ECTS-credits

At Swedish universities, a student often takes one course at a time consecutively. The studies are measured in ECTS credits.

• 1.5 ECTS credits is approximately equivalent to a full-time week of studies.
• One full-time semester of studies corresponds to 30 ECTS credits.
• One year of successful full-time studies in Sweden corresponds to 60 ECTS credits.

The normal study load for one semester is 30 ECTS credits, but you are allowed to register for a maximum of 45 ECTS credits.

Most courses are studied one at a time consecutively. The courses can vary in length from 7.5, 15 to 30 ECTS credits. Normally a student takes a full-time course of 7.5 ECTS credits for five weeks, and the examination is within that time. When the course is completed the student continues with the next course for five weeks.

A part-time course usually consist of 7.5 ECTS credits and runs for ten weeks or more. A distance course is often part-time and given for a longer period of time. The students meet on a few occasions and study individually during the period in between.

Make sure that the courses you select are spread out over the whole semester. The calendar week numbers indicates the period during which a course is running. You can overview the dates for each week in the document Semesters and Calendar weeks (pdf) is not recommended to take two full-time courses at the same time. However, it is possible to study two parallel part-time courses at the same time. It is also possible to study a full-time course and a part-time course concurrently.

Levels and Prerequisites

Higher education in Sweden is divided into three cycles according to the Bolognaprocess: first level, second level and third level. The courses offered in English for our exchange students are at first level and second level. The level and prerequisites of each course state how many credits the student is required to have achieved in the subject before being admitted to the course. The prerequisites should be carefully considered when selecting a course:

First Level:

Basic Course: Standard university admission requirements.

Intermediate Course: A minimum of 30 ECTS credits in the subject.

Advanced Course: A minimum of 60 ECTS credits in the subject.

Second Level

At this level all courses have individual requirements depending on the chosen courses. Please see prerequisites for each separate course.