What is ECTS?

INTRODUCTION

The European Community promotes interuniversity cooperation as a means of improving the quality of
education for the benefit of students and higher education institutions, and student mobility is a
predominant element of that interuniversity cooperation. The Erasmus programme clearly demonstrates
that studying abroad can be a particularly valuable experience as it is not only the best way to
learn about other countries, ideas, languages and cultures; increasingly it is also an important
element in academic and professional career development.

The recognition of studies and diplomas is a prerequisite for the creation of an Open European area
of education and training where students and teachers can move without obstacles. That is why the
European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) was developed in a pilot scheme established within the
Erasmus programme as a means of improving academic recognition for study abroad. The external
evaluation of ECTS has demonstrated the potential of the system and the European Commission has
decided to include ECTS in its proposal for the Socrates programme, in particular in Chapter I on
higher education (Erasmus). ECTS is now moving from its restricted pilot stage towards a much wider
use as an element of the European dimension in higher education.

ECTS provides an instrument to create transparency, to build bridges between institutions and to
widen the choices available to students. The system makes it easier for institutions to recognise
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 programmes and student achievement), mutual
agreement (between the partner institutions and the student) and the use of ECTS credits (to
indicate student workload).

This Guide has been designed to help potential users of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
to implement the system in practice. The principal elements of ECTS are presented briefly as they
have been developed, thoroughly tested and refined in the pilot scheme by 145 European universities
from all Member States and EEA countries.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF ECTS

As stated in the introduction, ECTS system is based on three core elements:
information (on study programmes and student achievement), mutual agreement
(between the partner institutions and the student) and the use of ECTS credits
(to indicate student workload). These three core elements are made operational
through the use of three key documents: the information package, the application
form/learning agreement and the transcript of records. Most of all, ECTS is made
operational by students, teachers and institutions who want to make study abroad
an integral part of the educational experience.

In itself, ECTS in no way regulates the content, structure or equivalence of
study programmes. These are issues of quality which have to be determined by the
higher education institutions themselves when establishing a satisfactory basis
for cooperation agreements, bilaterally or multilaterally. The code of good
practice called ECTS provides those actors with tools to create transparency and
to facilitate academic recognition.

Full academic recognition is a conditio sine qua non for student mobility in the
framework of the Socrates/Erasmus programmes. Full academic recognition means
that the study period abroad (including examinations or other forms of
assessment) replaces a comparable period of study at the home university
(including examinations or other forms of assessment), though the content of the
agreed study programme may differ.

The use of ECTS is voluntary and is based on mutual trust and confidence in the
academic performance of partner institutions. Each institution selects its own
partners.

ECTS provides transparency through the following means:

1. ECTS credits which are a numerical value allocated to course units to
describe the student workload required to complete them (see the section on
“ECTS credits”);

2. The information package which supplies written information to students and
staff on institutions, departments/faculties, the organisation and structure of
studies and course units (see the section on “Information package”);

3. The transcript of records which shows students’ learning achievements in a
way which is comprehensive, commonly understood and easily transferable from one
institution to another (see the section on “Transcript of records”);

4. The learning agreement covering the programme of study to be taken and the
ECTS credits to be awarded for their satisfactory completion, committing both
home and host institutions, as well as the student (see the section on “Student
application form/Learning agreement”).

Good communication and flexibility are also needed to facilitate the academic
recognition of studies completed or taken abroad. In this respect the ECTS
coordinators have an important role to play as their main tasks are to deal with
the academic and administrative aspects of ECTS (see the section on “ECTS
coordinators”).

The full range of course units of the department/faculty/institution using ECTS
should in principle be made available to the mobile student, including taught
doctorate course units. Students should be enabled to follow regular course
units - and not courses specifically designed for them - and should not be
precluded from the possibility of fulfilling the host institution’s requirements
for a degree or diploma.

ECTS also enables further studies abroad. With ECTS, a student will not
necessarily go back to the home institution after the study period abroad;
he/she may prefer to stay at the host institution - possibly to gain a degree -
or even move to a third institution. The institutions themselves decide whether
or not this is acceptable and what conditions the student must fulfil to obtain
a diploma or transfer registration. The transcript of records is particularly
useful in this context as it provides a history of the students’ academic
achievements, which will help institutions to make these decisions.

GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR THE USE OF ECTS

INSTITUTIONAL COMMITMENT
ECTS can only succeed when there is voluntary participation, transparency,
flexibility and a climate of mutual trust and confidence. Staff need to be
informed and trained to apply the principles and mechanisms of ECTS.
More specifically the following is required :
· The appointment of an ECTS institutional coordinator;
· The appointment of ECTS departmental coordinators by subject
area/discipline in all departments/faculties intending to use ECTS;
· The allocation of ECTS credits to course units;
· The production of an Information package in all subject areas/disciplines
in which ECTS will be/is used, in the native language and in another EU
language;
· The use of student application forms, transcripts of records and ECTS
learning agreements.

RESOLVING PROBLEMS
Committed institutions will find that the transparency and the discipline of
ECTS makes academic recognition a relatively simple process, in which decisions
can be reached openly on the basis of good information. However, there are
always decisions to make which may be crucial to the future of the students
concerned - academic decisions or decisions on simple practical matters. It is a
basic principle of ECTS that such decisions be made in accordance with the
principle of "treating the visiting ECTS student as a normal student of the
institution".

ECTS CREDITS

WHAT ARE ECTS CREDITS?
ECTS credits are a numerical value (between 1 and 60) 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 institution,
that is, lectures, practical work, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, private study
- in the library or at home - and examinations or other assessment activities.
ECTS is thus based on a full student workload and not limited to contact hours
only.

ECTS credits are a relative rather than an absolute measure of student workload.
They only specify how much of a year’s workload a course unit represents at the
institution or department allocating the credits.

In ECTS, 60 credits represent the workload of an academic year of study and
normally 30 credits for a semester and 20 credits for a term.

ECTS credits ensure that the programme will be reasonable in terms of workload
for the period of study abroad.

Two examples:

1. a student whose choice of course units results in a programme of study
totalling 120 ECTS credits for an academic year would have to work twice as much
as an average local student at the receiving institution; and

2. a student whose programme of study totals 30 ECTS credits for a whole
academic year would be undertaking much less work than the average local student
and would in effect be studying part-time.

ECTS CREDIT ALLOCATION

How to allocate ECTS credits to course units?

ECTS credits should be allocated on a “top-down” basis. The starting point
should be the full programme structure and the normal pattern of courses a
student would have to take in an academic year to complete the qualification in
the official length of study. Allocating credits to individual course units on
a “bottom-up” basis is very complicated and may result in a total of more than
60 credits for a year, thus making credit transfer very difficult.
The use of decimals in credit ratings (e.g. 1.82 credits) should be avoided or
at least limited to the use of half credits. While it may be mathematically
correct it can create problems as most institutions are unlikely to find it
necessary to allocate credits with such precision.

The process of ECTS credit allocation invites institutions to describe their
curricular structures in a common currency but does not require any changes to
those structures. In certain circumstances ECTS credit allocation can be a
simple mathematical or mechanistic activity, in others it may initially involve
considerable negotiation within a faculty/department or institution.

In modular programmes where all course units are equally weighted, or where
there is a credit system based on student workload, all that is required is to
apply a conversion factor. For example, the Norwegian degree system is modular
and credit based with 20 credits for an academic year. To convert Norwegian
credits to ECTS credits simply means multiplying the Norwegian credit value by a
factor of 3 to obtain the equivalent ECTS credit value.

For other credit systems based exclusively on class contact hours the use of a
conversion factor may still be appropriate provided the other workload elements
mentioned above are accounted for.

Sometimes there is an uneven distribution of workload between the semesters
within an academic year but this should not constitute a major problem provided
that the academic year totals 60 credits. Should it be the case, a note about it
in the Information Package will avoid surprises to students who are constructing
a programme of study abroad which includes course units from different years of
study.

The overall philosophy of ECTS is to allow for flexibility and this applies to
the allocation of credits. It is up to the institutions to demonstrate
consistency in allocating credits between similar programmes of study.

To which course units should ECTS credits be allocated?

ECTS credits should be allocated to all the course units available - compulsory
or elective courses. Credits should also be allocated to project work, thesis
and industrial placements where these “units” are a normal part of the degree
programme, including postgraduate degrees as long as the learning achievements
are assessed.

