Preliminary approval of credit transfer and ECTS

Where can you find courses?

Once you have found the university(s) that you would like to apply for, you must start putting together a course programme for earch of your priorities. You can often find links to courses through MoveON's database or you can go to the universities' websites, find the course catalogue and search for courses.

You may find previously approved courses at your host university it the menu under:
Exchange and Study Abroad -> How to Apply -> Preliminary Approval of Credit Transfer and ECTS -> Database of Credit-Transferred Courses.

If the offer of courses for the semester you want to go abroad is not yet available you must compile your study programme on the basis of the existing course offer. If there are subsequent changes, it will be possible to change your study plan.

Finding courses for all your priorities can be time-consuming, so please allow plenty of time for this task!

Do you have questions about the courses offered at a foreign university?

If you have any questions about the range of courses or their content at a foreign university please contact their international office for help. Unfortunately, your international coordinator at Nat-Tech cannot help you choose courses.

Amount of ECTS credits

As a general rule, you should choose courses corresponding to 30 ECTS per semester. Semester. However, if, for example, it is not possible. because it is only possible to take 25 ECTS for timetable reasons, you can take 5 ECTS either before you leave or after your return – it could be a project module or a summer course at AU. If your host university does not use the ECTS system, you must find out how many of the university's credits correspond to 30 ECTS. You can find help with this below.

Do you need guidance on putting together your course programme?

You should contact your head of degree programme if you want help putting together your course programme or if you are in doubt about whether your courses can be approved for inclusion in your study programme. However, it is your own responsibility to find a list of relevant courses before then. You can find contact information in the menu under 'Contact and Student Services' > 'Heads of degree programmes and education committee'.

What is a pre-approval?
A pre-approval is a list of the courses you plan to take at your host university. The courses must be academically approved by your program coordinator. A pre-approval ensures that you can transfer the courses (for credit) to your degree when you return to AU.

How do I apply?
Submit your application via mitstudie.au.dk – fill out the form ‘Pre-approval of courses outside AU’.

When should I apply for pre-approval?
You must apply for pre-approval of the courses you want to take abroad after you have been assigned an exchange spot by AU and before departure. Having a pre-approval is a requirement for keeping your exchange spot.

Suggested deadlines for applications:

• If you are going on exchange in the fall semester, you should apply for pre-approval by May 7.

• If you are going on exchange in the spring semester, you should apply for pre-approval by November 7.

Expect a processing time of 4–8 weeks.

Checklist for your pre-approval application:

• The exchange must be approved in your bachelor/master contract in the Contract Generator before you apply for pre-approval (not applicable for Bachelor of Engineering students). You can simply state it as a 30 ECTS exchange – you do not need to list individual courses.

• It is strongly recommended that you discuss the courses with your head of degree programme before applying for pre-approval.

• The application must include all the courses you will register for at your host university. Courses must be entered individually in the application form. After adding the first course, you can add more by clicking the ‘Add more courses’ button. If the courses will replace electives at AU, simply write ‘Elective’ without a specific title. If it is a mandatory course to be replaced, write the exact title of the mandatory course.

• Include 2–4 extra courses as backup in case any courses are canceled by the host university. Courses can be listed in priority order.

• It is important to upload a course description for each course. The course descriptions must be in Danish or English and include: academic content, number of credits/units/ECTS, and academic level (Bachelor/Master). If this information is not in the course description, you must attach documentation in another form.

• Ifyour host university uses a points system other than ECTS, you must also provide documentation on how it converts to ECTS.

• In the menu under ‘Study Abroad’ > ‘How to apply?’ > ‘Preliminary approval of credit transfer and ECTS’ > ‘Pre-approved universities’, you can find an overview of ECTS calculations for selected universities worldwide. You can also find guidance on how to convert to ECTS further below on this page.

• Read more about pre-approvals and credit transfer in the menu under ‘Rules and guidelines’ > ‘Credit transfer’.

When you calculate how many courses you must take abroad, you should start by finding information about the standard length of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme for an ordinary full-time student at the faculty/department in question (At Nat and Tech, the standard length for a BSc is three years and two years for a MSc)

Next, you should find out how many credits you need to pass in order to complete the degree programme. (At Nat and Tech, 180 ECTS credits are required to complete a BSc, and 120 ECTS are required to complete an MSc).

When you have found information on the standard length of the degree and the necessary credits to complete the degree you can calculate the necessary credits per semester.

Please note that particularly in the United States, Canada and some Asian countries there is often a difference between the workload per credit, depending on whether it is Bachelor’s or Master's course.

Finally, you should find out how the academic year is structured (trimester or semester structure as well as how many weeks of classes). For trimester or quarterly structure, depending on the number of weeks of teaching per trimester or quarter, it may be practically impossible to achieve what corresponds to 30 ECTS. An example is the University of Calgary, where you typically take a range of courses corresponding to 25 ECTS.

Example conversion: 
You want to take courses at the University of Technology, Sydney. At this university, the following conditions apply:

Standard length of degree programme: Three-year Bachelor's degree programme (undergraduate)

Required number of credits to complete the programme: You must pass at least 144 credits in order to obtain a Bachelor’s degree. So you have to take 24 credits per semester in order to have a full workload.

Academic year: The academic calendar at the University of Technology is based on a semester structure with approx. 15 weeks of classes per semester. This corresponds to the semester structure at Nat-Tech.
 

Conclusion: 
24 credits = 30 ECTS
Their courses typically have a value of six credit points, so you have to take four courses of six credit points to get a full workload equivalent to 30 ECTS.

You are welcome to book an appointment with your international coordinator if you need guidance on conversion between credits and ECTS.

Are the courses at the same level (Bachelor’s or Master’s) and ECTS as those you have already received pre-approval for?

In this case, you do not need to submit a new pre-approval application on mitstudie.

Instead, you must obtain academic approval from your head of degree programme via email.

Here is how to do it:

• Contact your head of degree programme by email and get their approval for the change.

• The number of ECTS/credits and the level (Diploma/Bachelor or Master) must be the same as approved in the pre-approval you have received from the Study Board.

• Save the email and the new course descriptions, as they must be attached to your application for final credit transfer when you return.

Are the courses at a different level and/or a different total number of ECTS than those you have already received pre-approval for?

In this case, you must submit a new pre-approval application via mitstudie.au.dk.