Quick answer
Credit transfer is a decision the university you move to makes, course by course, from your transcript and your course descriptions. It asks whether what you learned matches its own courses; European guidance says to judge that by learning outcomes, not by identical content (ECTS Users' Guide 2015).
No credit system makes it automatic when you change university. The European rule that credits carry over without extra work covers agreed exchanges with a Learning Agreement signed before you leave, not a student who switches (ECTS Users' Guide 2015). So get the decision in writing before you accept an offer: which courses count, whether as a named course or as elective credit, and the year of entry it gives you.
Estimate my credits
See what a year-for-year conversion gives in the country you are moving to, and what a typical ceiling allows.
What the new university checks
- Your transcript. The official record of the courses you took, the credits and grades you earned, and how your university grades. A European Transcript of Records is meant to explain the grading system (ECTS Users' Guide 2015).
- A description of each course. UNSW, for example, asks for the course code and title, a description, the total teaching hours, the assessment weightings and the topic taught each week (UNSW, credit transfer). George Mason University asks for catalogue descriptions or syllabi, in English, for any course it considers (George Mason, international credit).
- A course-by-course evaluation, for many US universities. An evaluator that is a member of NACES, such as WES or ECE, gives each foreign course a US credit and grade (WES, NACES members). George Mason and the University of Alabama require one for international credit (George Mason, University of Alabama).
- The university's own policy. US colleges that take part in federal student aid have to publish the criteria they use for credit earned elsewhere (34 CFR 668.43), and in the UK each university decides what credit it accepts (QAA). Read the policy of the one you are applying to before you pay an application fee.
How credit systems compare
Universities first convert by the year of full-time study, then check each course. These are the scales for one full-time year:
| Where | A full-time year | What one credit stands for |
|---|---|---|
| Europe (ECTS) | 60 credits | 25 to 30 hours of work (European Commission, ECTS Users' Guide) |
| England, Wales and Northern Ireland | 120 credits | About 10 notional hours; two UK credits count as one ECTS credit (QAA) |
| Scotland | 120 SCQF credit points | 10 hours of learning; halve the points for ECTS (SCQF) |
| USA | Usually 30 semester credits, 15 a term; a bachelor's is typically 120 | One hour of class and two hours of study a week for about 15 weeks; full time is 12 or more credits a term (34 CFR 600.2, 34 CFR 668.2, SACSCOC) |
| New Zealand | 120 credits | 10 notional hours (NZQA) |
| Australia | No national scale: 48 at UNSW and the University of Sydney, 100 at the University of Melbourne, 16 at the University of Queensland | Set by each university (UNSW, Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland) |
| Canada | No national system: 30 at UBC, about 5.0 at the University of Toronto (Arts & Science) | Set by each university (CICIC, UBC, Toronto) |
These are conventions for a year, not equal hours. 120 UK credits at 10 hours each are about 1,200 notional hours, while 60 ECTS credits are 1,500 to 1,800 hours, and the UK still counts two of its credits as one ECTS credit. That is why a year converts to a year, and why the course-by-course match decides what you keep.
The limits most universities set
Each university sets its own, so read the policy of the one you are applying to. These are real examples:
| Limit | Examples |
|---|---|
| How much can count | Often half to three-quarters of the degree. George Mason takes at most 75 lower-level credits, or 90 with upper-level courses (George Mason); UBC Science generally up to 50% (UBC Science); UNSW postgraduate coursework up to 50% (UNSW); the University of Surrey usually 50% to 75% of the award (Surrey). |
| What you must complete with them | The University of Alabama: at least 25% of the degree (Alabama). The University of Toronto (Arts & Science): at least 10.0 of its 20.0 credits (Toronto). UNSW undergraduate: at least the final full-time year (UNSW). |
| Minimum grade | C or better at George Mason for international credit, and at Penn State for undergraduate transfer (George Mason, Penn State); Alabama accepts D- in most courses (Alabama). At all of them a failed course does not count. |
| How old the credit can be | Up to 10 years at UNSW (UNSW); normally under 5 years at Surrey (Surrey); within 5 years for Penn State graduate programmes (Penn State). |
Moving between European countries
The Lisbon Recognition Convention has 57 parties, including the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Poland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand (Council of Europe). Its parties commit to recognising periods of study completed in another party unless a substantial difference can be shown. The body doing the assessment has to show that difference, and a refusal must give reasons and allow an appeal (treaty text). The United States signed it in 1997 but has not ratified it, so it does not bind US universities.
Inside Europe, ECTS credits move without extra work only on an agreed exchange with a Learning Agreement. If you switch university, you apply like any other applicant and the new university assesses what you bring (ECTS Users' Guide 2015).
Documents to prepare
- An official transcript from every institution you attended, with its grading scale explained.
- A description or syllabus for every course you want counted: teaching hours, topics, assessment and learning outcomes.
- Your programme's structure, showing which year each course belongs to.
- Certified English translations of anything not in English, if the university asks for them.
- For US universities, a NACES member's course-by-course evaluation if the university requires one. Check which report it wants before you pay: WES and ECE each sell more than one kind (WES, ECE).
- The written credit assessment, before you accept an offer.
Next step
Run your numbers through the credit transfer estimator to see the year-for-year conversion and what a typical ceiling allows. If you are also changing university or country, the university transfer guide takes you through the whole move in order, including the visa step.
Figures checked on 24 September 2026 against the official pages linked. University policies change: confirm on the policy of the university you apply to before you rely on it.
