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European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)

The European Community promotes inter-university co-operation as an improvement of the quality of the education, student mobility being a major element of this.

The recognition of studies and diplomas is a prerequisite for an open European area in the field of education and training. The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was developed as a tool of academic recognition inside European Community. This ECTS system was integrated within the SOCRATES program, in Chapter 1 on higher education (ERASMUS).

The system makes it easier for institutions :

  • to recognise the learning achievements of students through the use of commonly used measurements,
  • to interpret national systems of higher education.

The main components of the ECTS system are :

  • the information package describing the courses available at each participating institution, and providing general information about the institution, location, administrative procedures and academic calendar,
  • the learning agreement, which describes the programme of study abroad, and is drawn up by the individual student and both institutions before the student goes abroad,
  • the transcript of record, showing the learning achievements of the student prior and after the period of study abroad.

ECTS credits are a numerical value allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of academic study. In ECTS, the workload of an academic year represents 60 credits, a semester 30 credits and a term 20 credits.