Various texts related to education policy and education research have recently started using two conjugate concepts "competency" and "competence". These terms are sometimes treated as synonyms of a single concept; however, in other cases they are separated and used as two terms of different educational concepts. English also…

The history of (external) quality assurance schemes in European higher education since ca. 1980 is sketched in this article. The three pioneering countries in Western Europe are taken as models of different developments and contrasted with the rise of accreditation in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989. Using theoretical insights, the dynamics…