European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System

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The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a standard means for comparing academic credits, i.e., the "volume of learning based on the defined learning outcomes and their associated workload" for higher education across the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). [1] ECTS credits are awarded for successfully completed studies, with the basic definition being that one full academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS credits; in most cases this corresponds to a typical workload of 1,500 to 1,800 hours, although this can vary as defined by national regulations, giving a correspondence of one credit for each 25 to 30 hours of work. It is the correspondence to the academic year, rather than the hours worked, that is defining. [2] ECTS credits originated within the European Union's Erasmus programme in 1989 as a method of transferring credit earned during study abroad back to students' home institutions; since 2015 it has been part of the EHEA. [3] ECTS originally included a standard ECTS grading scale, intended to be shown in addition to local (i.e., national) standard grades, but this was dropped in 2009 in favour of institutions instead providing a grade distribution table showing the statistical distribution of grades in their national or institutional system. [4] ECTS credits describe the volume of learning, with the level of learning being defined by institutional systems that are referenced to national qualifications frameworks and international frameworks such as the EHEA's Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area and the EU's European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning. [5]

Contents

Current systems

List of credits given in one year in European countries [6]
CountryCredit points per yearHours per credit pointCredit point nameStatus [7]
Albania 6030Pikët ECTS EHEA member
Austria 6025ECTS (also ECTS-Punkte, ECTS credits) EHEA member
Belgium 6025-30ECTS (also studiepunten, crédits, ECTS) EHEA member
Bosnia and Herzegovina 6025ECTS bodovi EHEA member
Bulgaria 6025-30кредити EHEA member
Croatia 6025-30ECTS bodovi EHEA member
Cyprus 6030ECTS EHEA member
Czech Republic 6026kredity EHEA member
Denmark 6028ECTS-point EHEA member
Estonia 6026ainepunkt (EAP). Currently because many students are still used to the older system the longer name 'euroopa ainepunkt' is more often used for clarity's sake EHEA member
European Union 6025-30 [8] ECTS credits EHEA member
Finland 6027opintopiste (op) / studiepoäng (Swedish) (lit. study point) EHEA member
France 6025-30 [9] crédits ECTS EHEA member
Georgia 6030კრედიტები (kreditebi) EHEA member
Germany 6025-30ECTS, Leistungspunkte (LP), Kreditpunkte (KP), Credit Points (CP) or Credits EHEA member
Greece 6030ECTS, Credit Points (CP), Μονάδες Φόρτου Εργασίας (Διδακτικές Μονάδες - Δ.Μ) or Credits EHEA member
Hungary 6030kredit (pont) EHEA member
Iceland 6025-30 einingar (units) EHEA member
Ireland 60ECTS EHEA member
Italy 6025-30 crediti formativi universitari (CFU) EHEA member
Latvia 6030ECTS kredītpunkts (1 "Latvian" credit point (kredītpunkts) equals 1.5 ECTS) [10] [11] EHEA member
Liechtenstein 60 EHEA member
Lithuania 6028kreditai; ECTS kreditai EHEA member
Luxembourg 60ECTS EHEA member
Malta 6025ECTS-credits EHEA member
Montenegro 60ECTS-krediti EHEA member
Netherlands 6028studiepunten (ECTS or EC) EHEA member
North Macedonia 60кредити (ECTS) EHEA member
Norway 6025-30 [12] studiepoeng EHEA member
Poland 6025-30punkty ECTS EHEA member
Portugal 6028créditos ECTS EHEA member
Romania 6030credite (SECTS) EHEA member
Russia 6030кредиты EHEA member
Serbia 6030ЕСПБ бодови / ESPB bodovi EHEA member
Slovakia 6025kredity EHEA member
Slovenia 6025-30kreditne točke EHEA member
Spain 6025-30ECTS (also créditos and crèdits) EHEA member
Sweden 6026.667högskolepoäng (Used from July 2007) EHEA member
Switzerland 6025-30 [13] ECTS-credits, Kreditpunkte (KP) EHEA member
Turkey 6025-30AKTS - kredi [14] EHEA member
Ukraine 6030кредити EHEA member
United Kingdom (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)120 (60 ECTS)10 (20 hours per ECTS)Credits. One ECTS credit is equivalent to two UK credits. [15] [16] EHEA member
United Kingdom (Scotland)120 (60 ECTS)10 (20 hours per ECTS) [17] SCQF credit points. Two SCQF points equal one ECTS point. [17]

See also

References

  1. "ECTS Users' Guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015. pp. 6, 10.
  2. "ECTS Users' Guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015. pp. 10–11.
  3. "ECTS Users' Guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015. pp. 6–7.
  4. "ECTS Users' Guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015. pp. 39–41.
  5. "ECTS Users' Guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015. pp. 19–21.
  6. "ECTS User's guide". Publications Office of the European Union. 2015.
  7. "Full Members". European Higher Education Area. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  8. typical values which can vary between national systems, "academic year" is normative
  9. "Article 8 - Arrêté du 22 janvier 2014 fixant le cadre national des formations conduisant à la délivrance des diplômes nationaux de licence, de licence professionnelle et de master" [Article 8 - Order of 22 January 2014 establishing the national framework for courses leading to the award of national bachelor's, professional bachelor's and master's degrees]. Légifrance (in French). 22 January 2014.
  10. "Credit point system" . Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  11. "Law of Higher education (in Latvian)". 1 January 1995. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  12. "Norway's education system". studyinnorway.no. Study in Norway.
  13. "Richtlinien des Hochschulrates für die koordinierte Erneuerung der Lehre an den universitären Hochschulen der Schweiz im Rahmen des Bologna-Prozesses" . Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  14. "ECTS and Course Load - Yükseköğretim Kurulu". www.yok.gov.tr. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  15. "Erasmus Mundus credits" (PDF). University of Salford. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  16. "Higher education credit framework for England: guidance on academic credit arrangements in higher education in England" (PDF). Quality Assurance Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 February 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  17. 1 2 "SCQF Credit Points" (PDF). Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework. p. 3. Retrieved 5 December 2018.