Criteria for recognition and crediting
Skill orientation
Skills in the form of learning outcomes are the basis to be examined for the recognition of academic achievements and for the recognition of skills acquired outside the higher educational sector. For both recognition and credit transfer, the learning outcomes actually achieved are compared with the learning outcomes to be achieved. In accordance with the principle of significant difference, recognition primarily examines whether the learning outcomes actually achieved show significant differences compared to the learning outcomes to be achieved. The credit transfer review, on the other hand, checks whether they are equivalent, i.e. whether they are of equal value or equivalence.
Study achievements completed at another university are recognized provided that there is no significant difference.
The most important information for questions about recognition and credit transfer in a degree program can be found in the module descriptions in the "Skills" section. The module descriptions for the KU degree programs can be accessed in KU.Campus.
Significant difference
Since the Lisbon Convention came into force, the main difference has been the central examination principle for the recognition of academic achievements. A difference can be classified as significant if its existence would jeopardize the purpose of recognition, i.e. the successful continuation of studies or the achievement of further qualification objectives of the person seeking recognition. This means that there is a significant difference if, in the respective degree program, the skills of the module in which the academic achievement was completed (source module) differ from the skills to be acquired in the KU module for which credit is to be awarded (target module) to such an extent that the success of the course is jeopardized if such credit is recognized.
Equivalence
The central assessment principle for the recognition of skills acquired outside the higher educational sector is the equivalence of learning outcomes or competences. This is the case if there is a certain content consistency and a comparable level. The concept of equivalence underlines the fact that skills acquired in different areas of education are not identical and yet can have the same value. Recognition does not require similarity.
Subordinate criterion: ECTS credits
The workload or scope of work, which is measured in the time unit ECTS credits, plays a subordinate role in deciding whether an achievement is to be recognized. The decisive factor for the recognition of skills is what the person actually can do; less relevant is how long it took you to acquire such skill. With regard to certificates of achievement, the academic level of the certificates plays a more important role in connection with the qualitative description of the skills they demonstrate than the question of how the course that you may have attended for the purpose of acquiring such skills was designed in terms of time.
In case of credit transfer or recognition, the ECTS credits of the target module are credited.