What are university credits and how do they work?

If you’re preparing for university, you’ve probably heard about university credits. But if you still don’t know what they are and how university credits work, don’t worry! In our blog you will find out everything you need to know about credits so that you can familiarise yourself with them before you start your university studies.

In the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), university credits are a measure of value that quantifies the amount of work involved in a subject or academic year. They are part of the education system in higher education programmes and are a very important part of obtaining a university degree, whether it is a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree.

To understand how credits work at university, it is important to know that they function as a way of organising the learning process.

In itself, each subject is made up of a specific number of credits that represent the total workload that the student must complete in order to successfully pass the subject. For example, if at your university or degree a subject is equivalent to 25 or 30 hours of work, this includes the time of classes, work and study time that must be dedicated to this subject. 

As a general rule, each university degree has a total number of credits needed to pass, usually around 240 credits (60 credits per academic year). But how do the credits at university work if we want to change university degree?

If you are considering changing university degree or university, don’t worry! All accumulated credits can be transferred to another university or institution, even if it is an international one, as long as it recognises it in its syllabus. This way you will avoid wasting time and effort when changing your degree.

University credits are part of the structure of an academic programme, as each bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree is made up of a certain number of credits. In this way, the content is well organised and evenly distributed over semesters or academic years. 

University credits allow students to keep a clear control and monitoring of the progress of their studies, ensuring that they are fulfilling all the requirements to obtain the degree. Moreover, as mentioned above, they also serve to facilitate academic mobility, as all credits are internationally recognised within the ECTS.

There are different types of university credits that determine the type of subject and its importance within a study plan. These are divided into different categories, depending on the degree of compulsory and specialisation of each subject or degree.

Discover the different university credits in detail below:

Each subject has a specific number of university credits assigned to it that students must complete in order to obtain the official degree. However, students may apply for the validation of credits from previous studies, as long as certain equivalence and course level criteria are met. 

Validation allows students to avoid wasting time repeating subjects with the same or similar knowledge. However, in order for a student to be able to apply for validation of credits, the credits must meet the equivalence criteria between the previous subjects and those that the student must take in their new study plan. There are different factors that must be taken into account when approving a validation such as:

• Content and subject matter: the subjects taken must be similar in content to the new subjects to be taken by the student. 
• The number of credits: must be equivalent. Otherwise, the new university may partially validate some of the content, but not the entire subject, so the student will have to take the part that has not been validated.
• The academic level: it must be compatible. The previous subjects must have an academic level equivalent to that of the university the student wishes to study or gain access to. 
• Duration and modality: these may also influence the evaluation of the amount of work required to pass the subject.

According to the European Higher Education Area, a university degree has 240 credits (60 credits per academic year) divided into 4 years. Except for the Bachelor’s Degrees in Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine and Architecture, which have 360 credits divided into 6 years. 

However, it is important to consult the syllabus of the degree programme to find out the exact number of credits required and the distribution of these into compulsory, optional and free configuration subjects.

It is also important for students to bear in mind that the number of credits for a Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree varies depending on the country, the degree or even the university.

On the other hand, a Master’s degree usually has between 60 and 120 credits that are divided into one or two years. Whereas a PhD does not have an exact number of credits, as it focuses on specific research, usually including credits associated with seminars and research activities.

As a general rule, within the European Credit Transfer System, a course is usually between 3 and 6 credits. In other words, as we have already mentioned, each credit is between 25 and 30 hours of student work, including classes, internships and personal study hours. 

Now that you know what credits are and how they work at university, it is important that you start assessing the educational programmes that interest you most, looking at what you want to study and where. Once you have decided what to study and where, it is also important that you start to familiarise yourself with the different options you have to choose your stay during your university life in Barcelona or other cities.

At Unihabit, we are at your side to accompany you in the process of adapting to your new student stage. Whether in our residence halls in Barcelona, the residence hall in Girona, the residence hall in Manresa or the residence hall in Sant Cugat, we provide you with everything you need to make you feel part of our big family, and you cannot miss out on the different advantages of living in a Unihabit residence hall!