European Credit Transfer System

The European Credit Transfer system (ECTS) was introduced as a tool within the framework of the ERASMUS/SOCRATES programme between 1988 and 1995. It was aimed that this would facilitate the recognition of the courses for these exchange students when returning home to their own institution. However, under the framework of the Bologna Process it became a tool that should be used for all students, and not only for the purposes of recognition. It should however be noted that the implementation of ECTS has been fairly problematic in most countries. The current discussion surrounding the extension of ECTS from purely a transfer to an accumulation system as well has also posed new challenges.

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 a normal undergraduate academic year of study and normally 30 credits for a semester and 20 credits for a term. A postgraduate academic year of a full 12 months may have 90 credits.

ESU's opinion on the matter
ESU welcomes the ECTS both as a transfer and as an accumulation system and demands its implementation throughout the European HEIs. However, the implementation of the ECTS has to fulfil certain criteria and must not be done just for the sake of having ECTS as a credit system. ESU calls upon the governments to establish a legal framework for the use of ECTS and upon the Higher Education Institutions to implement it properly. The ECTS has to be used for all students in all study programmes. The ECTS has to be implemented in such a manner that access to higher education is widened as much as possible.