Is there a relationship between ECTS credits and the level or difficulty of a
course unit?

There is no relationship between the two. The level of a course unit cannot be
specified in ECTS credits. In ECTS the level of a course unit is described by
the offering institution in the Information Package. There you will find the
aims and objectives of the course, the pre-requisite knowledge required,
teaching and learning methods used, the mode of assessment and the description
of the course content. These elements are supplemented where necessary by
personal contacts between academics. All of this helps the student and
coordinator at the sending institution to assess the suitability of a particular
course unit for transfer and the level at which it will be recognised in the
programme at the home institution. It is entierely up to the academics to
evaluate the workload, and so to allocate the credits. It is entirely up to the
academics to evaluate the workload, and so allocate the credit A more advanced
or higher level course must not, therefore, carry more ECTS credits than a less
advanced course, just because of its level.

Is there a relationship between ECTS credits and contact hours?

In the simplest case, yes there is, but remember that ECTS credits are not based
on the contact hours themselves, but on the total workload which the contact
hours generate. When a year of a course in an institution consists entirely of
traditional lectures, tutorials and examinations, it is quite likely that the
contact hours are directly related to the student workload, and so to the ECTS
credits for each course unit. The exact nature of the relationship may change
as the course progresses; this will be evident if successive years of a course
have different totals of contact hours, though each year should total 60 ECTS
credits. Neighbouring institutions teaching students of differing abilities may
choose different teaching strategies, for example, one institution may teach a
5-credit course unit as 24 lecture hours, 6 tutorial hours and 60 hours of
private study before revision and examination, whereas the other institution may
teach the same 5-credit course unit in 24 lecture hours, 36 tutorial hours and
30 hours of private study. Both institutions in this example achieve comparable
outcomes with the same total workload, and allocate the same number of ECTS
crdits even though the contact hours are very different.

It is more complex when a course includes large blocks of contact time devoted
to supervised laboratory work or design classes. It is clear that one of these
contact hours does not involve the same total work as a traditional lecture
hour, and would be converted wrongly into ECTS credits if it were treated as the
same. A laboratory hour would be valued at between a quarter and half of a
lecture hour, depending on institutional practice. When project work is
largely unsupervised, it is easiest to consider what proportion of the year
would be needed to complete the project on a full-time basis, i.e. to think in
“weeks” rather than “hours”.

What about credits for course units offered within more than one degree
programme?

Sometimes the same course unit is available to students following different
degree programmes but the total workload calculation suggests different credit
ratings depending on the degree programme. Departments new to credit
allocation could agree different credit ratings as an interim solution, but in
the long term institutions are likely to prefer (or indeed insist upon) one
credit rating for one course unit.

What about optional or elective course units?

As stated before, optional or elective units must be allocated credits along the
same lines as for a core or compulsory course unit, that is, on the basis of the
proportion of workload it represents in relation to the overall workload of a
year’s study. What is an optional or elective course unit in one institution
may well be a core or compulsory course unit in another. In some institutions
optional or elective units are not included in the regular study programme but
can be taken in addition to it. ECTS credits in that case should be allocated
to optional units according to the workload they would represent if they were
included in the programme.

What to do when the official length of study is less than the average time taken
by students to complete it?

In some higher education systems the average length of time taken by students to
complete their studies is more than the official length of the study period.
ECTS credits should always be allocated on the official length or duration of a
degree not on the average length of time it might take local students to
complete the degree.

This may create problems for visiting students as their 60 credit programme of
study may be perceived by them as requiring them to undertake substantially more
work than the average local student.

Also in some institutions, students are allowed to split their examinations
between different examination periods or even postpone them until they feel they
can take them with the greatest success. Visiting students do not usually have
this flexibility as they need to achieve results in order to start classes at
the beginning of the academic year at the home institution. Where either of
these situations might place visiting students at an academic disadvantage in
comparison with local students and make it difficult to obtain 60 credits, the
position should be clearly explained in the information package so that the
student and coordinators can construct a programme which is realistic in terms
of workload but will not disadvantage the mobile student in the examinations.

THE AWARD OF ECTS CREDITS TO STUDENTS

What is the difference between credit allocation to course units and the award
of credits to students?

ECTS credits are allocated to course units but are only awarded to students who
successfully complete the course by satisfying the assessment requirements. In
other words students do not get ECTS credits simply for attending classes or
spending time abroad - they must satisfy the assessment regulations specified at
the host institution to demonstrate that they fulfilled the stated learning
objectives for the course unit. The assessment procedure may take various
forms: written or oral examinations, coursework, a combination of the two or
other means such as presentations at seminars, information on which should be
included in the Information package .

What to do if the visiting student is not able to sit the regular examination?

Some degree programmes consist of integrated teaching modules spread over more
than one academic year for which students have to complete all elements before
they are allowed to take the examination at the end of the course. Such a
system may create problems for visiting students who spend either a semester or
a year at the host institution. They will only be able to take part of the
course unit and will not be able to be assessed on it nor to receive ECTS
credits from the host institution as they have not completed the course.

Practical solution:
Institutions in this position if they wish to use ECTS may choose to adapt their
degree programmes to make them more accessible to the incoming student. If they
retain the status quo, some flexibility is recommended on their part in
allocating ECTS credits to the different parts of the course unit and organising
intermediate assessment procedures for visiting students.

What to do if the home examination cannot be replaced?

As stated before, full academic recognition implies not only that the period of
study abroad replaces a comparable period of study at home but also that the
foreign examination (or other form of assessment) replaces the home examination.
The experience of Erasmus and ECTS shows that most institutions are able to
guarantee their students full academic recognition. Sometimes, the home
examination covers a broader range of subjects and cannot be replaced formally.
In those cases, the home institution must give a guarantee to the student that
the foreign examination will be taken into account in the fullest possible way,
e.g. by giving partial exemptions of the home examination.

What about the assessment of project works, theses and industrial placements?

As for all course units, learning outcomes and assessment methods should be
described in the information package. Either the rules of the host institution
will be prevailing, or joint assessment by home and host institutions (and
industry) can be considered in these cases.
Credits are not awarded for good marks - the amount of credit for a course is
fixed and is the same for all students who succeed in the assessments. The
quality of the student’s performance on the programme of study is given by
grades (See the section on the ECTS grading scale).

ECTS CREDIT TRANSFER

How are ECTS credits transferred?

Home and host institutions prepare and exchange transcripts of records (see the
section on Transcripts of records) for each student participating in ECTS before
and after the period of study abroad. Copies of these transcripts are given to
the student for his/her personal file. The home institution recognises the
amount of credit received by their students from partner institutions abroad so
that the credits for the course unit passed replace the credits which would
otherwise have been obtained from the home institution. The Learning Agreement
gives the student a guarantee in advance that the credits for the approved
programme of study will be transferred (see the section on “ECTS Application
Form/Learning Agreement”).

Two good models of credit transfer are in common use.

Some home institutions have a year-by-year or semester-by-semester course
pattern. Here, the learning agreement between the institutions and the student
will show a block of course units chosen to replace the year or the semester at
the home institution. The successful student, on return, will receive a block of
credits, which may be shown as such on the student record rather than a list of
individual course units. Thus full academic recognition is given.

Other home institutions define their qualification in terms of a list of course
units to be taken and passed over a number of years. These learning agreements
will list course units or groups of course units which correspond to the home
course units against which academic recognition will be given. The home course
units might indeed be written on the learning agreement alongside the host
course units. On return, the successful student is awarded credit in respect of
the home institution's course units. The total number of credits recognised in
this way should match the total number awarded by the host. Thus full academic
recognition is given.

This second model is the more difficult to use, but unit-by-unit transfer is
needed for some national systems and for the specific requirements of some
professions. Where the home course includes elective material as a curriculum
requirement, credit transfer in respect of these components may be particularly
simple. Indeed, institutions can use student mobility with ECTS to extend the
range of options available to their students.

PARTIAL FAILURE

The award of credit is the responsibility of the host institution, and students
sometimes return home with fewer credits than they had hoped. If the host
institution offers their own students a second attempt at an assessment, the
mobile student should take advantage of this procedure. When the host's
procedures are at an end, the matter of the students' progress rests with the
home institution, in accordance with its rules.

In the event of serious failure, the student may need to repeat the period of
study at the home institution, lengthening the student's course. Credit should
be transferred for any course units in which the student has succeeded. In the
event of partial failure, the home institution may permit the student to take
its own assessments, and may then award its own credit. Institutional rules are
very diverse in this respect.

