ECTS

What is ECTS?

ECTS is short for European Credit Transfer System. It is credit system created to make studies and courses more transparent European-wide and to replace or complement the different local (national) standards within Europe.

The credit system is based on the student workload required to achieve the objectives of a course or programme. The ECTS system requires that every assignment states the estimated number of student work hours needed to fulfil this requirement.

ECTS and student learning hours

At University of Copenhagen 1 ECTS is equivalent to 27 student learning hours.

The student learning hours include all activities needed to accomplish the intended educational outcomes. These learning activities can be:

• class sessions,
• reading,
• paper assignments,
• presentations,
• supervised learning activities,
• internships,
• mentoring,
• or any other activity that will help the student reach the intended educational outcomes.

ECTS converter – full-time studies

• 1 year of full-time studies equals 60 ECTS (1620 student learning hours)
• 1 semester of full-time studies equals 30 ECTS (810 student learning hours)

Bachelor and Master programmes in ECTS:

• A 3-year Bachelor’s programme equals 180 ECTS-credits
• A 2-year Master’s programme equals 120 ECTS-credits

ECTS converter - other countries’ credit systems

Please note that the overview is indicative. There may exist variations within a country’s credit systems.

It is your responsibility to check your transcript to verify the credit score at your university.