ECTS at Linköping University

Linköping University has participated in ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) projects since its very beginning and implements ECTS fully for both incoming and outgoing students.

ECTS was developed by the European Commission in order to provide common procedures to guarantee academic recognition of studies abroad.

ECTS credits are a value allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them. They reflect the amount of work each course requires including lectures, practical work, seminars, private study – in the library or at home – and examinations or other assessment activities.

Credits

In ECTS, 60 credits represent the workload of one year of study; normally 30 credits are given for a semester and 20 credits for a term. Credits are awarded when the course has been completed and all the required examinations have been passed. Credits can also be allocated to project work, papers and practical placements.

Starting with the 2007 academic year Sweden has introduced a new credit system, which is compatible with the ECTS credit system. Under the new Swedish system, one academic year of full-time studies is equivalent to 60 credits.

The Transcript of Records, issued upon the completion of your studies, indicates the credits and the grades according to both the Swedish system and ECTS.

Credits are transferred from one participating university to another on the basis of the prior learning agreement between the student and the universities involved. Credit transfer takes place when the student has successfully completed the study programme previously agreed on and returns to his/her home university.

Grading

The performance of the student is documented by a local/national grade.

It is good practice to add an ECTS grade, in particular in case of credit transfer. The ECTS grading scale ranks the students on a statistical basis. Grades are assigned among students with a pass grade as follows:

A best 10%
B next 25%
C next 30%
D next 25%
E next 10%
FX and F are failure rates.

Local grading systems

As LiU employs several grading systems, grading differs from one faculty to another and from one course to another. When awarded to students on international programmes offered in any other language than Swedish, grades are translated according to the ECTS and stated in the Diploma Supplement.

• Two grades: Pass or Fail, recorded as ECTS pass or fail.
• Three grades: Pass with Distinction, Pass or Fail, recorded as ECTS A, C or Fx.
• Four grades: Pass with Distinction 5, Pass with Credit 4, Pass 3 or Fail, recorded as ECTS A, B, C or Fx.

• ECTS - European Credit Transfer System at the European Commission website

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Last updated: Mon Mar 26 10:10:05 CEST 2012