L'ECTS (European Credit Transfer System)

is the general structure of reference to make possible a different and better circulation of knowledge and skills within the European Community. In practice, using detection parameters of the work done by the student for learning and training, it is possible to compare with each other in different institutions. The credits do not replace the votes, but complement the information defining the amount of work necessary for the student to pass a particular exam.

A simulation will help us to better define the problem. Imagine that every student, upon registration, contract with the bank for a mortgage (not of money, but of confidence) and that the amount of this loan is 180 CF (as is currently the case for the three-year basis) and / or 120 CF (as is currently the case for the Master's degree). He will return these loans over time with his work, in default measurement for each exam. The student will evaluate the quality of his commitment (system of the vote) and the amount of work done (credits) at the time of the exam.

The most important innovation derived from the introduction of 'ECTS is the ability to extend the assessment to each field of the commitment, because the claims define not only the work done during normal hours of lectures, seminars and tutorials, but the entire complex request from a student to achieve the learning objectives, the work done at home or in the library, initiatives and commitments extra-educational deemed necessary or qualifying, also. A student must support a number of exams to have 60 credits; have to commit to a corresponding amount of work ( number of hours devoted to classroom lessons, tutorials or seminars, the hours of individual study at home to improve the same discipline) in the course of the year.

The current academic regulations, which transposes the European directives concerning ECTS, tends to establish in this area a ratio of 1: 3 for theoretical subjects, 1: 2 for seminars and theoretical and practical lessons and 1:1 for activities of laboratory or practical.
A student is evaluated by traditional vots system (thirty) and by ECTS parameters: from A (excellent) to letter F (insufficient).