Credit transfer
Students who have been admitted to and are studying at Luleå University of Technology can apply for credit for previous studies within a programme or independent course. This applies to both Swedish and foreign education. Other activities, so-called prior learning, can also be a basis for credit transfer.
Important considerations for credit transfer
Keep in mind that your study path may change if you have received credit for part of your education. There is no guarantee that there are places on the course or module that you want to continue with after your credit transfer. This means that there may be gaps in your further studies. This may in turn have consequences for your study grant from CSN in the current semester. You may need to apply for a place on another course during the period of the course you have credit transfer.
Before you apply for credit transfer
You should be able to answer yes to the following points to avoid having to supplement your application and extend the processing time or have your application rejected.
- Are you a student at Luleå University of Technology, i.e. admitted and studying?
- Do you have at least approved results from your previous studies? Only an entire course with at least a passing grade, or a module in a course, with at least a passing grade can form the basis for a credit transfer.
- Do you have all the documents that needs to be sent with your application? Read more about which documents are needed below.
- If you have completed courses from an education at another university that may correspond to several of the compulsory courses included in a program at Luleå University of Technology, we may need to establish an individual plan. If it is only a single course that you want to credit, you can submit a form and apply for credit transfer yourself. However, if there are several courses to be credited, contact the study counsellor for your program at Luleå University of Technology for a possible establishment of an individual plan. In order for an assessment to be made, you must be admitted and have started studies at Luleå University of Technology. An individual plan may also be established for students who only study at Luleå University of Technology and cannot follow a regular education plan.
When do I not need to apply for credit transfer?
If you have completed courses from a recognized Swedish university and you have room in your degree to include optional courses, you do not need to apply for credit transfer. Instead, you include the courses in connection with your application for a degree.
If you have changed programs within Luleå University of Technology and you have taken a course that is included in both programs, you do not need to apply for credit transfer. The course is included in connection with your application for a degree.
What documents do I need to submit with my application?
You need the following documents:
- Formal syllabus that was current at the time you took the course.
- Literature list that was current at the time you took the course.
- Certificate of achievement, course certificate or Transcript of Academic Record, certified copies or with a verification code. Your certificate of achievement must contain course codes, it is selected when creating the certificate of achievement in Ladok.
- When applying for credit transfer of courses in health sciences, you must also attach a study guide.
- When applying for credit transfer of prior learning, you must attach documentation that describes and proves your skills and competence that you want to test for credit transfer.
- If something is missing, we will ask you to complete your application, which will make the processing of your case take longer.
- Original documents must be presented at the request of Luleå University of Technology.
Forms for applying credit transfer
Certificate of course literature
You cannot certify what literature was on the course you studied previously, we must receive a document from the course-giving institution to be able to make an assessment of your application.
Crediting other qualifications than academic merits
With the application, you must attach:
Description of competences
Create a document in which you specify all learning objectives for the course/part of the course for which you are applying for credit. Evaluate your knowledge and skills against the content and learning objectives stated in the syllabus.
The competence description is there to create a basis for assessment, while at the same time it functions as a reflection on your learning within the education and how your knowledge and skills relate to the learning objectives. The competence description must be detailed and clearly justify how each learning objective in the syllabus has been achieved.
In your skills description, you must answer the following (justify your answers in detail);
- In what way do you have knowledge that corresponds to the content and learning objectives covered by the syllabus?
- Where and when did you learn it?
- How did you learn it?
- Describe a situation or context where you can demonstrate this knowledge.
Certificate
With your application, you must attach a certificate that confirms the information you set out in your skills description. It can be an employer's certificate and/or other relevant certificates that substantiate the information.
An employer's certificate must also state how long you worked, to what extent and what position you held. The certificate(s) must contain contact information for the person(s) who wrote the certificate(s).
Other documents
As a supplement to the skills description and the certificate, you can also attach any other documents that you believe prove your knowledge and skills.
Knowledge test
If necessary, the assessment may need to be supplemented with a knowledge test or similar to prove your knowledge and skills. If such a knowledge test is necessary, Luleå University of Technology will contact you.
Applying for a credit transfer
Contact the institution offering the course. They usually have a copy of both the syllabus and the reading list for the course.
No, we need documentation from the institution providing the course in order to assess your application.
No, it must be a certificate of achievement from the institution providing the course. You can download a certificate of results from Ladok yourself. Remember to specify that you want the certificate to show course codes. Most universities and colleges have order forms for this on their website.
When assessing the application for credit transfer, Luleå University of Technology takes into account the objectives of the education or the course as a whole, i.e. we make an overall assessment. In order to make an assessment, we need both a certificate of achievement, which shows that you have taken the course with at least a passing grade, and a syllabus including a literature list. The syllabus must contain information such as the objectives and content of the course and the reading list gives us important information about what the course contained.
No, if you have previously used a course as a basis for a credit transfer, you cannot use it again to transfer another course in the same degree. It is then "used up" in this respect.
Exception: For example, if you have taken a course equivalent to 30 credits and you have only earned 7.5 credits, you can use the course as a basis for a new credit transfer.
No, you can enter all courses on the same application.
You must make a comparison of the objectives of the course you have studied previously with the objectives of the course you want to transfer credits. Search curricula at LTU here.
What is the minimum part I can get credit for?
The minimum part is a module in a course. You can find the modules for each course in the syllabus. Search course syllabi at LTU here.
If your application for credit transfer is granted, it may affect your study grant from CSN. Contact CSN if you have questions about your study grant.
After submitting your application
The processing time is normally four weeks from when the application is complete.
As long as you have not received a decision on your application, we recommend that you do the assignment. If your application is rejected, you will have missed the assignment that was part of the course.
Yes, as long as a decision has not been taken, you can withdraw your application. Please contact the Service Point if you wish to withdraw your application.
Decision on your application
You will receive an email with a copy of the decision to your student email, so it is important that you read your student email regularly.
A credited course or module within a course is not graded, as no re-examination has taken place.
Yes, a decision on credit transfer is an appealable decision. You should not add new information in your appeal. What you are appealing is the decision we made on the documents you submitted in your application. The letter must be received by the University within three weeks from the date you have taken note of the decision.
If the application is rejected because of insufficient documentation or rejected because the application cannot be approved on the basis of the documentation submitted, you have the opportunity to submit a new application once you have obtained the required documents.
I want to get credit transferred for VFU (field practice)
A certificate from your head teacher showing how you meet the objectives of the course.
Certificate showing how long you have been working, to what extent, at what stage.
If you are studying to become a subject teacher, you also need to show the extent to which you have worked in "your" subject.
No. In order for us to take a decision on your application, it must be certified by someone other than you.
No, you cannot use courses that have been used to give you access to a program. This is relevant if you are studying a postgraduate course that required you to take certain higher education courses in order to be admitted to the course. These courses cannot be used as a basis for credit transfer in the current program.
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