://www.aiknc.lv

Lithuania
centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (sKVc)

http://www.skvc.lt

Malta
National commission for further and Higher Education

http://www.mqc.gov.mt

Montenegro
Quality Assurance center (QAs)

http://www.qas.ac.me

The Netherlands
Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and flanders (NVAO)

http://nvao.com

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New Zealand
New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA)

http://www.nzqa.govt.nz

NorwayNorwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUt)

http://www.nokut.no

Portugal
Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3Es)

http://www.a3es.pt/en

Russian Federation
federal service for supervision in Education and science

http://www.obrnadzor.gov.ru

Serbiacommission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance (KApK)

http://www.kapk.org

Slovenia
slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

http://test.nakvis.si

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QUALItY AssURANcE AGENcIEs

Spain
National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANEcA)

http://www.aneca.es

Swedenswedish National Agency for Higher Education

http://www.hsv.se

Switzerland
swiss center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education (OAQ)

http://www.oaq.ch

United Kingdom
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)

http://www.qaa.ac.uk

United Statescouncil for Higher Education Accreditation (cHEA) - Recognised Accreditation Organisations

http://www.chea.org/pdf/cHEA_UsDE_AllAccred.pdf

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6cAtALOGUE Of pROJEcts
ON JOINt pROGRAmmEs

ANNEX 6
Title
European Area of Recognition - EAR
Description
the project is co-funded by the Lifelong Learning programme and the different
ENIcs and NARIcs that are involved in this project.
the main outcome of this project is the EAR recognition manual, a practical manualcontaining the standards and guidelines on all aspects of the internationalrecognition of qualifications.
the aim of the project has been to tackle the current differences in which the criteriaof the Lisbon Recognition convention (LRc) are applied by the ENIcs and NARIcs,
and which are an obstacle to student mobility.
to improve this situation the EAR project aimed to make a bridge from theory (theLRc criteria) to practice, making use of the LRc criteria, recommendations andstudies on recognition from the last decades. the result has been the above
mentioned EAR recognition manual.
the Bologna follow-Up Group Working Group on Recognition which was installed
two years ago (2010) has strong links with the EAR project team, and strongly
advocates the use of the EAR manual as an important new recognition tool.
the main outcome of the project is the European Area of Recognition manual practical guidelines for fair recognition of qualifications, a practical manualcontaining standards and guidelines on all aspects of the international recognitionof qualifications.
the manual is primarily meant for the recognition offices in the European region,
to improve and streamline recognition practice.

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the manual consists of sixteen chapters with topics such as substantial differences,qualification frameworks, learning outcomes and accreditation.
It includes flow-charts, recommendations, practical examples and useful link. It also
contains a schematic outline of the recommended procedure for the assessment offoreign qualifications, a glossary, an overview of relevant publications and sources,
and an index. the Bologna follow-Up Working Group on Recognition strongly
advocates the use of the EAR manual as an important new recognition tool.

Website:http://www.eurorecognition.eu

Partners:
NUffIc (coordinator) - NL; UK NARIc; NARIc france; NARIc poland; NARIc
czech Republic; NARIc Denmark; NARIc flanders; NARIc Lithuania.

Title
INTER-HED: The Internationalisation of the Higher
Education - An on-line training course
Description
the aim of the INtER-HED project is to create a training course targeted at theadministrative staff who are interested in managing international programmes andprojects and in collecting information about the Higher Education systems andinternationalisation policies, with focus on Erasmus mundus.
the contents of the course will be published on-line and will be made available foreveryone, applying creative commons Licenses for copyrighted material.
the two on-line editions of the course will last 9 months each and will end with aface-to-face day.
since the course is targeted at the administrative departments and is aimed atproviding professional guidance, it will be administered on-line and will analysereal cases, with reference to the different models of Higher Education and to thedifferent management methods of joint courses. Each course unit will foresee
practical exercises. course structure:• module 1 - Understanding Higher Education systems
characteristics of HED systems
HED institutions: university and non-university sector
Diplomas and degrees: qualifications frameworks

152

cAtALOGUE Of pROJEcts ON JOINt pROGRAmmEs

HED in emerging countries: BRIcs
Information resources on HED systems• module 2 - Developing Joint programmescharacteristics of joint programmes
Nature and typologies of joint qualifications
Networks and partnerships among HED institutions
student management in joint programmes
Information resources on joint programmes• module 3 - Recognition procedures
Academic recognition proceduresAwarding joint qualifications
Recognition of joint qualifications
professional recognition procedures
Information resources on recognition procedures• face-to-face session - How to create & manage an international consortium

Website:http://www.interhed.eu

Partners:
Associazione cImEA - pNc Italia (coordinator) - It; ministry of the frenchcommunity of Belgium, Directorate General for non-compulsory education andscientific research - BE; Higher Education Authority - IE; Education Exchanges
support foundation - Lt; malta Qualifications council - mt; DGEs - Directorate
General for Higher Education - pt.

