European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)

With the Bologna Declaration, the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) has become one of the central elements in the process of making the structure of European higher education more consistent. The importance of ECTS with regard to student mobility and the development of international programs was restated in the Communiqués of the conferences of ministers responsible for higher education in Berlin (September 2003) and Bergen (May 2005).

In this Eurydice report, ECTS is regarded as implemented when the arrangements for its introduction are included in the legislation currently in force, when it applies to almost all programs offered by higher education institutions, and when it satisfies the requirements of 60 credit points based on student workload and is used for both credit transfer and accumulation.