The Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education (A3ES), as a full member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) and a registered entity in the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), plays an active role in promoting quality and mutual trust within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).

In the context of the increasing internationalization of higher education, joint programmes—study cycles organized by two or more institutions from different countries—represent a strategic opportunity to strengthen transnational academic cooperation, foster mobility, and promote pedagogical innovation.

To ensure the quality and coherence of these programmes, A3ES offers two distinct procedures for their evaluation and accreditation in Portugal:

1. European Approach for Quality Assurance of Joint Programmes

The European Approach was developed to facilitate the external quality assurance of joint programmes by defining standards based on the agreed tools of the EHEA, without applying additional national criteria. This approach allows a single quality assessment to suffice for programme accreditation in all EHEA countries where programme accreditation is mandatory.

2. A3ES Deliberation No. 474/2023

Deliberation No. 474/2023 establishes an alternative procedure for the accreditation of joint international degrees.  This procedure is based on the work developed by other peer agencies and involves supplementary documentary requirements and the verification of compliance with national regulations.

A3ES oversees the procedure through a collaboration protocol and verifies the conformity

For more information on both procedures, please consult the additional information available here.