ECTS, or European Credits Transfer and Accumulation System, is a framework used by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) is an international collaboration on higher education by 49 countries to build an area with structural reforms and shared tools.
The main goal for all these countries is to increase staff and student mobility and facilitate employability.
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) makes studies and courses more transparent. It helps students to move between countries and to have their academic qualifications and study periods abroad recognized.
ECTS allows credits taken at one higher education institution to be counted towards a qualification studied at another. ECTS credits represent learning based on defined learning outcomes and their associated workload; it enhances the flexibility of study programs for students; it has been adopted by most of the countries in the European Higher Education Area as the national credit system and is increasingly used elsewhere.
The division of ECTS per class depends on the university and country of study. For example, in France, you earn around 30 ECTS per semester, which is 60 ECTS a year, which is why 180 ECTS is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree. Additionally, 120 ECTS is a master’s degree (even if you have studied each year of your course in different countries).
Note: some countries and/or universities (for ex.: Germany) allow a student to take up classes amounting to more than 30ECTS per semester, while others do not allow it.
The equivalent grades in some countries are:
