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The European Students' Union with the support of the Open Society Foundation published a new study on recognition of qualifications held by refugees and their access to higher education in Europe. The paper analyses how a selected pool of countries use education as an instrument for inclusion of refugees, asylum seekers and persons in refugee-like situation. The report includes detailed country analyses of Romania, Belgium, Norway and Germany. The chosen countries represent different parts of Europe as well as countries that face specific challenges in coping with the inclusion of refugees into higher education and that have partially found solutions for these problems that might serve as good practice examples. According to the information provided by the European Higher Education Area's (EHEA) the main barriers refugees face when accessing higher education in Europe are lack of information; lack of advice and individual guidance; recognition of credits and qualifications, particularly without documents; inadequate language support provisions and lack of adequate financing. The report provides an argument that providing access to education for refugees contributes to the country economically and societally. However, in order to guarantee this inherent element of integration, national higher education systems need to fulfill their commitments to social dimension, i.e. the strategies and measures to mirror the diversity of society within higher education. One of the tools used to provide wider participation in higher education for refugees is recognition of their qualifications. National authorities and higher education institutions should ensure flexible procedures for the recognition of degrees, periods of study and prior learning of refugees, in line with the Lisbon Recognition Convention. However, despite the existing legal regulations ENIC-NARIC [European Network of Information Centres in the European Region and the National Academic Recognition Information Centres in the European Union] centres responsible for information and recognition still indicate a number of challenges, such as: lack of information about the education systems and qualifications from countries in conflict, questionable authenticity of the documents provided, lack of documentation, incomplete qualifications and the number of applicants. The report shows that despite various approaches to policy-making and implementation that the countries applied, they certainly have elements in common: bottom-up approaches and initiatives taken up by higher education institutions, staff, students and NGOs [non-governmental organisations], regardless of the scope of governmental support, are central to refugees' integration.

The European Students' Union (ESU), in partnership with the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ARACIS), the National Unions of Students Scotland--student participation in quality Scotland (NUS, Sparqs) and freier zussamenschluss von studentInnenschaften (fzs), and with support of the European Commission (DG EAC), launched the "Quest for Quality for Students" (QUEST) project. The aim of the QUEST project is to map students' views on quality at different levels and in different disciplinary contexts. The survey that is the focus of this report, an integral part of the project, addressed the following research questions: (1) What is the students' view on quality of higher education? (2) Do quality assurance mechanisms at the European, national and institutional level actually enhance quality in the understanding of students? (3) What sort of information do students need to be provided to them in relation to what they perceive as quality education? This publication is the first part of Volume 2 of the research, and follows-up on the work that has already been done and published in Volume 1 ("Quest for Quality for Students: Going Back to Basics"). Apart from the survey on student perspectives on quality, which is the focus of this report, the project also included a desk research focusing on existing trends in student engagement in quality assurance and study visits to a number of countries and higher education institutions (Finland, Spain--both national and institutional--, the Netherlands, Romania, Germany, Slovakia and Latvia), complemented with two case studies (Germany and Scotland). The forthcoming second part of Volume 2 ("QUEST for Quality for Students: Institutional Analysis") will include the outcomes of several site visits to higher education institutions where focus groups with students and interviews with the institutional leadership and managers of the internal quality assurance systems took place. All these publications will together be the foundation of Volume 3 ("QUEST for Quality for Students: A Student Quality Concept"), which will present how quality through students' eyes can be defined, reached and assured; as well as what information students think is important for higher education institutions to provide to them. One of the goals throughout this project has been to raise awareness about the understanding of quality from the students' point of view. Thus, it can be considered and influence discussions on higher education, having a positive effect on it and improving its quality. The findings of the study paint a multi-faceted picture of students' view on quality in higher education and also uncover students' use of information about higher education and their assessment of the quality of that information. Even though this project has characteristics of a pilot study, it does point towards interesting relations. The results offer several points of departure for future research projects to get an even clearer picture on the preferences, knowledge and need of students in Europe when it comes to quality in higher education. The country comparisons used in this study also suggest that the comparative approach is a road worth taking, and that national situations might have an impact on the students' perception of quality in higher education. Appended is the six part Questionnaire: (Part 1: Motivations and expectations from higher education; Part 2: Perspectives on quality; Part 3: Awareness of quality mechanisms at different levels; Part 4: Student information needs; Part 5: Academic Freedom; and PART 6: Demographic and HE related information. [For Volume 1 of the series, "Quest for Quality for Students: Going Back to Basics," see ED539505.]