ECTS COORDINATORS

Institutions using ECTS will appoint an ECTS institutional coordinator and one
ECTS departmental coordinator for every participating department or faculty.
Their role will be to deal with the administrative and academic aspects of ECTS
and to advise students.

This section describes in general terms the role that ECTS coordinators play in
the implementation process of ECTS, though the precise division of
responsibility between institutional and departmental coordinators may vary from
institution to institution. It is up to the institution to decide on the
division of tasks between ECTS coordinators and other colleagues dealing with
international relations.

The ECTS institutional coordinator

The essential role of the institutional coordinator is to ensure the commitment
of the institution to ECTS principles and mechanisms.

His/her general duties will be to promote ECTS both within the institution and
outside, eg. within international cooperation programmes, to facilitate the
practical implementation of ECTS and to provide support to departmental
coordinators. Especially in large institutions, it is important that the
institutional coordinator be a person sufficiently senior to have strong links
with both the academic and the administrative structures of the institution.

His/her more specific tasks will be to inform students about ECTS and coordinate
the preparation, production and distribution to partners of the information
package(s) with the departmental coordinator(s). The institutional coordinator
will also be responsible for contractual arrangements with the European
Commission and with the National Grant-Awarding Authority.

The ECTS departmental coordinator

The departmental coordinator will usually be the contact person of students and
academic staff within the department or faculty and deal with most practical and
academic aspects of the implementation of ECTS.

He/she will inform students about ECTS in more practical details, eg. provide
students with the information packages available from partner institutions, help
students to fill in the student application form, explain the academic
recognition procedures and documents (learning agreement, transcript of records)
etc. The departmental coordinator will guide the student to devise a programme
of studies combining academic requirements with individual interests.

Communication between home and host institutions is normally conducted by
departmental coordinators who will exchange application forms and signed copies,
discuss programmes of studies, prepare transcripts of records for outgoing
students before their study period abroad as well as for returning students at
the end of their study period in the institution.

Departmental coordinators will inform their colleagues about ECTS and its
implications in terms of allocation of credits to all courses of the
department/faculty. He/she will prepare the part of the information package
which deals with their department/faculty.

Both coordinators will ensure smooth integration of incoming students within
their institution. They will also ensure that their outgoing students are making
progress at the host institution by being in regular contact with them.

THE INFORMATION PACKAGE

Each institution using ECTS produces information packages as guides for
potential partners and students and staff at partner institutions, to its
courses, curricula, academic and administrative arrangements. Information
packages are intended to facilitate curriculum transparency, to help teachers
guide students to choose appropriate programmes and plan their studies abroad,
and to provide practical information.

The information packages may be the first contact a student or coordinator has
with another institution so they should be concise documents setting out what
the institution is offerring in such a way that students, guided by their
teachers, can make a realistic assessment of which study abroad option suits
them best. Complementary information can be provided at a later stage, once the
application to a host institution has been accepted.

Information packages should be systematically updated each year and should be
readily accessible to users, students and teaching staff, either in hard copy or
on diskette. Electronic networking among partner institutions has proved an
effective means of disseminating information packages. It is recommended that
each institution should produce its information in the native language and at
least one other EU language and distribute them to their partners in due time in
order to allow students and their teachers to make their choices and to organise
the programme of study abroad.

With the increase in participation in ECTS, there is a move towards the
presentation of ECTS information packages on the Internet. This is an entirely
logical move, but Internet packages can only really replace paper copies when
staff and students of partner institutions all have Internet access on a regular
basis. The following information package structure lends itself well to
Internet. It is obvious that an ECTS information package, whether on paper or
on Internet, must present curricula and course units expressed in ECTS credits
and must avoid any possibility of confusing institutional or national credit
systems with ECTS.

The following notes attempt to address most of the questions to which
prospective ECTS users will want answers in the information packages. It will
be clear that some elements are crucial for implementing ECTS notably:

- good course unit descriptions;
- details of examination systems and grading schemes;
- credits.

Other elements are very useful in practice and a checklist of contents of
information packages is offered below together with some examples of good
practice. It is up to institutions to organise their information packages;
however, the following structure is recommended as one which has been tested and
proven to be effective by institutions using ECTS.

