ECTS Credits Certification for EAHEA Accredited Courses
EAHEA evaluates and certifies the qualification of an institution to issue ECTS credits for a course or program of study of at least 150 hours. To obtain this qualification, the institution demonstrates that the corresponding learning outcomes and hours of study of the course, training or program of study have been met.
EAHEA guides educational institutions on ECTS, recommends improvements based on a comparison of their existing study programs with their European counterparts, makes recommendations on the organization of program curricula, and issues a guidance certificate to institutions that meet the ECTS criteria, which enables the conversion of existing credits into ECTS credits.
Who can apply? ECTS Certification is available to institutions that hold an EAHEA Course Accreditation, because it certifies the ECTS credits of the accredited courses. If your institution does not hold a Course Accreditation, apply for Program Accreditation instead, the broader service, which combines the scope of Course Accreditation and ECTS Certification for a whole degree program.
What Are ECTS Credits?
ECTS stands for the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. It is a tool that enables students to collect credits for learning achieved through higher education. ECTS is a learner-centered system that aims to increase the transparency of learning outcomes and learning processes, and to facilitate the planning, delivery, evaluation, recognition and validation of qualifications and units of learning, as well as student mobility. It is widely used in formal higher education and can also be applied to other lifelong learning activities.
ECTS credits are based on the workload that students need to achieve the expected learning outcomes. Learning outcomes describe what a learner is expected to know, understand and be able to do after successfully completing a process of learning, and they relate to the level descriptors of national and European qualifications frameworks. Workload indicates the time that students typically need to complete all the learning activities (lectures, seminars, projects, practical work, self-study and examinations) required to achieve those outcomes.
One ECTS credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of study work. Sixty ECTS credits are attached to the workload of a full-time academic year, which in most cases ranges from 1,500 to 1,800 hours.
Credits are allocated to entire qualifications and study programs as well as to their educational components, such as modules, course units, dissertation work, work placements and laboratory work. The number of credits of each component is based on its weight in terms of the workload that students need to achieve the learning outcomes. Credits are awarded to individual students, full-time or part-time, after they complete the learning activities required by a program of study or a single component and their learning outcomes have been successfully assessed. Credits may be accumulated to obtain qualifications, as decided by the degree-awarding institution. If students have achieved learning outcomes in other contexts or timeframes (formal, non-formal or informal), the associated credits may be awarded after successful assessment, validation or recognition, and credits awarded in one program may be transferred into another program, offered by the same or another institution.
Institutions that use ECTS publish their course catalogs on the web, with detailed descriptions of study programs, units of learning, regulations and student services. The course descriptions contain the learning outcomes and the workload, expressed in credits and hours of study. Credit transfer and accumulation are supported by the ECTS key documents (the course catalog, the learning agreement and the transcript of records) and by the Diploma Supplement. ECTS can feed into decisions on recognition, but these decisions remain the responsibility of the competent authorities: professors involved in student exchange, university admission officers, recognition advisory centers, ministry officials and employers.
Countries across Europe increasingly emphasize the need to take account of the full range of an individual’s knowledge, skills and competencies, and the recognition of all forms of learning is a priority of EU action in education quality and accreditation. Learning that takes place in the formal education and training system is the most visible and the most likely to be recognized by the labor market and by society. Learning in non-formal settings is increasingly appreciated as crucial for lifelong learning, and it calls for new strategies to identify and validate its outcomes. The European Qualifications Framework (EQF) will make the current official validation (homologation) procedures unnecessary in most cases when education and training are provided according to the ECTS guidelines.
The European Union has no legal competence in matters of education: regulations are set by the Ministry of Education or the designated body of each country. The ministries of education of the European countries (including the EU countries, Turkey and Russia) signed the Bologna Declaration to bring their educational models together on the basis of the ECTS guidelines. Its goals are to facilitate international student mobility, to adapt university curricula to the demands of society and to improve education quality and competitiveness through a better understanding and transparency of what has been studied in each country. Non-formal education initiatives are not covered by the Bologna Declaration but by the legal framework of their own countries. The European Higher Education Area recognizes their importance and recommends that they follow the ECTS guidelines.
