The basic idea of EU’s ERASMUS exchange programme is to transfer cre-dits from a foreign university in full in the home university. Hence foreign stu-dies will not prolong the total length of the studies. In order to make the credit transfer as flexible as possible, the EU has introduced an ECTS system. It enables the comparison of the extent of studies and grades in various countries. One part of the system is an agreement on studies (Learning Agreement), which is made by the student and accepted by both universities before going abroad.
Savonia University of Applied Sciences uses the ECTS system. Vice Rector Mervi Vidgren is ECTS Institutional Coordinator of Savonia University of Ap-plied Sciences. The ECTS Departmental Coordinators you will find by clicking the link.
ECTS system
The aim of the ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) is to facilitate the planning and implementation of degrees and study modules, and to improve mutual recognition of credits and grades in Europe in order to make student mobility easier. The use of this system increases the transpa-rency of both curriculums and students’ credits, and their mutual comparison. The extent of studies and assessment in various countries can be compared with the ECTS grading scale and ECTS credits.
The main ECTS documents are the Study Guide, Application Forms, Learn-ing Agreement and Transcript of Records. They all are in use at Savonia UAS.
In the ECTS system the study point is credit (cr). The Finnish credit (op, cr) is equal to the ECTS credit. The average annual student work load is 60 credits. The extent of a Polytechnic (UAS) Bachelor´s degree is 210, 240 or 270 cre-dits. The extent of Polytechnic (UAS) Master degree is either 60 or 90 credits.
The ECTS grading scale can be used as tool to convert Savonia’s grades to ECTS grades.
| ECTS grading scale |
Savonia UAS grading scale |
| A excellent |
5 excellent |
| B very good |
4 very good |
| C good |
3 good |
| D satisfacotry |
2 satisfactory |
| E sufficient |
1 sufficient |
| FX fail |
0 fail |
| F fail |
fail is not specified |
Diploma Supplement
In Savonia University of Applied Sciences Diploma Supplement and Transcript of Records are being issued in English, and given automatically and free of charge to every student upon graduation in addition to the Degree Certificate. The Diploma Supplement is an appendix designed by the EU, the Council of Europe and UNESCO, and it gives more detailed information on the graduating student’s studies, the level of the degree and its eligibility in view of postgraduate studies and working life.
More information: http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/rec_qual/recognition/diploma_en.html and https://www.cimo.fi/Resource.phx/cimo/elinikainen-oppiminen/erasmus/ects-ds.htx?locale=fi_FI