CHECKLIST OF ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE IN AN INFORMATION PACKAGE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION - WHAT IS ECTS?
I - THE INSTITUTION

A. Name and address
B. Academic calendar
C. The institutional coordinator
D. General description of the institution
E. Registration procedures

II - GENERAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION

A. Host country formalities
B. Getting there
C. Cost of living
D. Accommodation
E. Health and insurance
1. Medical facilities
2. Special needs students
3. Insurance cover
F. Study facilities at the host institution
1. Libraries
2. Specialist facilities
G. Other practical information
H. Extra-mural and leisure activities

III - THE DEPARTMENT

A - General description
Information on the department and characteristics general to all
courses.
B - Degree structure
1. Qualifications
2. Course structure diagram
C - Individual Course Units
1. Identification
2. Description
3. Level
4. Mandatory or optional course units
5. Teaching staff
6. Length and period (1st semester, 2nd semester etc.)
7. Teaching and learning methods
8. Assessment
9. The language
10. ECTS credit allocation

IV - GLOSSARY

V- EXAMPLES OF GOOD PRACTICE

INDICATION OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION - WHAT IS ECTS?

The introduction gives a brief description of ECTS, largely for the benefit of
students reading the information package. A specimen introduction (based on
the opening pages of this Users’ Guide) is shown in the appendix.

I - THE INSTITUTION

A - Name and address

Complete name and address, including telephone and telefax numbers (with country
and region or city dialling codes) and e-mail box. A map of the town or city
centre, or university campus, may give a good general idea of where the
institution and its different premises are situated.

B - Academic calendar

Dates of the academic year, course programme (year, semesters, terms), main
examination periods and holidays.

C - The ECTS institutional coordinator

Comprehensive contact information, including the full name, address, telephone
and telefax numbers, and e-mail box for both the coordinator and those who take
over when s/he is not available. Times at which the coordinator is most likely
to be available in person should be indicated.

D - General description of the institution

Brief history of the institution followed by a description of its size
(enrolments, staff strength), status (public or private, university or
non-university), organisation and structure.

E - Registration procedures

Information under this heading is essential in determining the feasibility of a
study abroad programme. It should include the following where applicable:

1) Application deadline;
2) Dates and deadlines for registration and documents to be completed and
submitted and the deadlines for them;
3) Details regarding any preparatory programme or induction course, where
applicable;
4) Linguistic requirements, including the level of proficiency advised or
required, any mandatory certificate of ability, and language preparation courses
or proficiency tests, etc.;
5) Information as to any financial outlay required from students.

II - GENERAL PRACTICAL INFORMATION

A - Host country formalities

Details of what is expected of any adult visitor to the country of the host
institution. Students should be clearly aware of the formalities involved in
obtaining residence or work permits (where necessary) and registering with the
appropriate national, regional or local authorities.

The information package might also provide a check-list of key practical matters
a student should think about before departure abroad.

B - Getting there

Besides giving the official postal address, telephone and telefax numbers and
e-mail box of the institution, students should know exactly where, when and to
whom they have to report on arrival.

C - Cost of living

An indication of the average cost of living in the place of study abroad should
be given. Where possible, it should include examples of likely expenditure
levels for key items to be considered in the budget of students abroad for
several months and any special facilities available to students (restaurants,
cafeteria, etc.).

D - Accommodation

The present section should provide full details on the contact persons, points
and hours within the host higher education institution or elsewhere, where
foreign students can obtain advice and help in finding suitable accommodation.

The formalities students may have to complete to secure it should be clearly
itemized. Deadlines and rules for registration should be stated. Where
applicable, the availability of accommodation for students with special needs,
including the handicapped, or those accompanied by partners or children should
be indicated. Students should be informed of the comparative costs of different
types of accommodation, and associated expenditure and formalities.

E - Health and insurance

1. Medical facilities
Prospective students should receive information about the conditions under which
they may benefit from medical facilities and hospital services.

2. Special needs students
Complete name and address, telephone and telefax numbers, and e-mail box of the
service which students with special needs should contact.

3. Insurance cover
Students should be informed as to how they may obtain insurance cover under the
social security system of the host country, and about alternatives which may be
available to cover health and other risks where state provision appears
inadequate.

