Sokrates - ECTS

1. ECTS-Credit-points
2. The ECTS-grading-system

The minimum study period for ECTS students is one semester.

Normally, each course and each lecture lasts 2 x 45 minutes and is counted as 2 „Semesterwochenstunden" (the number of hours per week a given course takes place during a semester).

Problem: How can you profit from a lecture or a course/class at your chosen university after returning to your home university? How many and which classes do you have to enrol in to have your accomplishments and credits during your guest term(s) accepted a home? The usual certificates and credits (Scheine) are not usually compatible with your home university´s own credit system.

Solution: ECTS-Credits!!! For each type of class a certain amount of credits will be awarded. Additionally, there is a corresponding grading system for your oral reports and term papers. Guest students have to collect a certain amount of ECTS-credits during each term to have their work accepted at their home university.

For each term, 30 ECTS-credits have to be collected.

The credit-system for the German Derpartment follows below:

¹ Oral reports may vary in length. Ask your lecturer or tutor.
2 Term papers may vary in length: Einführung / Proseminar: apprrox. 10 - 15 pages (A4, typed), longer for advanced classes. Ask your lecturer or tutor.

Please note: ECTS-credits do not regard the quality of your performance, they only confirm that the class has been attended "with success", i. e., that you have fulfilled the requirements of the respective class. However, in addition to your ECTS-credis, you will receive a grade for each class you attended. The crecits thus only concern the quantity of requirements you fulfilled, while the grade will reflect the quality of your performance.

The following grading scale applies:

1. ausgezeichnet (extraordinary performance, brilliant) ECTS grading scale: A
2. sehr gut (very good; an excellent performance, which completely meets the requirements) ECTS grading scale: B
3. gut (good; a good performance, which meets the requirements in a good manner) ECTS grading scale: C
4. befriedigend (satisfactory; a performance, which in general corresponds to the requirements) ECTS grading scale: D
5. ausreichend (sufficient; a performance, wich in spite of some faults still corresponds to the requirements) ECTS grading scale: E
6. mangelhaft (failed; a performance, which does not correspond to the requirements but which nevertheless proves some basic knowledge and justifies the hope that the deficiencies can be removed in the foreseeable future) ECTS grading scale: FX
7. ungenügend (failed, a performance, which does not correspond to the requirements and where even the basic knowledge is so faulty that the deficiencies are unlikely to be removed in the foreseeable future) ECTS grading scale: F