Design School Kolding gets quality stamp

There is cause for celebration at Design School Kolding – even though everyone still needs to maintain a distance and make sure to wash their hands. The decision by the Accreditation Council to award the school a positive accreditation is a huge recognition, and a confirmation that the school meets the high standards for quality and relevance in education that are required.

At the same time, the accreditation represents a milestone in the school’s 50-year history and journey from an arts and crafts school to a design university emphasizing knowledge building, research, continuing education activities and not least collaboration with wider society .

- The accreditation process has been an important task and one that we have taken on collectively. So today marks the culmination of a fantastic team effort by staff and students. I am extremely pleased, says Rector Lene Tanggaard, who also expresses content with the collaboration with The Danish Accreditation Institution calling it ‘positive and constructive’.

Function and dedication
With the decision, the Accreditation Council has complied with the recommendation of the external Accreditation Panel, comprising representatives from other design schools, business and one student, who earlier this year decided to nominate Design School Kolding for a positive accreditation based on a thorough assessment of the school’s quality work. The decision by the Accreditation Council states: 

- The efforts by Design School Kolding are well described and build on a practice that is well-functioning and systematic. The institution has a substantial information system with relevant data for each programme and policies for when and how the management should address any issues. The institution also demonstrates an excellent information flow, both vertically and horisontally, that supports well-founded initiatives. Design School Kolding adjusts its quality work on an ongoing basis, and both management and staff show great dedication. This means that experiences are applied to future efforts. 

- In the accreditation process we decided that we want a quality assurance system, which builds on our practice, and which is scaled to fit us and our required level of documentation. We have therefore focused on creating a system that corresponds with our organisation and with all the good things we achieve together, Lene Tanggaard ends.

Design School Kolding will be up for reaccreditation in 2026.

What is accreditation?
The Danish accreditation system includes universities, university colleges and academies of professional higher education as well as art and maritime education institutions. The system was established in 2007 to enhance education institutions’ efforts to develop programmes of an ever-increasing academic quality and relevance. With the Accreditation Act of 2013, the system gradually switched from accreditation of individual programmes to accreditation of entire education institutions.