At Wittenborg, every student is obliged to gain a minimum of 30 European Credits in a 12 month period. Failure to do so, will result in a negative study advice. For international students with a study permit, it is essential, as this is also part of the Code of Conduct for International Students in Higher Education, to which Wittenborg is a signatory, and therefore related to your residence permit. Of course, if there are special circumstances, then these will always be taken into account.
What are European Credits?
European Credits (ECs) provide an instrument to create transparency, to build bridges between institutions and to widen the choices available to students. The system makes it easier for institutions to recognise the learning achievements of students through the use of commonly understood measurements - credits and grades - and it also provides a means to interpret national systems of higher education.
The European Credit system is based on three core elements: information (on study programmes and student achievement), mutual agreement (between the partner institutions and the student) and the use of European Credits (to indicate student workload). European Credits are a numerical value (between 1 and 60) allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them. They reflect the quantity of work each course unit requires in relation to the total quantity of work necessary to complete a full year of academic study at the institution, i.e. lectures, practical work, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, private study - in the library or at home - and examinations or other assessment activities. European Credit is thus based on a full student workload and not limited to contact hours only.
- One European Credit equals 28 hours of student workload. The total European Credits for passing a normal (four years of education) study year are 60 ECs. Wittenborg offers full bachelor’s programmes of study for three years, therefore, the workload in European Credit is increased to 80 credits per study year.
- European Credits are a relative rather than an absolute measure of student workload. They only specify how much of a year's workload a course unit represents at the institution or department allocating the credits.
- In European Credits, 60 credits represent the workload of a normal undergraduate academic year of study and normally 30 credits for a term. A postgraduate academic year of a full 12 months may have 90 credits.
- European Credits ensure that the programme will be reasonable in terms of workload.
Example: In order to complete successfully the ‘Principles of Marketing’ subject and gain the 5 European Credits assigned to it, the student has to spend 140 hours in workload for this subject. These 140 hours are comprised of 24 contact hours/lectures and 116 hours in practical work, seminars, tutorials, fieldwork, examinations, and preparation time, etc.