ECTS, the European
Community Course Credit Transfer System, was developed by
the Commission of the European Communities in order to
provide common procedures to guarantee academic recognition
of studies abroad. It provides a way of measuring and
comparing learning achievements, and transferring them from
one institution to another. The European Union promotes
study abroad as a means of improving the quality academic
co-operation bringing benefits to students and higher
education institutions. Studying abroad can be a
particularly valuable experience. It is not only the best
way about other countries, ideas, languages and cultures;
increasingly, it is an important way for professional and
academic career development.
The ECTS system is based on the principle of mutual trust
and confidence between the participating higher education
institutions. The few rules of ECTS, concerning Information
(on courses available) Agreement (between the home and the
host institutions) and the Use of Credit Points (to indicate
student workload) are set out to reinforce this mutual trust
and confidence. Each ERASMUS department adopting the ECTS
scheme will describe the courses it offers not only in terms
of content but also adding credits to each course. ECTS
creates curriculum transparency by providing detailed
information on the curricula and their relevance towards a
degree. It helps academics to make academic recognition
decisions thanks to prior agreement on the content of study
programmes abroad between students and the home and host
institutions. The use of ECTS can also be a catalyst for
reflection on course curriculum structure, student workload
and learning outcomes. With ECTS, higher education
institutions preserve their autonomy and responsibility for
all decisions concerning students’ achievements, without
amending existing course structures and assessment methods:
all course and assessments are those which are normally
taken by regular students at the host institution.