F - Study facilities at the host institution

1. Libraries
Information on the scale, scope and location of library provision and associated
facilities at the institution should be given in this section, as should all
charges relating to their use. Opening hours and periods and conditions for the
loan of books etc. should be especially clearly stated.

2. Specialist facilities
Facilities, e.g. laboratories, computer facilities, hospital premises for
medical students, etc. will be described in the departmental section.

G - Other practical information

Practical information on banks, public transport etc.

H - Extra-mural and leisure activities

A brief reference to student union or other student associations (contact
points, formalities and conditions of membership) and sport and cultural
activities available to students may be included under this heading.
Supplementary information on leisure activities can be provided separately.

III - THE DEPARTMENT

A - General description of the department

1. The ECTS departmental coordinator: Comprehensive contact information,
including the full name, address (including P.O. box where applicable),
telephone and telefax numbers, and e-mail box for both the coordinator and those
who take over when s/he is not available. Times at which the coordinator is most
likely to be available in person should be indicated.

2. Brief description of the structure and organisation of the department,
including the number of staff and students, and an indication of the main
research interests.

3. Brief description of the specialist facilities (library, laboratory,
workshop or other premises and equipment, etc.).

4. List of the degree programmes offered and duration of studies.

5. A description of the principal teaching and learning methods used and on
the ways in which students are assessed including, for example, written and oral
examinations, the results of practical laboratory assignments or fieldwork, the
satisfactory completion of placements, or the writing of a satisfactory thesis.
If assessment is done differently for each course unit, details will be given
under “Individual course units” below (under C).

6. The local grading scale: each higher institution uses a grading system.
There are many different systems in Europe. The information should describe the
system used by the institution, if necessary per course unit in order to
facilitate the conversion of grades or marks to a rating on the ECTS grading
scale (for further details, see the section on “The ECTS grading scale”).

B - Degree structure

This section should complement the information given immediately above to
include the following:

1. Qualifications

Description and structure of the regular degree programmes offered in
the department (no special course unit need to be designed for ECTS purposes
only). Information on how students could fulfil the requirements for a
degree/qualification.

2. Course structure diagram

It is useful to make a diagram or table of the structure of the degree
programme(s), showing the number of ECTS credits allocated to each course unit.
See the examples at the end of this section (see also the section on “ECTS
Credits”).

C - Individual course units

In principle all course units should be included in the information package.

Course units are defined by the department and they may be grouped into larger
modules or blocks of learning within the global course structure.

In cases where the availability of course units may depend on a minimum number
of students enrolling, that minimum should be clearly indicated.

Though research in itself is excluded from ECTS, students may undertake research
projects essential to obtaining a degree (e.g. the U.K. Master’s degree).
Projects of this kind should thus be well-defined in the information package,
with credits allocated and assessment procedures and methods described (see
below).

The description of the individual course units is the most important part of the
information package. Its preparation requires special care and should include
the following:

1. Identification

The title of the course unit and its code (if any).

2. Description

A clear description of the content of each unit. While ideally concise,
the presentation should be sufficiently detailed for potential partners to
understand the topics and themes covered.

3. Level

Course unit level may be indicated with reference to the following:
a) Prerequisite: an indication of the prior knowledge assumed at the start of
the course unit, including a guide to the books and other course learning
material students might usefully consult in advance, pre-requisite courses;
b) Aims and objectives: the description of the intended learning outcomes of
each course unit, in terms of its aims and objectives;
c) Bibliography: any books or other learning material which they will be
required to use as the course unit progresses.

4. Compulsory or optional course units

The information package should state whether the course unit is
compulsory in that it must be successfully completed by all students seeking to
obtain a given qualification/degree at that institution, or whether it is one of
a range of options, only a limited number of which have to be completed.

5. Teaching staff

Full names should be given for staff involved in the delivery of a
course unit.

6. Length

The total time normally required to complete the course unit should
include the number of hours devoted to it each week, and the term, semester and
year of the overall course in which it is normally taken, with a possible
cross-reference to any diagramme under B - 2. above. Where topics from different
units are studied in parallel, the percentage of time spent per day per topic
should be indicated if possible.

