ECTS explained: credits, workload and recognition

The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System was created to make study achievements comparable across Europe. With the Bologna Process it became the standard in the European Higher Education Area. The idea is simple: instead of counting contact hours or exams, measure the total workload a typical student needs to achieve a module's learning outcomes.

That workload covers everything: lectures and seminars, preparation and follow-up, self-study, exam preparation and the exam itself. A module with little contact time but a lot of self-study can therefore carry as many credits as one with many lectures.

The German states' study accreditation ordinances, based on a common model ordinance, set the key values. One credit corresponds to a total workload of contact time and self-study of 25 to at most 30 hours. As a rule, 30 credits are assumed per semester.

Credits say how much work was done; grades say how well. A module earns its credits once it is successfully completed — as many with a top grade as with a bare pass. Awarding credits does not necessarily require an examination, but successful completion of the module as defined by the examination regulations.

For the overall grade, module grades are usually weighted by credits: a ten-credit module counts twice as much as a five-credit one. Because grading scales differ across Europe, the European Commission's ECTS Users' Guide recommends grade distribution tables showing how grades in a programme are distributed. The Diploma Supplement, which under state law is part of every degree certificate, explains the programme and grading system to readers abroad.

Credits are meant to travel. Students who change university or spend a semester abroad have their achievements recognised. The benchmark is the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (Lisbon Recognition Convention): recognition is granted unless there is a substantial difference — and the university must justify such a difference, rather than the student having to prove the opposite.

Distinct from this is credit for competences acquired outside higher education, for example through a master craftsman qualification or work experience. It is governed by the states' higher education acts, which usually set a ceiling, often up to half of a programme's credits. The basis is always a comparison of learning outcomes, not simply time spent.

In a digital university every student sees their ECTS account: how many credits are passed, what is still missing and the weighted grade average. The examinations office maintains results with grade, credits and examiner; additional achievements that do not count towards the degree are kept separately.

Digital formats are gaining importance for exchange between universities. European credentials based on the European Learning Model can include credits in machine-readable form, so the receiving university does not have to retype them.

Because credits are everywhere, they are often misread. The most common misunderstanding: more credits mean a harder or more valuable module. In fact credits only show planned workload. A demanding seminar with few hours can carry fewer credits than an extensive but easier placement.

Equally widespread is the assumption that credits transfer freely between universities. Recognition is not automatic: the receiving university compares learning outcomes and decides whether and for what it recognises the achievement. And finally: credits from training outside higher education are only ECTS credits in the true sense if they were awarded under the same rules for workload and learning outcomes.