Preapproval

STADS is up and running

STADS is once again up and running, and you can register for spring classes and exams. The registration deadline is Thursday 7 November at 23.59.

The advance approval also guarantees that you can have the credits you obtain by passing these courses transferred to your own degree programme.

Obtain course descriptions

The board of studies is responsible for deciding whether to grant your application for preapproval.

In order for the board of studies to assess if a course can be approved in advance, you must attach a sufficient course description. 

If the course description does not meet the requirements for content and form, you will be asked to obtain additional information on the course, which will delay the  processing of your application.

A course description must contain:

  • Course identification code
  • Course title
  • Description of course content 
  • Type of examination 
  • Number of credits (ECTS/other credits)
  • Course level (e.g. Bachelor’s/Master's degree level)
  • Bibliography
  • A course plan/teaching schedule (if available)

The formal requirements:

  • It must be official or verifiable. If the information is copied and pasted into a document from a website, you must insert a link to the page(s) which contain the information.
  • The description must be up-to-date, as far as possible, .
  • The description must be in Danish or English. In some cases, an assessment may be carried out based on a course description in German.
  • If there is no official course description in Danish, English or German, you must submit a verified translation.

In general

At many universities, the course descriptions are available via the university's website.

In some cases, however, it is not possible. A confirmation with the missing information must be sent from a lecturer or administrative staff at the university.

As a general rule, the board of studies requires a course description to conduct their assessment.

However, this does not apply to courses which have been approved for your field of study within the last three years, provided that the course identification code, title and number of credits remain unchanged. In this case, you are not required to attach a course description.

Previously assessed courses

List of previously assessed courses for inspiration

Below, you will find a list of previously assessed courses which can be a source of inspiration when applying for preapproval. The list contains approved as well as non-approved courses.

The list is for inspiration onlyThe list does not guarantee that your application for advance approval will be granted. The content may be subject to change. The conversion of local credits to ECTS credits may also be subject to change. Please always use the current conversion as found under Credit Translation in the MoveOn database.

How to search for courses in the list:

1. Open the list by clicking on the link below

2. Find your degree programme in the green column under ‘AU Programme’. Use the down arrow on the upper right side of the column to ‘Filter’.

3. You can apply additional criteria to your search in a similar way:

  • Blue column: Details on the previously assessed courses
  • Yellow column: Result of the previous assessment

The list will be updated on a regular basis.    

How to select courses

Familiarise yourself with the academic regulations

Your specific degree programme might have special academic requirements for the composition of elective courses. You must meet these requirements, regardless of whether you register for elective courses at AU or a different institution of education. Before you select any courses, please familiarise yourself with the requirements in the academic regulations for your degree programme.

Which courses may the board of studies approve?

When selecting courses, please note that all courses need to be approved by the board of studies.

The board of studies will emphasise different factors depending on whether you apply to substitute an elective course or a compulsory course from your study programme.

If you apply to substitute an elective course, the board of studies will emphasise the following:

  • The course content must be of academic relevance to your degree programme, and it may only overlap to a limited extent with the content of any compulsory courses on your degree programme.
  • The academic level of the courses must correspond to the academic level of the elective courses on your degree programme.

If you apply to substitute a compulsory course, the board of studies will emphasise the following:

  • The content, level and number of ECTS credits on the courses must correspond to that of the compulsory course.

What are the admission criteria at host universities?

Before you submit an application for preapproval to your board of studies, you should find out which courses you are allowed to enrol in as a visiting student at the host university.

At most universities, not all courses are open to visiting students. In addition, specific admission requirements may apply to Bachelor’s and Master's degree level courses respectively. Usually, Bachelor’s degree students are only allowed to enrol in courses at Bachelor’s degree level.


Number and scope of courses

Before you apply for advance approval, you must decide how many courses you want to apply for advance approval.

You should note the following conditions:

  • The regulations for the rounding down of ECTS credits will affect the number of ECTS credits you can transfer to your study programme. You can read about the regulations for rounding down ECTS credits on the study portal's page on credit transfer under the bar ' after you have applied '. (insert link)
  • The study board offers to assess two additional courses in advance. If you do not get a place on one or more courses. This means that you will be able to have courses corresponding to 30 ECTS credits + two extra courses assessed in advance, if you plan to take a full semester at another university or another degree programme.
  • If you are going through an exchange agreement, note that there are regulations regarding how many ECTS credits you need to take at the host university in order to be allocated a place. You can contact Aarhus BSS International via email bss.international@au.dk  for further information.
  • If you are applying for advance approval for courses at universities outside Europe, please refer to the section below regarding conversion from local credits/units to ECTS.

