European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)

ECTS and the European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process)

(ECTS Users Guide)

ECTS is the credit system for higher education used in the European Higher Education Area, involving all countries engaged in the Bologna Process.
ECTS is one of the cornerstones of the Bologna process.

Most Bologna countries have adopted ECTS by law for their higher education systems.

What is ECTS?
(see ECTS leaflet)

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)

is a learner-centred system for credit accumulation and transfer based on the transparency of learning outcomes and learning processes aims to facilitate planning, delivery, evaluation, recognition and validation of qualifications and units of learning as well as student mobility. is widely used in formal higher education and can be applied to other lifelong learning activities.

What is a credit system?

(see ECTS key featuers)

A credit system is a systematic way of describing an educational programme by attaching credits to its components. The definition of credits in higher education systems may be based on different parameters, such as student workload (/), learning outcomes and contact hours.

What are ECTS credits? (I)

(see ECTS leaflet)

ECTS credits are based on the workload students need in order to achieve expected learning outcomes. Learning outcomes describe what a learner is expected to know, understand and be able to do after successful completion of a process of learning.
They relate to level descriptors in national and European qualifications frameworks.

What are ECTS credits? (II)

(see ECTS leaflet)

Workload indicates the time students typically need to complete all learning activities (such as lectures, seminars, projects, practical work, self-study and examinations) required to achieve the expected learning outcomes. 60 ECTS credits are attached to the workload of a full-time year of formal learning (academic year) and the associated learning outcomes. In most cases, student workload ranges from 1 500 to 1 800 hours for an academic year, whereby one credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work.

Why introduce ECTS?

(see ECTS key features)

ECTS makes study programmes easy to read and compare for all students, local and foreign facilitates mobility and academic recognition helps universities to organise and revise their study programmes can be used across a variety of programmes and modes of delivery makes European higher education more attractive for students from other continents.

Key features of ECTS (I)

(see ECTS key features)

ECTS is based on the principle that 60 credits measure the workload of a fulltime student during one academic year.
The student workload of a full-time study programme in Europe amounts in most cases to around 1 500 to 1 800 hours per year and in those cases one credit stands for around 25 to 30 working hours. 60 credits = fulltime student/one academic year 1 credit = 25-30 working hours

Key features of ECTS (II)

(see ECTS key features)

Credits in ECTS can only be obtained after successful completion of the work required and appropriate assessment of the learning outcomes achieved. Learning outcomes are sets of competences, expressing what the student will know, understand or be able to do after completion of a process of learning, long or short.

Key features of ECTS (III)

(see ECTS key features)

Student workload in ECTS consists of the time required to complete all planned learning activities such as attending lectures, seminars, independent and private study, preparation of projects, examinations, and so forth.

Key features of ECTS (IV)

(see ECTS key features)

Credits are allocated to all educational components of a study programme (such as modules, courses, placements, dissertation work, etc.) and reflect the quantity of work each component requires to achieve its specific objectives or learning outcomes in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of study successfully.

Key features of ECTS (V)

(see ECTS key features)

The performance of the student is documented by a local/national grade. It is good practice to add an ECTS grade, in particular in the case of credit transfer. The ECTS grading scale ranks the students on a statistical basis. Therefore, statistical data on student performance is a prerequisite for applying the ECTS grading system. Grades are assigned among students with a pass grade as follows: A best 10 % B next 25 % C next 30 % D next 25 % E next 10 %

How to use ECTS? (I)

(see ECTS leaflet)

Credits are allocated to

entire qualifications or study programmes as well as to their educational components such as modules, course units, dissertation work, work placements and laboratory work.
The number of credits ascribed to each component is based on its weight in terms of the workload students need in order to achieve the learning outcomes in a formal context.

How to use ECTS? (II)

(see ECTS leaflet)

Credit transfer and accumulation are facilitated by the use of the ECTS key documents (Course Catalogue, Student Application Form, Learning Agreement and Transcript of Records) as well as the Diploma Supplement.

What are the key documents of ECTS?

(ECTS key features)

The regular information package/course catalogue of the institution to be published in two languages (or only in English for programmes taught in English) on the web and/or in hard copy
The learning agreement contains the list of courses to be taken with the ECTS credits which will be awarded for each course.

The transcript of records documents the performance of a student by showing the list of courses taken, the ECTS credits gained, local or national credits, if any, local grades and possibly ECTS grades awarded.

The Diploma Supplement

(see ECTS key features)

The diploma supplement is a document attached to a higher education diploma providing a standardised description of the nature, level, context, content and status of the studies that were pursued and successfully completed by the graduate. The diploma supplement provides transparency and facilitates academic and professional recognition of qualifications (diplomas, degrees, certificates).

Allocation of Credits (I)

(see ECTS Users Guide)

The allocation of credits to single educational components is performed as part of curriculum design with reference to national qualifications frameworks, level descriptors and qualifications descriptors.
There are several approaches to credit allocation, and it is up to the institutions to decide on which method to use. The alternatives presented in the ECTS Users Guide illustrate two different approaches to allocating credits: example 1 and example 2.

Allocation of Credits (II)

(see ECTS Users Guide)

EXAMPLE 1: The teaching staff define the learning outcomes of each programme component, describe the learning activities and estimate the workload typically needed for a student to complete these activities. Proposals are collected, analysed and synthesised and the estimated workload is expressed in credits.

Allocation of Credits (III)

(see ECTS Users Guide)

EXAMPLE 2: Alternatively, the higher education institution or the faculty may decide from the start to standardise the size of educational components, giving each one the same credit value (e.g. 5) or multiples of it (e.g. 5, 10, 15), and thus predefine the number of credits to be allocated per component. In this case, the course units are often called modules.

Estimation of Workload (I)

(see ECTS Users Guide)

In estimating students workload, institutions must consider the total time needed by students in order to achieve the desired learning outcomes. The learning activities may vary in different countries, institutions and subject areas, but typically the estimated workload will result from the sum of four parameters.

Estimation of Workload (II)

(ECTS Users Guide)

FOUR PARAMETERS: Contact hours for the educational component (number of contact hours per week x number of weeks) Time spent in individual or group work required to complete the educational component successfully (i.e. preparation beforehand and finalising of notes after attendance at a lecture, seminar or laboratory work; collection and selection of relevant material; required revision, study of that material; writing of papers/projects/dissertation; practical work, e.g. in a laboratory)

Time required to prepare for and undergo the assessment procedure (e.g. exams) Time required for obligatory placement(s)

ECTS and Mobility

(ECTS Users Guide)

In the case of agreed student mobility, the three parties involved the home institution, the host institution and the student should sign a Learning Agreement for mobility prior to the mobility period. In such cases, recognition of the credits by the home institution is automatic if the conditions stipulated in the learning agreement have been fulfilled.

Key documents
ECTS Users Guide.2009 (http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learningpolicy/doc/ects/guide_en.pdf)

European credit transfer and accumulation system (ECTS). Key features. 2004/2007 (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/publ/pdf/ ects/en.pdf and http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learningpolicy/doc/ects/key_en.pdf ) ECTS and Diploma Supplement Label Holders 2009 & 2010. MAKE MOBILITY A REALITY (http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/document s/publications/ectsds0910_en.pdf)