The quality of education in Ukraine depends on the organisation, support and delivery of the learning process. This ensures that learners receive an education that meets legal standards or the terms of an education contract.
Approaches to quality assurance in Ukraine cover all levels of education. These include early childhood, general secondary, vocational, professional pre-higher, higher and adult education. The system combines state supervision, internal quality assurance and external evaluation.
At the early childhood and general secondary education levels, the state enforces standards, conducts institutional audits, certifies pedagogical staff and organises regular monitoring studies. In vocational education and training, the authorities update standards in line with labour market needs, introduce dual education models and carry out independent qualification assessments. In professional pre-higher and higher education, institutions implement internal quality assurance systems and undergo external accreditation of their programmes. The adult education system supports the recognition of non-formal and informal learning, the certification of learning outcomes, and the digital tracking of individual learning trajectories.
The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) is the main authority responsible for education policy and quality. Under decentralisation, local self-government bodies also play a key role in quality assurance, in line with national law.
The Law of Ukraine on Education (закон України ‘Про освіту’) is the primary legal instrument for regulating educational quality at all levels. It states that the quality of education is the compliance of learning outcomes with the requirements defined in legislation, educational standards or contracts for educational services.
The Law of Ukraine on Early Childhood Education (закон України ‘Про дошкільну освіту’) sets out the quality assurance regulations in this area. Responsibility lies with the MESU, the State Service of Education Quality of Ukraine (SSEQU) and regional authorities.
The Law of Ukraine on Complete General Secondary Education (закон України ‘Про повну загальну середню освіту’) establishes the general principles and approaches to the quality assurance in school education. The responsible bodies are the MESU, the SSEQU and regional authorities.
The Ukrainian Centre for Educational Quality Assessment (UCEQA) is a state institution that provides independent, external evaluations of learners’ outcomes at a given level of education and conducts monitoring studies of the quality of education.
The Law of Ukraine on Vocational Education and Training (VET) (закон України ‘Про професійну (професійно-технічну) освіту’) outlines quality assurance approaches in VET. MESU, SSEQU and the regional authorities are responsible for overseeing this area.
The Law of Ukraine on Higher Education (закон України ‘Про вищу освіту’) outlines quality principles and procedures in higher education. MESU and the National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA) are responsible for implementing these.
In adult education, public authorities, educational institutions and employers ensure the quality by recognising and certifying non-formal learning outcomes and by developing flexible, practice-based programmes. MESU and the National Qualifications Agency (NQA) are in charge of this field.