Conversion to ECTS (courses abroad)

If you apply for advance approval for courses at universities outside Europe, a conversion will be made from local credits/units to ECTS.

Conversion of local credit points to ECTS is done by the Board of Studies. You can see the conversion in the MoveOn database under the individual universities.

Please note that some universities differ from the conversion for bachelor and graduate courses. If you, as a Master’s degree student, take 4th year's bachelor courses, the bachelor's conversion will be used.

If your host university uses the ECTS system, no conversion will be made.

Apply for preapproval

Application for advance approval of courses at AU

You must submit your application via mystudies.au.dk.

  • Go to “Genveje til selvbetjening"
  • Click on "Ansøg hos dit studienævn"
  • Go to ”Merit for kurser på Aarhus Universitet”
  • Click on "Søg om forhåndsgodkendelse for et kursus på Aarhus Universitet”
  • Fill in the application form:
  • Insert a link for the relevant course description.
  • In the field ’Evt. supplerende oplysninger’, please state the total number of ECTS credits you wish to substitute in your study programme.

Application for preapproval of courses outside AU

You must submit your application via mystudies.au.dk.

  • Go to “Genveje til selvbetjening”
  • Click on 'Submit an application to your board of studies'
  • Go to ”Merit for kursus på en anden uddannelsesinstitution”
  • Click on ”Søg om forhåndsgodkendelse for et kursus på en anden uddannelsesinstitution”
  • Fill in the application form:
  • In the field ’Evt. supplerende oplysninger’, please state the total number of ECTS credits you wish to substitute in your study programme.

Obtain the relevant course descriptions

  • You must attach one file for each course. The file name must be the title of the course in question.
  • If the course has previously been approved, you do not have to include a course description. Instead, you may attach an empty file and add the text “previously approved” in the file name.

Free mover

  • If you go on exchange abroad on your own, i.e. as a free mover, your application must include documentation that you have been admitted to the host university.

For information on when you can expect to receive a reply to you application, please go to this page.

Re-application

If you do not get a place on a sufficient number of courses, even if you have been given additional courses in advance, you can reapply.

You must follow the same procedures as for a standard application for pre approval. In your application, you must state why you are reapplying.

At the same time, please advise us if you have an early deadline.

How long before you can expect a reply to your application?

The processing time for applications for advance approval or credit transfer is 6-8 weeks.

If the attached course descriptions are inadequate, the processing time will increase.

The summer period

During the summer, you must expect increased processing time, as the lecturers and students who perform the academic assessments are usually on holiday in July.

How can you expedite this process?

  • Please submit your application well in advance of any deadlines.
  • Please familiarise yourself with the requirements for course descriptions and documentation here at the study portal.
  • Please check your AU email on a regular basis. The studies administration will contact you via this email in case we need additional documentation or information.
  • Check Digital Post on a regular basis. We will send you the board of studies’ decision in this inbox.

Are you late?

If you do not receive a reply before your deadline, you may need to choose courses at the host university before you have received your advance approval.

If you want to choose courses at the host university before you have received a reply to your advance approval, BSS Studies administration encourages you to:

  • Read the section on this page for advice on how to choose courses.
  • Inform yourself in the list of previously assessed courses. Here, you can see which courses have previously been approved and rejected.

Applying for admission to the host university

Once you have been granted advance approval, you must remember to apply for enrolment in the courses at the degree programme or university that offer these courses.

If you are to enrol in courses at another degree programme at Aarhus University, you can read about the procedure for enrolment in credit modules here.

If you cancel your exchange

If you end up having to cancel your exchange, you must contact Aarhus BSS Studies Administration as soon as possible via mail to bachelor.bss@au.dk or kandidat.bss@au.dk (Master's degree students) .

If you cancel you exchange within the deadline for course registration, contact Aarhus BSS Studies Administration for an annulment of of your preapproval in STADS, as this will prevent you from registrering for courses.

If you cancel your exchange after the deadline for course registration, contact Aarhus BSS Studies Administration, to be registered for courses on your own degree programme. This is to ensure that you do not fall behind in your degree programme.