7. Teaching and learning methods

Details will be given on the following kinds of teaching and learning
methods, the hours per week and the number of weeks devoted to them:
a) lectures;
b) tutorials (conventional tutorial arrangements or special provision
for individual tutoring should be specified);
c) group seminars or workshops;
d) laboratory work;
e) project or fieldwork;
f) other practical activity;
g) distance teaching methods (where applicable);
h) other methods.

8. Assessment

The nature, duration, timing and frequency of forms of assessment
specific to the course unit should be carefully enumerated and described.
Examination periods may have to be stated if different from the standard
examination periods of the institution.

Examination procedures and formalities should be detailed, for instance
deadlines for registration.

In some institutions, special arrangements are allowed for mobile students, e.g.
the authorization for them to sit exams in languages other than that of the host
institution, the use of dictionaries in exams, or extended time limits for the
completion of exam papers, etc. Similar arrangements should be indicated.

There should be similar information about the procedures and arrangements for
students wishing to re-sit exams, including also the dates (often
out-of-semester/term) at which they can do so.

The following are likely to be among the common ways in which student
performance is measured:

a) written or oral examinations;
b) essays;
c) dissertations - The language in which dissertations are to be given must
be agreed between home and host institutions prior to the students’ departure.
The number of credits must be clearly established;
d) theses - The language in which theses are to be prepared and the way in
which they will be assessed should be agreed between home and host institutions
prior to the students’ departure. Theses should normally be written in
accordance with academic practice at the host institution, and any courses which
may be linked to their preparation should be identified and explained in
accordance with the recommendations of this Guide. The aims and expected
learning outcomes should be made as explicit as possible, and the number of
credits must be clearly established. Students should be made fully aware of the
deadline for the completion of theses;

e) projects or practical work;
f) placements must be open to students if their completion is an integral
part of the host institution qualification. Credits allocated to placements
should be clearly stated and students must know how the outcomes of any
placement will be measured;

g) testimonial;
h) continuous assessment.

How learning is assessed and the relative importance attached to the different
stages and types of assessment should be specified as clearly as possible. For
example, students should know if they will be less penalised for a poor
end-of-semester exam result if they have performed well in practical work or
essay writing over that semester.

9. The language

Any course units offered in languages other than the native one should be
specified.

10. ECTS credit allocation

A credit rating must be allocated to all course units on the basis of 60 credits
for an academic year, even where the latter are grouped into modules or larger
course “blocks”. A rating must also be given to substantial projects (theses,
dissertations, laboratory assignments, fieldwork, etc.) within units. (For
further information, see the section -- “ECTS credits”).

IV - GLOSSARY

A glossary of the terminology used in the information package could be useful to
avoid misunderstandings. For instance, a “seminar” may have a different meaning
in different countries.

THE STUDENT APPLICATION FORM AND LEARNING AGREEMENT

The student application form

After having chosen a host institution, looked carefully at the host
institution’s information package and consulted his/her ECTS departmental
coordinator, the student will fill in a student application form.

In order to fill in the form, the student must already have a precise idea on
the programme of study he/she wishes to follow at the host institution,
elaborated in conjunction with the home institution’s ECTS departmental
coordinator and with the agreement of the home institution’s ECTS institutional
coordinator.

The student may also wish to include a second or even third choice of host
institution in the application form, should the first choice of destination not
be accepted. In this case, the student, with the approval of the coordinator,
will have to prepare a learning agreement for each intended destination.

The learning agreement

When the three parties involved - the student, the home institution and the host
institution - agree about the study programme abroad, they sign a learning
agreement attached to the application form. This agreement, which describes the
programme of study abroad, must be signed before the student leaves for the host
institution. Good practice in the use of the learning agreement is a vitally
important aspect of ECTS.

The student agrees to undertake the programme of study at the host institution
as an integral part of his or her higher education.

The home institution provides the student with a guarantee that the home
institution will give full academic recognition in respect of the course units
listed on the agreement. The institution should consider carefully who should
sign this agreement on its behalf. It is good practice that the institution
also gives the student a written record showing exactly how the academic
recognition will be carried out, for example, which of the institution’s course
units will be shown as being completed at the host. If the programme of study
is to receive only partial recognition, or if the home institution is to award
some of the credits itself, this must be made clear on the learning agreement.

The host institution confirms that the programme of study is acceptable and does
not conflict with the host inst

e-mail: intacrel@istanbul.edu.tr