Title
INTERUV: Joint programmes - facilitator for university
internationalization
Description
the concept of joint programmes is neither sufficiently wide-spread nor appreciatedin Europe and the regions surrounding it.
Although individual HEIs and countries could draw enormous benefits from runningjoint programmes, they have not fully taken advantage of this opportunity.

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Joint programmes have the potential to attract students from Europe and beyond,they allow for the building of stable partnerships between HEIs and allow for thereal internationalisation of HEIs to take place. In view of this, the project partners
wish to promote the idea of joint programmes between HEIs in the EU and in thegeographical regions neighbouring the EU (namely Eastern Neighbouring Area,southern Neighbouring Area, Western Balkans and central Asia).
Objectives of the project:• to promote the idea of joint study programmes between higher education
institutions from the EU and third countries from the geographical regionsneighbouring the EU.
• to support HEIs in introducing joint study programmes into the institutional
strategies for internationalisation.
• to contribute to the capacity building of institutions acting at present as Erasmus
mundus National structures and National tempus Offices in order to help themin the transition period of preparation for the new programme to be
implemented in years 2014-2020.
Activities:• Organization of 3 regional seminars during which good practice as to setting
up efficient, high quality joint programmes will be disseminated and shared.
• conducting research on the degree to which joint programmes are included in
the internationalization strategies of particular HEIs and in the higher education
strategies of countries.
the planned methodology of this research is to analyze
information on this topic available on the Internet (on websites of HEIs andministries for higher education) and through running an online questionnairefor HEIs.
• training sessions for Em Ns and NtOs/HEREs before each regional seminaron two defined topics:- the higher education systems in the countries represented in a given region(including issues related to QA, accreditation and recognition of degrees
and joint degrees);- the key features of joint programmes (preparation, implementation,
promotion, management, sustainability) and/or for joint degrees - also in thecontext of the “Erasmus for all” programme and other matters linked to the
new educational programme 2014-2020.

Partners:
fRsE (coordinator) - pL; OeaD-GmbH - At; center for International services - cZ;

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cAtALOGUE Of pROJEcts ON JOINt pROGRAmmEs

foundation Archimedes - EE; ministry of Education, culture and sport - Es; Hellenicministry of Education, Lifelong Learning and Religious Affairs - GR; center forInternational mobility cImO - fI; Agence 2E2f - fR; tempus public foundation HU; Associazione cImEA - pNc Italia - It; VIAAs - LV; NUffIc - NL; sIU - NO;sAAIc - sK; British council - UK.

Title
JOIMAN: Joint Degree Management and Administration
Network
Description
Joiman is a Network financed by the European commission in the period 20082010, under the framework of LLp/Erasmus/structural network. the Network,
coordinated by the University of Bologna and composed by partners with arelevant experience in the management of joint programmes, investigated on
obstacles and challenges usually faced in the development and management ofjoint programmes at master and Doctoral level.
In particular, JOImAN Network investigated the following topics:• Application, Enrolment, selection and certification of students career;• financial sustainability of Joint programmes;• Governance/Organisation/Quality in Joint programmes;• Development and administration of Joint pHD programmes;• Development and administration of Joint programmes with “non EU” and “nonBologna process” institutions
After two years of activities, which included surveys, analysis and international
conferences and seminars, the Network has produced a set of results to be sharedwith the Higher Education community at large, with the aim to support Institutions
in overcoming administrative and management difficulties in the development andimplementation of joint programmes:
Results: (i) Guide to developing and running joint programmes; (ii) How to manage
joint study programmes - final publication of the project; (iii) presentations from theseminars; (iv) financial issues on Jps presentation and national regulations on tuition
fees; (v) papers; (vi) cooperation agreement template; (vii) Good practice report.

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BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 6

Website:https://www.joiman.eu

Partners:
University of Bologna (coordinator) - It; Agence Europe-Education-formation - fR;
Associazione cImEA - pNc Italia - It; Education Exchanges support foundation Lt; Erasmus mundus National structure - Belgium flemish - BE; Karl-franzensUniversität Graz - At; masaryk University - cZ; University of Antwerpen - BE;
University of Bergen - NO; University of Bochum - DE ; University of Bordeaux 1- fR; University of Deusto - Es; University of Iasi - RO; University of Leipzig - DE;
University of Lille 1 - fR; University of padova - It; University of strasbourg - fR;
University of Vilnius - Lt.

