Quality of education
A good understanding of the quality of education is important for all parties involved: students, lecturers, Board members and support staff alike. We work with external experts to monitor the quality of our degree programmes and ensure that we meet our goals, that we implement our vision on teaching and learning and that our students receive the best education possible.
Internal quality assurance
Teaching evaluations are an important tool that help us understand, monitor and improve the quality of our teaching and education. Our Programme Committees play a key role in this.
The Education Dashboard contains all the relevant information about Leiden University's teaching and education, including key data about the degree programmes (enrolments, dropouts and performance), student evaluations, annual reports and audit reports.
Each degree programme has its own Programme Committee. This is regulated by law. A Programme Committee is made up of students and lecturers who:
- monitor the quality of teaching and education;
- address potential obstacles;
- advise on the development and implementation of the teaching policy.
Each degree programme has a Board of Examiners. This is regulated by law. The Board of Examiners establishes whether a student meets the criteria set out in the Course and Examination Regulations (OER).
External quality assessment
To guarantee the quality of our teaching and education, external experts assess whether our degree programmes fulfil the quality requirements. They also issue recommendations for improvement following programme assessments, which are conducted every six years. Degree programmes that are found to fulfil the requirements are accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO).
The Institutional Audit (ITK) is also carried out every six years.
Our quality culture: enhancing quality together
Working together to provide good-quality teaching and education is at the core of our quality culture and we do this by:
- letting our lecturers and support staff design their own teaching content (in consultation with students);
- continually exploring how we can provide better teaching and education and setting new goals;
- constantly coordinating with each other and exchanging knowledge so that we can achieve our common goals as degree programmes, as faculties and as a university.
Are we achieving our goals? Which areas require improvement?
Our quality assurance system enables us to assess whether we are achieving our goals and which areas need to be improved. The Education Dashboard allows you to view reports and management information that explain the effect of measures taken to improve teaching and education and to identify any additional areas for improvement.
Discussions about the quality of our education
Clear objectives and progress reports enable accountability and enhance the role of dialogue about the quality of education with students, lecturers and other stakeholders such as Programme Committees and Faculty Councils. These discussions enrich and enhance the quantitative teaching evaluations.
Training and support
By offering training and support, we strive to ensure that employees – including members of the Board of Examiners and Programme Committees – are well prepared for their tasks and roles relating to quality assurance.