Quality is a priority. POU is the first university in Poland to have introduced an iternational system of quality control which involves the inspections twice a year by independent external examiners coming from well-respected universities throughout the United Kingdom. Teaching standards and students' assignments as well as examinations are reviewed to ensure education quality and standards meet British QAA requirements.

Polish Open University is registered with The Ministry of Education and was issued licence number DNS-3-TBM-14/92.

POU develops its own programmes of study but Oxford Brookes University validates these programmes through a very exacting validation process. Programme design, regulations, management, review and quality assurance must meet the accreditation criteria of Oxford Brookes University. Additionally, there is ongoing monitoring by Oxford Brookes University and external examiners from other UK universities to ensure comparability of provision and standards. As a result, students successfully completing the requirements of accredited programmes receive may receive at the undergraduate level a Polish licencjat as well as a Bachelors degree from Oxford Brookes University and at the postgraduate level an MSc (Master of Science) degree from Oxford Brookes University as well as the Polish Magister.

The Association of MBA's (www.mbaworld.com)

In 2002, POU's MBA programme was awarded AMBA accreditation. POU is the only business school in Poland to be accredited by AMBA. Accreditation is the guarantee that an MBA programme meets high standards, such as the quality of teaching, academic staff and content of the programme. AMBA's international accreditation process has been designed as an independent validation for MBA programmes offered at institutions throughout the world. The accreditation service monitors the quality of programmes to ensure that the expansion in the number of MBA programmes is matched by an equal concern for quality. Accreditation panels are drawn from a pool of academics who are closely involved with MBA programmes across a variety of international business schools, business practitioners who are familiar with both business school academics and corporate management development. This combination ensures that each accreditation panel is well equipped to assess the quality of nominated MBA programmes. The fact of going through the accreditation process requires a school to examine and critically assess the whole range of its activities.

Accreditation and validation by Oxford Brookes University

In 2000 POU was awarded accreditation and validation by Oxford Brookes University (Oxford, Great Britain) for five of its undergraduate programmes, MBA programmes and e-business programmes.

In 2005 POU was awarded accreditation by Oxford Brookes University for all undergraduate programmes offered in the e-learning mode ( multimedia and the Internet).

In March 2007 Oxford Brookes University approved validation of three undergraduate programmes run in English:

• Business Management
• Marketing and Advertising
• Financial Management

and a master programm in English:

• E-business

Periodic Review

In order to be awarded accreditation and validation POU had to create a clear system of quality and teaching control. Therefore Annual Reviews have been designed to maintain quality through revision of the content and organization, teaching and learning assessment, student support, quality management, review of the overall status of programmes, identifying problem areas.

The process involves committees representing Oxford Brookes University and external examiners from different British universities.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) provides a quality assurance service for UK higher education and publishes reference points to help define clear standards. These points define expectations about standards of degrees in a range of subject areas and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of the techniques and skills needed to develop understanding in a given subject. These standards also help higher education institutions when they design and approve programmes. POU meets the QAA requirements as all assignment and examinations are in writing and examiners have to follow strictly outlines assessment criteria. Each work which has been assessed is accompanied by a written comment which helps the student identify problem areas. A random selection of 20 % of all assignments and examinations is double checked. It is a very demanding and time consuming process, but it guarantees high quality. Subject Assessment Board and Programme Assessment Board are held twice a year. The Boards comprise of members of staff as well as Polish speaking external examiners of other British universities cooperating with neither University. After a selection of assignments and exams have been checked, the external examiners prepare a report on assessment criteria and marks.