“The subject of system accreditation is the internal quality assurance system of a university.” With system accreditation, a university is given the right to award the seal of the Accreditation Council for the degree programmes it has examined.

In the course of system accreditation, a university must demonstrate that it systematically implements the formal and subject-related criteria laid down in the General Accreditation Regulations. For this purpose, the quality management system must provide for regular assessments of the degree programmes and the performance areas relevant to teaching and learning, in which internal and external students, external academic experts, representatives of professional practice and graduates are involved.

A positive system accreditation certifies that the university’s quality management system in the area of teaching and learning is suitable to ensure the achievement of the qualification goals and the quality standards of its degree programmes. The university bears the quality seal of the German Accreditation Council." (German Accreditation Council)

The University of Cologne is taking the step from model to system accreditation. Building on the Cologne model, internal structures for quality assurance and development will be further expanded and new ones will be partially created.

In order to ensure the longevity and sustainability of the processes developed, the central institution Q³ - Evaluation, Development & Accreditation was established. This is where evaluation, quality assurance and process development all come together.

In close cooperation with the Faculty QM, a structure is created that ensures continuous development and quality improvement in teaching and learning.

The UoC's self-evaluation report on system accreditation was submitted to the aaq agency in August 2022. It serves as the basis for the first inspection at the university in September 2022 and describes

• the newly established quality management system for teaching and learning,
• the underlying understanding of quality,
• the organizational structures and core processes, and
• the initial experience gained during the pilot phase of the system.

The Q³UoC system described here was co-creatively developed by numerous stakeholders from all status groups and institutions of our university.

You can download the self-evaluation report and its attachments below:

Self-Evaluation Report on the System Accreditation of the University of Cologne (PDF)

Annexes to the Self-Evaluation Report on the System Accreditation of the University of Cologne (PDF)

The report of the second system accreditation inspection was submitted to the aaq agency in January 2023 and serves as the basis for the second university inspection in February 2023. The first part describes

• the further development and the binding nature of the Q³UoC QM system,
• the closing of QM control loops and
• the areas of communication and complaint management.

The second part of the report explains

• the sample of characteristics and degree programmes,
• modularization,
• the topic of study success and
• gender equality and equal opportunity measures.

You can download the report in the download area or directly here:

Second System Accreditation Inspection Report (PDF)