The Bologna Declaration is the joint declaration signed by the European ministers of education who met in Bologna on 19 June 1999, and it stands as the main guiding document of the Bologna process. Twenty-nine countries adopted it. It proposed a European Higher Education Area in which students and graduates could move freely between countries, with a qualification earned in one country accepted as an entry requirement for further study in another. Its stated aims included easily readable and comparable degrees and a system built on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate, with a first cycle lasting at least three years. The Bergen meeting later refined this into three cycles, bachelor, master and doctorate. Later ministerial communiques from Prague, Berlin, Bergen, London and Leuven have followed it up.
Facts
Classification
Policy TypeGovernance or Accountability Policy 1 Education LevelBachelor or Equivalent (ISCED 6) 2 Education LevelMaster or Equivalent (ISCED 7) 2 Education LevelDoctoral or Equivalent (ISCED 8) 2 Policy Status
Policy Status (category) Enacted / Adopted Year FAQs
What did countries agree to do under the Bologna Process that followed the declaration?
Countries agreed to a three-cycle degree system, mutual recognition of qualifications and quality assurance.
The European Commission describes the Bologna Process as an effort to bring more coherence to higher education systems across Europe, and it established the European Higher Education Area to ease student and staff mobility. As part of that area, participating countries agreed to introduce a three-cycle system of bachelor's, master's and doctoral studies, to ensure the mutual recognition of qualifications and of learning periods abroad completed at other universities, and to implement a system of quality assurance to strengthen the quality and relevance of learning and teaching.
Sources
1. European Commission, European Education Area: The Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area
European Commission, European Education AreaPage textQuote, Page text
The Bologna Process, starting with the Sorbonne and Bologna Declarations , was the response of national governments to the challenges arising from the mobility of European students and graduates.
2. Bologna declaration (Wikipedia)
Lead, first sentence, date
convened in Bologna on 19 June 1999
Lead, Bergen three-cycle framework, first degree
Bachelor for a first degree of three years
Lead, Bergen three-cycle framework, second cycle
Master for subsequent study
Lead, Bergen three-cycle framework, third cycle
and Doctor for a degree
Lead section
The Joint Declaration of the European Ministers of Education convened in Bologna on 19 June 1999 is the main guiding document of the Bologna process.
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