Study information
Below follows a description of the study system at Luleå University of Technology. It is very important that you read through this information carefully before applying for courses and complete your Learning Agreement.
The academic year is divided into two semesters of approximately 20 weeks each. Each semester is divided into two quarters in approximately 10 weeks periods.
The autumn semester generally starts at the beginning of September and runs to about 15 January (quarters 1 and 2).
Spring semester starts about 15 January and ends first week of June (quarters 3 and 4). Every quarter ends with an exam week.
Make sure that you select courses that are in the correct semester and quarter in order to have a balanced course load. Also make sure, if possible, that the courses are in different modules to avoid collisions in the timetable.
30 credits corresponds to one semester full-time studies.
The Swedish Credit System
In Sweden, academic achievement is measured according to the Swedish credit system.
One and a half Swedish credit equals one week of full-time studies. Thus, after one semester of successful full-time study (passing the examinations) the student obtains 30 Swedish credits.
The Swedish Credit System equals the ECTS credits.
Course credit (Swedish system)
Swedish universities have a system of credit points for studies on the undergraduate and graduate levels. One and a half point corresponds to one week of full-time studies, which for the student means approximately 40 study hours per week, although the number of lectures and classes varies. One academic term comprises 20 weeks = 30 hp/ECTS credits. One academic year (40 study weeks) of successfully completed full-time studies gives 60 hp/ECTS credits.
ECTS grades replaced by ECTS Grading Table (EGT)
With the ECTS Users’ Guide 2009 the ECTS scale was abolished, since it had proved to be difficult to implement and therefore had not been generally accepted. It was replaced by the ECTS Grading Table (EGT), which is a table presenting the distribution of the national/local grades.
Please, see information sheet below for more information.
How to plan your studies at LTU
Most courses are offered once a year and a few courses are offered every semester. Not all courses are of the same duration. Some courses last the entire semester; others are 10 weeks long. In general, students at Luleå University of Technology study take two courses each quarter. Most courses are just one quarter in length. If the course is 15 or 30 credits it can cover two quarters.
Study Plan
With your application you must fill in a realistic study plan, therefore it is very important that you acquaint yourself with the different quarters (1-4) of the courses that you wish to apply for.
Your proposed Study Plan must include: at least 2 courses per quarter (minimum 15 ECTS per quarter/30 ECTS per semester) and 2, or preferably 3, substitute courses. Please note that you must fill in the courses in priority order.
Your first priority course(s) should amount to 30 Swedish credits or 30 ECTS credits per semester. As substitutes, choose course(s) that you wish to apply for in case your first choice course(s) is/are not available.
If you apply for courses with specific prerequisites it is also very important that you fulfil all these and that you send, together with your application, official course descriptions of those courses you have taken and/or are going to take that are relevant for the courses you apply for at Luleå University of Technology. These descriptions should include names of the courses, number of credits, contents and prerequisites. They are absolutely crucial for the host department to be able to make an evaluation of your previous studies within the discipline.
The Module System
To make sure that the courses do not interfere with one another, you must check in which quarter the courses are offered and then make sure that they are not in the same module (modules rule time tables).
The best thing is to find courses with no clashes, as this means that the courses are in no risk of having scheduled classes at the same time. However, this may sometimes be quite difficult and therefore a partial clash is often okay. If later it would turn out that you have way too many clashes, we can discuss the solution of perhaps changing one of the courses. If there is a full clash between your courses, you will need to change one of them (hence why it is also very important to include substitutes in your application).
Some courses have no module. This means that the exact schedule will be available when the timetables are released (around two weeks before each quarter starts), which makes it impossible to know if they will clash or not at the time of your application. Once again, if you choose courses with "no module" it is very important that you have substitute courses in your application.
| Course 1 | Course 2 |
---|---|---|
No clash | 1+2 | 3+4 |
Partial clash | 1+2 | 2+4 |
Full clash | 1+2 | 1+2 or 1 or 2 |
Swedish for International Students 1 and 2
The Swedish courses run two times each academic year - Swedish for International Students 1 starts during the Orientation period in August and in January in Quarter 3. As Swedish 1 only runs in a time period of around 2 weeks, it will be difficult to attend this course if you arrive late. Directly after this course is finished, Swedish for International Students 2 will start and continue until the end of the quarter.
You apply for the Swedish courses the same way as all the other courses. Your exact schedule will be decided upon arrival.
Academic calendar
The academic year consists of two semesters. Each semester is divided in two quarters.
Autumn semester (Quarter 1 and Quarter 2)
Spring semester (Quarter 3 and Quarter 4)
Examinations take place during the last week of each quarter.
*If you are an exchange student in the autumn semester the semester ends in December. If you are here for a full academic year the autumn semester ends in January.
Courses offered in English
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