Andorra strengthens its position within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

Reading time: 7 minutes

🏁 Introduction

The Principality of Andorra is strengthening its integration within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) after successfully renewing the European recognition of the quality of its higher education system.

The Andorran Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (AQUA) has successfully passed its external evaluation conducted by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), confirming that the Andorran model fully complies with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG).

This result, published in March 2025, reaffirms Andorra’s active participation in the European framework and ensures that its academic qualifications remain comparable and recognised internationally.

🎓 Why is this revalidation carried out?

🔹 Process and frequency

European quality assurance agencies, such as AQUA, must undergo an external evaluation approximately every five years to maintain their recognition within ENQA and their registration with the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR).

This periodic review ensures that the quality assurance system remains independent, transparent and aligned with European standards.

🔹 Evaluation results

In Andorra’s case, the evaluation visit took place in the autumn of 2024, and ENQA’s final report — published in March 2025 — concluded that AQUA is fully compliant with the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG).

🇪🇺 The European Higher Education Area (EHEA)

🔹 Origins and objectives

The European Higher Education Area is the common framework created through the Bologna Process (1999) to harmonise university systems across Europe.
It currently brings together 48 states, including Andorra, which has been a full member since 2003.

🔹 Main pillars of the European system

The EHEA establishes:

• A common three-cycle structure (bachelor, master and doctorate).
• The use of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) as a shared reference unit.
• The European Diploma Supplement (EDS) to promote mobility and degree recognition.
• A transparent and comparable system of quality evaluation, supervised by recognised agencies such as AQUA.

This integration ensures that Andorran qualifications are comparable and recognised throughout Europe, allowing students to pursue further studies or professional careers across member countries.

📜 Legal and regulatory framework of the Andorran system

🔹 Main legal foundations

The higher education system in Andorra is built on a coherent set of legal instruments:

• Qualified Law on Education (1993) → establishes the right to education, freedom of teaching, and access to higher levels based on merit and aptitude.
• Law 9/2016 establishing AQUA → created the agency as an autonomous public entity responsible for evaluating, accrediting and certifying the quality of higher education institutions and programmes.
• Law 14/2018 on Higher Education → structures the system within the EHEA framework, setting the three academic cycles, the ECTS system, and AQUA’s role as an external evaluation body.
• Decree of 17 June 2020 → approves the Regulation on the Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications, aligning the Andorran system with the Lisbon Convention (1997) on the recognition of foreign degrees.
• Law 10/2022 → updates the Qualified Law on Education and reinforces the constitutional and democratic values of the national education system.

➤ To learn more about the Andorran education system, we recommend reading the article Andorra’s educational models: a unique trilingual coexistence system.

🔹 Outcome of this legal framework

This legislative framework establishes a modern and comparable model that allows Andorra to participate fully in European mechanisms for quality assurance and degree recognition.

In fact, AQUA was admitted as a full member of ENQA and registered in the European Quality Assurance Register in 2018.

🏫 Institutions within the Andorran higher education system

🔹 Main actors

Integration within the EHEA and European revalidation affects all Andorran institutions that provide higher education, both public and private, as all are subject to AQUA’s evaluation processes.

🔹 Institutions included in the system

Currently, Andorra’s higher education system includes:

• The University of Andorra (UdA) — the national public university and the main academic reference in the country.
• Higher vocational training centres, such as the Vocational Training Centre of Aixovall and the Vocational Training Centre of La Massana, which provide specialised technical education leading to qualifications recognised by the Government.
• Other authorised institutions that may offer higher education programmes or joint degrees in collaboration with foreign universities.

🔹 A small but integrated system

Although the higher vocational training offer remains limited — given the country’s size — these centres are part of the system regulated by Law 14/2018 and benefit from the same quality and accreditation framework as the University of Andorra.

🌐 Impact and implications of European recognition

🔹 Main objectives

The purpose of this revalidation and integration is to ensure the continuity of Andorra’s higher education system within the European framework, maintaining the trust of international institutions and ensuring that:

• Andorran qualifications maintain their international value and recognition.
• Students can move, study or work in Europe with full legal security.
• Andorran institutions continue to access European cooperation and research programmes.
• And the country strengthens its image as a reliable, high-quality and transparent education system.

“Being part of the European Higher Education Area consolidates Andorra as a transparent, comparable and internationally open education model.”

Conclusion

With this renewal and consolidation within the EHEA, Andorra reaffirms Europe’s trust in the quality of its higher education system.
AQUA consolidates its role as a guarantor of excellence, while the country strengthens its commitment to an open, international education system based on continuous improvement.

👉 For more information about the Andorran education system or the international recognition of academic qualifications, you can contact our team below or reach us through the contact form.

Last review date: November 2025