Accreditation is one of the most important tools used globally for quality assurance. There are two types of accreditation; institutional accreditation and programme accreditation. The Bhutan Accreditation Council (BAC) started with institutional accreditation, and depending on the need it may initiate programme accreditation in future, as deemed appropriate. Accreditation aims to assure educational quality and accountability, and encourages quality enhancement. It entails a continuous process to help Tertiary Education Institutions (TEIs) analyze its functions, mission, assess its own performance, review its planning procedure and identify ways to enhance it is educational effectiveness. Accreditation is mandatory for all the TEIs in Bhutan.

Accreditation is based on the following six core standards:

1. Curricular Elements
2. Research, Innovative practices & Institutional linkages
3. Governance, Leadership and Management
4. Infrastructure & Learning resources
5. Student support
6. Internal QA and Enhancement system

The Council conducted pilot accreditation in 2015 with help of two experts from Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA). Thereafter, the Council, over three years, has trained five batches of accreditors and currently the Council has a pool of twenty two trained accreditors. The Council embarked on real accreditation in 2016 and by the end of 2018 the first cycle of accreditation was completed for all the TEIs in Bhutan. Out of the 13 TEIs accredited,  one TEI is in “A+” category, eight TEIs were in” A” category, three TEIs in “B” category and one TEI in “C” category.

The details accreditation status are as follow: