Recognition, ECTS and Grade Conversion Andy Gibbs Erasmus Coordinators Workshop June 2012

Recent Developments in Recognition – The Bucharest Communique Priorities: Countries should redouble effort to conclude NQFs + complete the self-certification of NQF against the EHEA framework and explore how short cycle qualifications can be included in QF-EHEA and reflected in NQFs A common European understanding of referencing access qualifications to the same levels in the EQF + coherent referencing of higher education qualifications in the EHEA-QF and EQF QFs must become an everyday reality for students, staff and employees

Recent Developments in Recognition – The Bucharest Communique Priorities: Revise national legislation on recognition by 2015 to make it comply with the Lisbon Recognition Convention (LRC) + Long-term goal of automatic recognition within EHEA Recommendation of the European Recognition Manual (EAR Manual) as a set of guidelines and compendium of good practices in recognition

Recognition LRC: Only legally binding agreement within the Bologna Process. Ratification of LRC also applies to institutional recognition policies and procedures LRC: Fair access to recognition of qualifications and periods of study abroad, full recognition unless the recognition authority can prove substantial differences between foreign qualifications and similar national qualifications, recognition based on learning outcomes not equivalence – recognition decision within 4 months.

European Area of Recognition Manual Practical guidelines for fair recognition of qualifications Covers issues such as recommended procedure for the assessment of foreign qualifications, Transparency and Information Provision, Accreditation and Quality Assurance (status of the institution), Purpose of Recognition, Diploma Supplement (and other information tools), Qualifications Frameworks, Credits, grades, credit accumulation and credit transfer

Guidance on Grades Depending on the specific educational system in question, grades may or may not have a direct impact on the assessment of a given qualification. When considering grades obtained in a foreign system, it is recommended to: - consider grades in the context of the education system in which a qualification or learning has been achieved; - keep in mind that both grading criteria and distribution can vary to a great extent and that the comparison of grades from different grading systems can be problematic. It may, therefore, be wise to use grades merely as an indicator of a students academic performance in general and not as a numerical tool that is easily translatable into ones own grading system.

What the ECTS handbook says about: Recognition ECTS Grading