ECTS credit points - regulations
ECTS Course Catalogue
The Bologna Process aims to facilitate mobility by providing common tools (such as a European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System – ECTS and the Diploma Supplement) to ensure that periods of study abroad are recognised. These tools are used to promote transparency in higher education by allowing degree programmes and qualifications awarded in one country to be understood in another.
A structure (incorporating these elements) is being implemented through the development of national and European qualifications frameworks, which aim to provide a clearly defined system which is easy for students, institutions and employers to comprehend.
Gdansk Higher School of Humanities shall respect the following rules:
I
1) The credit points system employed at Gdansk Higher School of Humanities is accordant with the regulations included in ‘European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System and Diploma Supplement’ drawn by the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission in 2004.
2) The credit system allocates each course with a given number of ECTS credit points on the basis of the student’s workload necessary to gain a credit for each course. The points reflect the ‘amount’ of work that the course requires in reference to the total number of points envisaged for the full academic year in each degree programme.
3) The ECTS system is a part of the study programme. The points distributions is agreed upon by the Department Council in the study programme.
4) By the Rector’s decision, University ECTS Coordinator supervises and coordinates the functioning of the ECTS credit points at Gdansk Higher School of Humanities. The Coordinator’s competences are described in a separate document.
5) The Dean is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the ECTS credit point system in each Department.
6) Gdansk Higher School of Humanities will follow the rule to attach the same number of points to both full-time and part-time programme courses.
7) The student’s workload includes all activities under the supervision of an academic teacher – lectures, practical workshops, seminars, etc., as well as individual work e.g. done at home, in a library as well as examinations and other modes of assessment.
8) The distribution of ECTS credits is based on the following assumptions: one ECTS credit equals 25-30 hour workload such as: attending classes at GWSH, exam preparation, reading, project preparation and presentation, class preparation, giving presentations, etc.
9) The ECTS system is aimed at documenting student’s progress and is not synonymous with an assessment system, which is an independent instrument for measuring academic achievement.
2.
1. The rules for ECTS credits are the same for all degree courses in the full-time and part-time mode in the Institution.
2. The number of ECTS can be an integer or fractional unit.
3. The number of ECTS credits for the course in one semester is at least 30 ECTS credits, in for an academic year at least 60 ECTS and is an integer.
4. The number of ECTS credits necessary to graduate from full-time and part-time programmes is respectively:
• At least 180 – for 6-semester courses of the first cycle;
• At least 120 – for 4-semester courses of the second cycle.
5. Each student can earn an additional 30 ECTS credits for attending optional, paying courses.
6. ECTS credits are assigned to credits and given to students who have satisfied the criteria for course completion. Students will not be awarded points for attending courses but are obliged to satisfy course requirements according to the criteria drawn for each course – e.g. written examinations, oral examinations, class participation, tests, continuous assessment, etc.
7. ECTS credits are assigned to all courses in the programme and study plan. A course can be in addition divided into separate modules, which facilitates student’s workload estimation and therefore the correct ECTS credit distribution.
8. ECTS credits can be assigned to entire courses as well as individual modules such as: e.g. lectures, workshops, laboratory or project work. This applies only to situations when a course lasts more than one semester or constitutes a separate educational unit.
9. Receiving grades for all courses in a given semester (year) is equivalent to receiving the stipulated number of ECTS credits for the given courses.
10. Credit debt: should the student fail to gain the stipulated number of ECTS credits, they are allowed a credit debt, which allows for progression onto the next semester under the condition that the student has earned a minimum of 20 ECTS credits and not exceeded 10 ECTS credits in debt in total.