The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is a student-centered system. It is based on the workload that students must complete in order to achieve the objectives of a learning program, objectives that are preferably defined in terms of learning outcomes and competences to be acquired.

The ECTS system was introduced in 1989 as part of Erasmus (now part of the Socrates program). It is the only credit system that has been successfully tested and is used throughout Europe. It was originally set up for the recognition of academic achievements. The system facilitated the recognition of study periods abroad and thus improved the quality and scope of student mobility in Europe. For some time now, it has been further developed into an accumulation system that is to be implemented at institutional, regional, national and European level. This is one of the central objectives of the Bologna Declaration of June 1999.

The ECTS system makes it easier for all students - local and foreign - to understand and compare degree programs. The system facilitates mobility and academic recognition. It helps universities to organize and revise their courses. The ECTS can be used for many study programs and types of knowledge transfer. It makes European higher education more attractive to students from other continents.

• The ECTS system is based on the agreement that the workload of full-time students during an academic year is equivalent to 60 ECTS credits. The workload of full-time students in Europe is in most cases 36 to 40 weeks per year; in these cases one credit corresponds to 24-30 working hours. The workload refers to the average time students need to achieve the required learning outcomes.

• Crediting also makes it possible to quantify the learning outcomes. These outcomes are competencies that demonstrate what students know, understand or can do after completing a short or long learning process. Students only receive credits in the ECTS system after completing the work to be done and the corresponding assessment of the learning outcomes achieved.

• The allocation of ECTS credits is based on the official, statutory duration of study for the section of a degree program. The total workload that must be completed in order to obtain a first academic degree after officially three or four years is 180 or 240 credits.

• The student workload in the ECTS system includes the time spent on lectures, seminars, independent study, preparation for and participation in examinations, etc.

• Credits are allocated to all educational components of a degree program (e.g. modules, courses, internships, thesis, etc.) and reflect the workload for each component in relation to the total workload to be completed for a full academic year in the degree program concerned.

• The assessment of the student's performance is documented by a locally/nationally awarded grade. It is good practice, especially in the case of credit transfer, to add an ECTS grade. The ECTS grading scale classifies students according to statistical criteria. Therefore, statistical data on student performance is a prerequisite for the application of the ECTS grading system. Successful students receive the following grades:
  A best 10 %
  B next 25%
  C next 30%
  D next 25%
  E next 10 %
  A distinction is also made between the grades FX and F, which are awarded to unsuccessful students. FX means: “Failed - improvement required before credit can be awarded”, and F means: “Failed - significant improvement required”. It is not mandatory to indicate the failure rates in the transcript of records.