ECTS - European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
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ECTS - European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System
ECTS makes teaching and learning more transparent and facilitates the recognition of studies (formal and non-formal). The system is used across Europe for credit transfer (student mobility) and credit accumulation (learning paths towards a degree). It also informs curriculum design and quality assurance.
Institutions which apply ECTS publish their course catalogues on the web, including detailed descriptions of study programmes, units of learning, university regulations and student services. Course descriptions contain learning outcomes (what students are expected to know, understand and be able to do) and workload (the time students typically need to achieve the learning outcomes), expressed in terms of credits.
Credit transfer and accumulation are helped by the use of the ECTS key documents (course catalogue, learning agreement, and transcript of records) as well as the Diploma Supplement. ECTS can feed into recognition decisions. These decisions, however, remain the responsibility of the competent authorities: professors involved in student exchange, university admission officers, recognition advisory centers, ministry officials or employers.
The EQF - European Qualifications Framework will make the current official validation (homologation) procedures unnecessary in most cases.
Since 2005, Bircham International University adhered to the guidelines established by the ECTS.
The European Union values non formal education and training
- Countries around Europe are increasingly emphasising the need to take account of the full range of an individual’s knowledge, skills and competences.
- Recognising all forms of learning is therefore a priority of EU action in education and training.
Learning takes place in different settings and contexts, formal and non-formal. Learning that is taking place in the formal education and training system is traditionally the most visible and the one likely to be recognized in the labor market and by society in general. In recent years, however, there has been a growing appreciation that learning in non-formal settings is seen as crucial for the realization of lifelong learning, thus requiring new strategies for identification and validation of these learning outcomes.
The validation of non-formal learning is a key element in national lifelong learning strategies developed by countries participating in the EU’s ‘Education and Training 2010’ programme. Countries are at different stages in developing systems to support this validation – some have established systems, while others are only beginning to develop provision in this field.
The European Union is taking the steps for the future recognition of non-formal independent learning such the one offered by Bircham International University. BIU HQ is based in Europe and will benefit from this recognition.
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