1. Quality Assurance in postgraduate education – a student perspective Ligia Deca Chairperson European Students Union (ESU) ENQA WS – Quality Assurance in postgraduate education – 12 th of March 2009, Brasov

2. ESU and QA Actively involved in the design and promotion of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG) One of the founders of the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR) First QA agency audit (ARACIS) performed by a student review panel Involved in: QA Forum, EUAs IEP, ENQA evaluations and QAHECA

3. Context A growing number of Bologna states implementing the three cycle structure QA exercises had to cover postgraduate programmes in a comprehensive manner Same basic principles, stated in the ESG: stakeholder involvement, fitness for purpose, public availability and accessibility of the quality assurance results and generating trust

4. What kind of QA do we need? External and internal reviews should be seen as complementary Institutional level QA and programme level QA should not be separated or exclude each other For the protection and guidance of students, quality assurance at the programme level is a possible solution

5. Specific elements for QA in postgraduate studies The quality of supervision/ tutoring/ assesment Living, studying and working conditions Accessibility of Ma&PhD prgrammes (relating to gender, minorities, various socio-economic backgrounds etc.) Workload and learning & research outcomes Other success elements: full involvement of students as equal partners and structured approaches.

6. Links with other policy areas or BP tools Recognition: ECTS Diploma supplement -> Employability RPL Mobility

7. Conclusions Merging education and research requires the redefinition of QA exercises The journey has just begun…

8. Thank you! European Students Unions 20, Rue de la Sablonnière 1000 Brussels, Belgium Web: www.esu-online.orgwww.esu-online.org Phone: +32 2 502 23 62 E-mail: Secretariat@esu-online.org