ECTS, the European Community Course Credit Transfer System, was developed in a pilot scheme within the Erasmus program in order to provide academic recognition for study abroad. It provides an instrument to create transparency, to build bridges between institutes and to widen the choices available to students. The system makes it easier for institutes to recognize the learning achievements of students through the use of commonly understood measurements – credits and grades – and it also provides a means to interpret national systems of higher education.
ECTS is based on three core elements: information (on study programs and student achievement), mutual agreement (between the partner institutes and the student) and the use of ECTS credits (to indicate student workload).
A.2 What are the ECTS credits?
ECTS credits are a numerical value allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them. They reflect the quantity of work each course unit requires in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of academic study at the institute (lectures, practical work, assessment …).
In ECTS, 60 credits represent the workload of an academic year of study, 30 credits for a semester and 20 credits for a term.
The students participating in ECTS scheme will receive the credits for all academic work that have successfully carried out at any of the participating institutes and they will be able to transfer these to another institute as long as there is a prior agreement between the institutes on the content of study programs.
All students of the participating departments who are willing to take part in the ECTS scheme may do so if their institute agrees and within the limit of available places.
For more information on ECTS, please consult the ECTS brochure which is available from:
ECTS Department
Erasmus Bureau,
Rue Montoyer 70,
B-1040 Brussels,
Tel: 32-2-233 01 11
Fax: 32-2-233 01 50
