European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)
Originally set up in 1989 as a pilot scheme within the framework for the Erasmus programme, the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is student-centred and based on student workload required to achieve a programme's objectives. These objectives should preferably be specified in terms of learning outcomes and competences acquired. It is based on the principle that the workload of a full-time student during one academic year is equal to 60 credits. Credits are allocated to all educational components of a study programme (including modules, courses, placements, dissertation work, etc). There is no direct link between contact hours and credits.
ECTS has been identified as one of the cornerstones of the European Higher Education Area. There are three documentary elements to ECTS:
- An information pack/course catalogue for incoming students from outside the host nation
- A learning agreement specifying courses to be taken and agreed by the student and their home and host universities
- A transcript of records detailing student performance in courses taken calculated in both the local grading system and ECTS
ECTS has been adopted by law in some countries as the recognised accumulation system for their own higher education sector and it has also become a requirement for accreditation in some areas.
ECTS and the UK credits system
The UK credits system does not map neatly on to ECTS, for example a standard UK Masters would be worth 180 UK credits, this translates as 90 ECTS credits and 75 is the maximum that can be accumulated in a year if adhering strictly to the scheme.
Further resources
There has been some concern expressed by the UK about the ECTS and the relationship between student workload (expressed in measurements of time) and learning outcomes with an emphasis on workload which, as a result, "fails to take account of the reality of lifelong learning; that qualifications are designed to be delivered faster or slower than the traditional academic patterns". [The Burgess Report (Final report of the Burgess Group on credit in England), 2004. Annex D Note from the UK Higher Education Europe Unit: Guidance on articulation between the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and the UK's credit systems, p45].
Unlike the ECTS Users' Guide, the government-approved Bologna Framework for Qualifications is based completely on learning outcomes and makes no reference to the recommended number of hours of study per year. The framework aims to, "allow higher education institutions and credential evaluators to move away from measurement indicators that focus on formal procedures (admissions criteria, length of studies, qualification titles, years/hours of study undertaken) to focus on the results of learning." [The Burgess Report, 2004].
Benefits
The scheme offers a number of benefits, the most obvious perhaps is that it helps to facilitate a much more mobile education system - students can move around institutions and participating countries with a degree of ease as a result of their efforts being recognised and transferable.
Institutions can also benefit from being involved in the scheme as it can help to heighten their profile, allowing recognition of their institution which can help in encouraging students from other countries to come to UK institutions and for others to return.
ECTS and Erasmus
The Erasmus programme enables higher education students, teachers and institutions in 31 European countries to study for part of their degree in another country.
All participating institutions are strongly recommended to use ECTS points for transfer purposes. As a consequence a large majority of UK HEIs use ECTS for transfers, "within the European area and to recognise learning gained by students on exchange visits with institutions elsewhere in Europe" [The Burgess Report, 2004 p41] generally by providing a mapping between local credit values and the ECTS systems. In some case, such as at the University of Bath, the ECTS values have been adopted as the local system.
Other connections
The Diploma Supplement template includes a record of ECTS credits. Further information is available in the ECTS/Diploma Supplement Users' Guide and forms.
Issues such as recognition, accumulation and transfer of credits are an integral part of curriculum design and delivery. JISC is currently funding work on Institutional Approaches to Curriculum Design and Transforming Curriculum Delivery Through Technology which may surface more evidence in this area.
The Tuning Educational Structures in Europe project is at the heart of the Bologna Process. It links the political objectives set in the Bologna Declaration of 1999 to the Higher Education sector. It's a project developed by Higher Education Institutions for Higher Education Institutions and focuses on educational structures and content of studies.
JISC funded the original eXchanging Course-Related Information (XCRI) project, a UK-oriented project to establish a specification to support the improved linking of course-related information. The resulting output has been widely undertaken and built on by a range of institutions and projects both in the UK and further afield.
The Higher Education Academy Subject Centres can provide further information on subject-specific issues.