Title
JOQAR - Joint programmes: Quality Assurance and
Recognition of degrees awarded
Description
the overall purpose of the project is to ensure that joint programmes are facilitatedin two specific areas: accreditation and recognition. the project partners have thus
decided to look into cross-border quality assurance of joint programmes andrecognition of degrees awarded by these programmes.
the external QA and accreditation of joint programmes is a challenge for bothjoint programmes and QA/A agencies as it normally includes multiple national
accreditation procedures. the project instead seeks to promote single accreditation
procedures through the development of a multilateral recognition agreement
regarding QA and accreditation results and by the establishment of a European
coordination point for external QA and accreditation of joint programmes.
there are currently also a lot of problems with the recognition of the degrees
awarded by joint programmes which the project seeks to solve through thefollowing specific objectives:• Awareness-raising among higher education institutions and joint programmes
about ENIc-NARIcs’ expectations regarding joint programmes, the design ofthe degree they award and the content of the diploma supplement;

156

cAtALOGUE Of pROJEcts ON JOINt pROGRAmmEs• the establishment of a common ground among ENIc-NARIcs regarding therecognition of degrees awarded by joint programmes;• transparent information provision regarding Erasmus mundus programmes
through the Qrossroads database (http://www.qrossroads.eu/).

Website:http://www.ecaconsortium.net/main/projects/joqar

Partners:
Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and flanders (coordinator) - NL;
Austrian Accreditation council - At; slovenian quality assurance agency for higher
education - sI; Agency for Quality Assurance through Accreditation of study
programmes - DE; National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation - Es;
swiss center of Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education - cH;
catalun University Quality Assurance Agency - Es; foundation for International
Business Administration Accreditation- DE; ministry of science and Higher
Education - pL; NUffIc - NL; UK NARIc - UK; Danish Agency for International
Education- DK; National Assessment and Accreditation council - IN; National
Accreditation council - cO.

Title
Cluster on Sustainability and Recognition of Degrees andJoint Degrees
Description
the combined cluster on sustainability and Recognition of Degrees and Joint
Degrees brings together existing Em Joint programmes, Action 2 partnerships,
Action 3 Attractiveness projects with the experience of the National structures andthe views of the Erasmus mundus Alumni Association (EmA). It also involves
contributors from outside the programme, such as representatives of the labour
market.
this combined cluster aims to identify existing good practices on both topics:• On sustainability strategies with a view to ensure the continuation of Erasmus
mundus activities beyond the period of EU funding. A sustainability plan isindeed essential within the Joint programmes as the number of available
scholarships offered is progressively reduced over the lifetime of the project.
• On Recognition of Degrees and Joint Degrees promoted under the Erasmus

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mundus programme. Recognition of joint degrees is a challenge for the
responsible authorities as the degrees have to be recognized under different
higher education systems, each having their own rules on recognition. prior to
the recognition of a degree, an accreditation process assessing the academic
quality of the programme usually takes place.
Outputs:• survey report: (i) A survey among existing Erasmus mundus Joint programmes,
partnerships, Attractiveness projects, National structures and alumni, targeting
European and non-European partners involved. (ii) A survey report onsustainability and the accreditation process and the difficulties encountered in
the recognition of joint degrees.
• practical guidelines with relevant examples of good practice on sustainability
strategies and recognition issues within Erasmus mundus: (i) practical guidelines
on sustainability strategies; (ii) practical guidelines on recognition issues.

Website:http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus_mundus/clusters/sustainability_en.php

Contractor:
EcORYs UK

158

7
BRIDGE cAsEs
cAsEs DIscUssED DURING tHE fINAL
cONfERENcE Of tHE pROJEct
mALtA 18tH/19tH OctOBER 2012

ANNEX 7
CREATION PHASE
BRIDGE Case 1
Object:creation of a Joint master programme (Jmp) between two HED institutions (A andB) with a final Joint Degree corresponding to two national qualifications - master
Degree A (mDA) and master Degree B (mDB).
Characteristics of the two HEIs:
Higher education institution A (HEI A)

Higher education institution B (HEI B)

HED national system: 3-year 1st cycle degree (Bachelor) + 2-year 2nd cycle degree (master)

HED national system: 4-year 1st cycle degree (Bachelor) + 1-year 2nd cycle degree (master)

Undergraduate students of HEI A: 3-year Bachelor
degreeUndergraduate students of HEI B: 4-year Bachelor
degreeEcts credits needed to obtain the mDA: 120

Ects credits needed to obtain the mDB: 60/90

HEI A programmes: both academic and professional oriented

HEI B programmes: academic oriented

HEI A can also awards a 1-year final degree (60Ects credits) that does not give access to phD
programmes in country A

Both 60 and 90 Ects credit mDB qualifications
give access to phD programmes in country B

Questions:(i) find the best solution to organise our Jmp in order to award a final Joint Degree.
(ii) If our Jmp is addressed to:161

BRIDGE HANDBOOK - Annex 7

1 - Undergraduate students of HEI A and HEI B (national students);
2 - International students;
3 - Both national and international students
could we identify different solutions according to our target group?
(iii) find out recognition problems related to the present case.