Delays due to exchange are not considered exceptional circumstances and may not act as legitimate cause to extend your maximum period of study.

For this reason, if you enrol in less than 30 ECTS credits during your exchange, you should plan in advance how to obtain the remaining ECTS credits so as not to fall behind in your degree programme. 

FAQ

When is the deadline for applying for advance approval?

In general, there is no deadline for when you must apply for advance approval.

However, it is a good idea to apply for advance approval so that you can have an answer before the start of the semester at the host university.

You should not apply until you have all relevant information about the courses, as your application cannot be processed until the relevant information is available. 

How many courses can I obtain approval for?

You can obtain advance approval of courses corresponding to the number of ECTS credits that you plan to follow at the host university + 2 additional courses. For example, this could be 30 ECTS credits + 2 additional courses.

If you have not been able to get into a sufficient number of courses at the start of the semester, even if you have obtained approval of additional courses, you can re-apply, see the guidelines for this. 

When will I get a response?

In general, the processing time for applications for advance approval or credit transfer is 6-8 weeks.

However, the processing time depends on whether the application and the attached course descriptions contain the necessary information.

In general, applications with the necessary information from the start will be processed faster, while it takes longer if there is a need to obtain more information for the application.

Do I need to create a new application, when I have more information?

If you have new information for an existing application, you don’t need to create a new application.

Instead, send the information via email to preapprovalexchange.BSS@au.dk.

I can’t get hold of the course descriptions before the start of the semester. What should I do?

If you can’t get hold of the course descriptions before the semester start, we recommend that you:

• Contact the host university to find out whether it is possible to receive previous course descriptions. In general, course descriptions must not be more than 1 year old. If you can’t get hold of a course description that is less than 1 year old, you’ll need confirmation from the host university that the course description is valid for the period in which you are going to take the courses.

• Familiarise yourself with the list of previously approved courses. If you apply for courses that have previously been approved for students in the same field of study as you, you don’t need to include a course description.

You can also wait to apply for advance approval until the start of the semester. If so, we recommend that you choose courses that fall within your field of study and at your level of education (Bachelor’s/Master’s) and that you familiarise yourself with the list of previously approved/rejected courses and elective courses offered on your own degree programme to get an idea of content and level.

What should I do, if the course descriptions do not contain the necessary information?

At some universities, information such as the weighting and level of the course are not stated in the course descriptions. However, you will normally be able to find this information on the university's website.

If you can’t find the relevant information yourself, contact the host university. For example, you can contact the international coordinator at the host university or a teacher on the relevant course. It will usually be relevant to contact the teacher if you lack information about literature.

As a course description, can I just submit a document containing course information and links?

If you don’t have access to an official course description, use one of the following options:

  • Copy the information from the website into a Word document and insert links to the page(s) from where you found the information.
  • Print course descriptions as PDFs (Ctrl + P) from the host university's website and enclose them in your application.
  • Take screenshots of information about the courses and insert them into a Word document. It should be clear that the information originates from the host university. Therefore, make sure to include the university's logo and the source of the website where the information was found. If you have several screenshots for a single course, gather these in one document named with the course title. 
  • Submit the course description/information received by email from the teacher or international coordinator. Note that you must also include the email, so that it is clear where the course the description/information comes from.

How does it work if the ECTS weighting is not the same as my own degree, for example if a course carries a weighting of 9 ECTS credits?

If you go abroad and follow courses where the ECTS weighting is unequal in terms of the weighting of courses on your own degree programme, note the following:

  • If you have obtained advance approval of one course corresponding to 9 ECTS credits, and the elective courses on your degree programme amount to 5 ECTS credits, only 5 ECTS credits will be inserted into your study programme. You will then have a surplus of 4 ECTS credits that you may combine with additional ECTS credits and insert into your study programme at a later time.
  • If you have obtained advance approval of several courses to replace a group of elective courses on your own degree programme, the total number of ECTS credits for all courses taken abroad will be adjusted downwards – not the number of credits for a specific course. If the elective courses offered on your degree programme amount to 5/10/15 ECTS credits, and you have completed four courses corresponding to 9 ECTS credits each on another programme, you will have 30 ECTS credits transferred to your study programme.

Contact

  • Do you need assistance in relation to your exchange, please contact  BSS International 
  • Do you need assistance in relation to your study planning, please contact the Student counsellors
  • Do you need assistance after you have sent in your application, please contact  BSS Studies