IEP conducts institutional evaluations at the request of individual institutions as well as coordinated evaluations at whole country or region level and usually at the requests of rectors’ conferences and governmental authorities. The Institutional Evaluation Programme Guidelines 
provide detailed information about the evaluation methodology.
Institutions that have undergone an evaluation can participate in follow-up activities such as a follow-up evaluation two to four years after the original evaluation has taken place. The Guidelines for Follow-up Evaluations outline the goals and practical aspects of the follow-up.
In addition to IEP evaluations, EUA also offers consultancy services to institutions and their stakeholders.
The distinctive features of the Institutional Evaluation Programme are:
- A strong emphasis on the self-evaluation phase
- A European and international perspective
- A peer-review approach
- A support to improvement
The focus of the IEP is the institution as a whole and not the individual study programmes or units. It focuses upon:
- Decision-making processes and institutional structures and effectiveness of strategic management
- Relevance of internal quality processes and the degree to which their outcomes are used in decision making and strategic planning as well as perceived gaps in these internal mechanisms. As part of this larger framework the evaluations address the issues on internal quality assurance identified by the European Standard and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ESG).
In addition, participating institutions have the possibility to select a special focus for more in-depth analysis and recommendations. This focus will be evaluated within the institutional context and constitute a separate heading in the evaluation report.