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Standards and Requirements, Quality of Master's Programmes

Approved by the University Forum on 14 November 2013 and by the University Council on 5 December 2013

1. Introduction

1.1 Quality Assurance System of the University of Iceland

The Minister of Education, Science and Culture granted accreditation to the University of Iceland to offer curricula leading to Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees in all of its Schools, in accordance with The Higher Education Institutions Act No. 63/2006, Rules on the Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions no. 1067/2006 and Rules on Doctorate Programmes in Higher Education Institutions no. 37/2007. The accreditation was granted following an expert evaluation by foreign specialists in quality assurance.

The University of Iceland strongly emphasises that a curriculum shall be in accordance with internationally recognised quality requirements, and the University operates under a formal quality assurance system covering all aspects of activities, curricula and teaching, research and innovation, administration and support services. In 2004 the University Meeting (now University Forum) and the University Council approved formal Standards and Requirements for the Quality of Doctorate Programmes at the University of Iceland, which were reviewed in 2012. In 2006 the Quality Assurance Committee of the University Council was established and in 2009 the Graduate School at the University of Iceland. Its function is to ensure and strengthen the quality of the graduate curriculum at the University and follow up on the standards and requirements set for the curriculum, cf. Art. 66 of the Rules of the University of Iceland, no. 569/2009. The University of Iceland's rules on the graduate curriculum have since been revised, and all of the University's schools have elaborated on them with further rules. Finally, the Policy of the University of Iceland 2011-2016 stipulates that, during the policy period, the Standards and Requirements for the Quality of Master's Programmes at the University of Iceland shall be defined, and this document is the outcome of that work. The standards and requirements do not specifically deal with postgraduate diploma programmes at the Master's level although many items covered here also apply to such a curriculum.

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