Following the ECTS guidelines does not mean that any other institution or organization has to accept the credits. Each institution is free to accept and validate ECTS credits obtained at other institutions, whether formal or non-formal. Expressing a program of education in the ECTS format, however, makes it easier to understand and to recognize.
How Are ECTS Credits Certified?
An educational institution that wishes to issue ECTS credits for a training course of at least 150 hours demonstrates, through the Application for Accreditation (Self-Assessment Report), that several of the standards of EAHEA are met. To apply for the certification, the school or institution:
- opens the Online Application page and fills in the EAHEA Application Form for ECTS Credits Certification;
- pays the whole fee, the application fee and the certification fee together, at once when it applies (this fee is not refundable);
- waits for the review of the application and for the evaluation report of EAHEA.
EAHEA applies the same procedures as in the process of educational accreditation, with some limitations and adaptations that result from the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area on ECTS credits. The application is the same as the application for accreditation, but not all the standards need to be addressed: 12 of the 26 accreditation quality standards in the application are required, and the cost of this process is therefore lower. The required accreditation standards are available as a PDF document.
Once the application is received, EAHEA guides the institution in adapting to the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area on issuing ECTS credits. The certified school receives an evaluation report that notes any improvement or adaptation that is needed to meet the European guidelines on ECTS credits. When the whole process has been completed satisfactorily, the school also receives a certification diploma. Certified institutions may be included in the list of EAHEA accredited institutes, provided that the corresponding yearly membership fee is paid.
What Do You Get upon ECTS Certification?
- ECTS Certification Document
- ECTS Certification Evaluation Report
- Guidance on the ECTS credits of your courses and programs
- E-delivery news alerts and newsletter
- Discounts for all EAHEA sponsored events
What Are the ECTS Certification Fees?
All service fees follow the World Bank Country Income Classification, and additional discounts may apply depending on the economic situation of the country in which your institution carries out most of its activity or in which it is legally established. For the ECTS Certification Fees, please visit the Service Fees page.
Payment: The price is paid at once, in full, when you apply.
Renewal: The certification is valid for one year and is renewed each year for the renewal fee. If your institution holds a valid Full Accreditation, Online Accreditation or Associate Membership on the renewal date, the partner discount shown on the Service Fees page applies to the renewal fee. A certification that is not renewed ends. A major change to a certified course or program (hours of study, ECTS credits, learning outcomes, educational content, name, level or delivery mode) is reviewed again and a change fee is charged; a minor change needs only a notice. Fees are not refundable, except an amount that was paid twice or by mistake.
Important Clarifications
ECTS is the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. It is a directive and not an organization. The European Union does not issue or recognize ECTS credits: it defines them and encourages institutions to use the system for a better understanding and acceptance of educational achievements.
The Bologna Declaration is an agreement and not an institution. The ministries of education committed themselves to changing their different educational systems into the common ECTS credits. Each country has set up accreditation entities to monitor the correct use of the ECTS system by the institutions that fall under the Declaration, and these bodies are obliged to monitor formal education within their countries. Non-formal education may or may not be assessed by them, and it is often not possible to evaluate non-formal education within a formal educational setting.
Any educational institution may issue ECTS credits if it meets the requirements of the European Higher Education Area. Issuing ECTS credits does not change the legal or recognition status of the institution. ECTS credits issued by official or formal educational institutions have official validity, while those issued by non-formal institutions are considered non-formal ECTS credits, and they are more likely to be accepted if they meet the requirements of the European Higher Education Area. ECTS credits that do not meet these requirements are not valid ECTS credits and may have legal consequences.
EAHEA does not represent ECTS, the Bologna Process, the European Union or the European Higher Education Area, and it is not part of them. EAHEA is a Europe-based association that promotes education quality and helps educational institutions by promoting good educational standards through accreditation, and by advising on how to comply with the ECTS credit regulations. The ECTS Certification Document does not replace an official authorization document. It is a document of advice and guidance.
