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The Swedish National Agency for Higher Education to close
From 1 January 2013, the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education will cease to exist as a public authority. Its operations will be transferred to two new public authorities: the Swedish Higher Education Authority (Universitetskanslersämbetet) and the Swedish Council for Higher Education (Universitets- och högskolerådet).
The Swedish Higher Education Authority will be responsible for the quality assurance and supervision of higher education and for following up, analysing and the external monitoring of issues within the authority´s area of responsibility.
Large parts of the Agency´s current activities will be transferred to the Swedish Higher Education Authority. The activities that will instead be handled by the Swedish Council for Higher Education are primarily the evaluation of foreign qualifications, study information, admission questions and the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Read more about the new authorities »
(The "In English" link will be found at the top of the main text)
History
Högskoleverket (Swedish National Agency for Higher Education) was established in 1995.
Mandate from the Government
The operations of the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education (Agency) are subject to instructions from the Swedish Government. The Government's annual public service agreement stipulates the direct government funding allocated to the Agency as well as the targets to be reached, specific tasks to be undertaken and how the results of activities must be reported.
Statutes, ordinances and regulations
The most important pieces of legislation governing higher education institutions are:
- The Higher Education Act
- The Higher Education Ordinance (including the System of Qualifications).
In addition, the Agency is entitled to issue regulations in a number of areas. The most important ones deal with:
- Entry requirements
- Selection criteria
- Evaluation of post-16 study programmes abroad
- Contract education
- Diploma supplements
- Qualified teacher status.
International obligations
Because of its close ties with other Nordic countries and its membership of the EU, Sweden must comply with numerous international agreements. These include:
- Directive 2005/36/EC on the recognition of professional qualifications (new window) » | Corrigendum to the directive (new window) »
- Directive 2005/71/EC on the specific procedures for admitting third-country nationals for the purpose of scientific research (new window) »
- The Bologna Declaration of June 1999 (new window) »
- Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications in the European Region, Lisbon 1997 (new window) »
- Nordic Declaration on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, Reykjavik 2004 »
Contact: Lennart Ståhle, Email: firstname.lastname@hsv.se
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