NOQA 2009-2010: Site visits as an evaluation method

The report concludes that the site visit is an indispensible part of the evaluation procedures of all agencies in the participating Nordic countries.

The main purpose of the site visit is to serve as a source of information that can be used for verification and/or exploration of the written information received beforehand.

In addition, from an overall perspective, the structures of the site visits show strong similarities. All agencies use expert panels that have received training; at the visits, the experts meet with management, staff and students; and the data from the site visit is reflected in the assessments and used in the reports.

Thus, one conclusion is that the overall structures and purposes of the site visits are similar across the Nordic countries. As noted in the introduction, this is not so surprising, since it shows compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines.

Major differences do exist between the ways the agencies organise their site visits. Some of these can be directly related to the evaluation procedure followed, e.g. in audits, the site visits stretch over several days, whereas accreditation site visits are usually conducted in one day. However, differences in organisation approaches cannot be fully explained by the differences between accreditation, evaluation or audit procedures. Matters such as the inherent focus of systems on enhancement or control, and established practices within the agencies do also play a part as explanatory factors.