The Quality Convergence Study (QCS) project, a follow-up to a 2002 ENQA survey of quality assurance practices in European countries, was carried out between September 2003 and October 2004. The objective of the QCS project was to study the possibilities for convergence of national quality assurance systems in Europe through six examples, with the aim of obtaining identifiable reference points for transnational evaluations. In practical terms, the project aimed to find out why national quality assurance systems operate in particular, yet commonly identifiable ways in different national contexts. The existing descriptions of how these quality assurance processes work, formed the starting point of the project. Consequently, the QCS project had as its distinct purpose to increase understanding of those processes and their context in order to provide a base from which further action might be considered. In that sense, the project broke new ground.