Woolf accreditation

Talent may be evenly distributed, but opportunity is not—we are committed to widening the horizon of opportunity by connecting students and quality academics across the world.

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Woolf exists to promote academic excellence, broaden access to higher education, 
and guard values that are humane, democratic and international.

\ Overview

Woolf is an accredited, degree-granting Higher Education Institution with license number 2019-015. Woolf (MT) is based in Malta, which has been a member of the European Union since 2004, and of the European Higher Education Area since 2010. Woolf’s degrees are fully integrated with the ECTS system.  The Registrar’s office for Woolf (MT) is located at 66, Old Theatre Street, Valletta VLT 1454, Malta. Woolf is a collegiate higher education institution, in the tradition of Oxford and Cambridge.

All Woolf colleges meet the same rigorous high standards – all curriculum, teachers, and students are managed by the central administration and subject to the same processes of quality assurance. Woolf’s degree are recognized in more than 60 countries.

\ Woolf's regulatory and accreditation frameworks

All Woolf (MT) degrees are issued with ECTS credits. ECTS accreditation is the most sophisticated, widely recognized accreditation system in the world.

All Woolf degrees are listed on the European Union’s EUROPASS website, and all transcripts are issued with EUROPASS supplements to facilitate degree mobility.

Woolf degrees are recognized by more than 60 countries, including those who are under treaty obligation as signatories to the Lisbon Recognition Convention. The full list of signatory countries can be found on the United Nations website and the Council of Europe website.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) today comprises 49 member countries - more than just Europe. All the Higher Education Institutions in the EHEA use the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), providing a shared framework for accrediting courses and degrees.

The Bologna Process names the agreements which harmonize the accreditation standards of Europe. The process created not only the EHEA, but also the European Credit transfer System. Initially this was a system to transfer credits between institutions, and later it became the standard way to refer to the credits themselves, such as '90 ECTS credits'.

The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union. It is responsible for proposing legislation, enforcing EU laws and directing the Union's administrative operations, including education initiatives and policy-making. It oversees the ECTS system. All EHEA countries have adopted the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG 2015).

ECTS standards are validated by an approved local regulatory authority. Woolf is licensed by the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA), which implements the ESG 2015 with the aim of further promoting quality in further and higher education.

Woolf is an official member institute of ICDE. The International Council for Open and Distance Education aims to transform the world through inclusive education, and is the leading membership organization working to bring quality educaiton to all.

Woolf is an official member of EDEN Digital Learning Europe. It exists to share knowledge and improve understanding amongst professionals in distance and e-learning and to promote policy and practice across the whole of Europe and beyond.

Woolf is an affiliate member of EURASHE, a European association promoting the voice of applied universities and representing over 600 higher education institutions.

ECTS standards, following the European Standards and Guidelines 2015 (ESG 2015) are validated by an approved regulatory authority.

The Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA), which is partially funded by the European Commission and European Union, implements ESG 2015 with the aim of further promoting quality in further and higher education. In September 2019, the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) (previously the National Commission for Further and Higher Education (NCFHE)) licensed Woolf as a degree-granting, accredited, Higher Education Institution. This license is recognized within the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and allows for transportability of higher education credits and degrees within the European Union. Malta is a member of the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). Programs with ECTS accreditation via Woolf are specifically designated as such. In Europe, Woolf is a Higher Education Institution and is not licensed as a “university,” which is a specially reserved term. As a licensed Higher Education Institution, Woolf is able to offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees with the same status as issued by a “university.” Woolf expects to add the title of “university” (a matter of prestige but not accreditation) as it increases its publishing outputs.

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