The Accreditation Council’s decisions are overall assessments of higher education institutions’ quality assurance systems and/or of the quality and relevance of individual study programmes. Decisions are based on accreditation reports, which includes the opinion of a panel of external experts on whether the application for accreditation meets the criteria laid down in the Accreditation Act. The reports are produced by the Danish Accreditation Institution.
Categories of decisions and consequences in institutional accreditation
| Decision | Assesment | Consequence |
| Positive | With the exception of a few, clearly delimited problems, the quality assurance system is well-described, well-argued and well-functioning in practice. The accreditation period is 6 years. | Opportunity to establish new programmes and new local provisions of programmes when these have been pre-qualified and approved, and to make adjustments to existing programmes |
| Conditional | Most of the quality assurance system is well-described, well-argued and reasonably well-functioning in practice. In its decision, the Accreditation Council will point out less well-functioning areas that staff at the institution must subsequently follow up on within a given time frame (typically 1-2 years). | All new programmes and local provisions of programmes must be externally accredited before they are established. |
| Refusal | There are several significant shortcomings in the structure or function of the institution’s quality assurance system in practice. | The education institution cannot establish new programmes or local provisions of programmes. Existing programmes must be accredited in accordance with a rota plan. |
Categories of decisions and consequences in accreditation of study programmes
Categories of decisions for existing programmes:
- Positive accreditation
- Conditionally positive accreditation
- Refusal of accreditation
Categories of decisions for new programmes:
- Positive accreditation
- Refusal of accreditation
The assessment procedure and consequences of decisions are the same for existing and new programmes:
| Decision | Assesment | Consequence |
| Positive | The programme fully meets the criteria for quality and relevance. The accreditation period is usually six years. | The institution can provide the programme to students. When the accreditation expires, the programme must be accredited again, unless the institution has received a positive or conditionally positive institutional accreditation. |
| Conditional | The programme meets the most essential criteria for quality and relevance, but does not fully meet the standards stipulated in the Accreditation Act. The accreditation usually expires after ½-2 years, within which the institution is expected to follow up on the less well-functioning areas pointed out by the Accreditation Council. | If the programme fails to meet the criteria within the given time frame, the institution can no longer provide this programme to students. |
| Refusal | The programme does not meet one or more of the most essential criteria for accreditation. | New study programmes cannot be approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science. Existing study programmes can no longer be provided to students by the institution. |