The stages in the accreditation of an educational institution in Israel include: i) the stage of authorisation to advertise, register students and commence study (granted on the basis of preliminary examinations of the institution and the programmes of study that it proposes to offer). At this stage the institution is not yet accredited as an institution of higher education and is not authorised to award academic degrees to graduates, ii) the stage of a permit, i.e. the approval to open and maintain a higher education institution. At this stage, the institution is not yet accredited as an institution of higher education and is not authorised to award academic degrees to graduates and iii) the stage of accreditation and authorisation, during which the Council of Higher Education accredits the institution as an institution of higher education and authorises it to award an academic degree.