Records of study at German universities

Important for all exchange students - How to transfer records of study between your guest and your home university.

The European Credit Transfer System - ECTS

ECTS is the European Credit Transfer System, which has been introduced in order to ease the international acceptance of study credits. They can be transferred from one university to another within Europe. Each course will give you a specific amount of credits, which reflect the number of working hours you have to invest. You receive credits for all components of the curriculum, including your courses, study related work placements and theses. Furthermore, ASQ (Additive Schlüsselqualifikation, additive key qualification) or key qualification points enable students to acquire competence beyond their technical training.

Types of courses

V – Vorlesung: lecture held by a professor

Ü – Übung/Exercise: course to theoretically practice the subject matter

S – Seminar: course with active participation by the students

L - Labor: practical application of the subject matter

Furthermore, you usually have to do one or several work placements during your studies in Ulm, which let you acquire work experience in the field of your studies over the course of several weeks or months.

The grading scale at German universities

Grade 1,0 to 1,5: very good
Grade 1,6 to 2,5: good
Grade 2,6 to 3,5: satisfactory
Grade 3,6 to 4,0: sufficient
Grade 4,1 to 5,0: fail

Credits are not the same as grades. Credits are a quantitative measure of your study input, whereas grades are a qualitative measure of your study output. You only receive credits for successfully passed courses (grade 4,0 or better).