SELECTION PHASE
BRIDGE Case 2
Object 1:

set up student selection criteria in a Joint master programme (Jmp) organised
between two HED institutions (A and B).
Characteristics of the two HEIs:
Higher education institution A (HEI A)

Higher education institution B (HEI B)

HED national system: 3-year 1st cycle degree(Bachelor) + 2-year 2nd cycle degree (master)

HED national system: 5-year single-cycle degree
course (master)

the JmD programme corresponds to the 2-year
2nd cycle course

the JmD programme corresponds to the 2 final
years of studies in the 5-year single-cycle course

HEI A needs a formal final 1st cycle degree to accept students in their 2nd cycle courses and toaward the final qualification

HEI B needs a certain number of credits or years(e.g. 180 Ects or 3 years) to enrol students at
the 4th year of their courses, without a formal 1st
cycle qualification

Question 1:(i) If our Jmp is addressed to students from HEI A and HEI B (national students),
how national B students can be enrolled in the JmD course without a formal 1st
cycle degree?

Object 2:

set up student selection criteria in a Joint Doctoral programme (JDp) organised
between two HED institutions (A and B).

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BRIDGE cAsEs

Characteristics of the two HEIs:
Higher education institution A (HEI A)

Higher education institution B (HEI B)

HED national system: 3-year 1st cycle degree(Bachelor) + 2-year 2nd cycle degree (master) +3 years of Doctoral studies

HED national system: 4-year 1st cycle degree (Bachelor) + 1-year 2nd cycle degree (master) + 3
years of Doctoral studies

the HEI A accepts students to the JDp with a formal 2nd cycle degree

the HEI B accepts students to the JDp without aformal degree but only with a certain number ofyears or credits

the HED system in A is a 'consequential' one: students need a 1st cycle degree to enter in a 2nd
cycle course and a 2nd cycle degree to enter in a
3rd cycle course

the HED system in B is a 'no-consequential' one:students can be admitted at 3rd cycle programmes with a 1st cycle degree (e.g. 4-year Bachelor) or through a RpL procedure

Questions 2:(ii) If a student present his/her official master degree in order to enter in our JDp
without having a 1st cycle degree (he/she got an official master but any Bachelor
degrees), will be able to be enrolled in our course according to HEI A rules?
(iii) Which information we need to know about the previous academic career ofpotential students?

AWARDING PHASE
BRIDGE Case 3
Object:Recognition of a Joint master Degree (JmD) awarded by two official higher
education institutions (A and B) in order to enter in a phD course.
Characteristics of the two HEIs:
Higher education institution A (HEI A)

Higher education institution B (HEI B)

Official HEI of the country A

Official HEI of the country B

the JmD correspond to an official master degreeof the HEI A named mDA

the JmD correspond to an official master degreeof the HEI B named mDB

mDA is a two-year 2nd cycle degree (120 Ects)

mDB is a two-year 2nd cycle degree (120 Ects)

mDA is a professional oriented degree

mDB is an academic degreemDA does not give access to phD courses incountry A and HEI A does not organise 3rd cycle
degree programmes.

mDB gives access to phD courses in country B
and HEI B organises 3rd cycle programmes.

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Questions:(i) How do you evaluate the present JmD in another 'academic' higher education
institution in country A (HEI AX) in order to enter in a phD course?
please note that the HEI AX can organise 3rd cycle degree programmes and needan academic degree to give the access to phD courses.
(ii) How do you evaluate the present JmD in an 'academic' higher education
institution in a third country c (HEI c) in order to enter in a phD course?
please note that, according to the HED system of country c, 'academic' HED
institutions need an academic degree that gives access to the same courses in the
country of origin in order to admit students in their phD courses.
(iii) How do you compare the present JmD in your country? (academic or
professional oriented degree)

164the aim of this handbook is providing
practical tools and suggestions in the different
phases of the lifecycle of a joint programme:• creation of joint programmes• assessment of the prospective candidates
for the Erasmus mundus programme• award of double, multiple and joint degrees
by the Erasmus mundus consortia
main targets are academic and administrative
staff of:• Higher education institutions• Erasmus mundus national structures• NARIc centres
this handbook presents the best practices andguidelines regarding joint programmes andrecognition according to the experience of the
BRIDGE project. the project, with the supportof the Erasmus mundus programme of theEuropean Union, has involved the centres thatact at the same time as Erasmus mundus
national structure and as NARIc - National
academic recognition information centres, infive European countries: Estonia, Italy, malta,
portugal and spain.

BRIDGE - Best Recognition Instruments for the Dialogue
between Global Experts is co-financed by the European
commission in the framework of Erasmus mundus
programme - Action 3.