AbstractThe aim of this chapter is to explore the method of peer review as it has been practised within the framework of the Swedish national system for quality assurance of higher education. By highlighting and comparing examples from two reviews, 1997–1998 and 2016–2017, we want to show how the method of peer review has evolved over time and in what way has it been affected by changes made in the system. The study shows that the national system for quality assurance of higher education with peer review as a central method has changed surprisingly little in Sweden during the period studied (1995–2017). Over time, the demands for transparency, predictability and equivalence have increased, which has to some extent undermined the authority of the assessors. At the same time, it is a development which is a logical consequence of—not a break with—the coherent national system for quality assurance of higher education that was put into effect as early as the mid-1990s.