Accreditation of achievements

Accreditation of achievements obtained abroad

Course achievements obtained in countries other than Germany can be accredited towards your degree programme at FAU. The accreditation officers for the specific subjects and the Examination Office are responsible for accrediting course achievements obtained in countries other than Germany. Responsibility for degree programmes which finish with a state examination (medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, law) lies with the State Examination Offices.

The extent to which course achievements obtained abroad can be accredited depends on the extent to which they are comparable to the achievements required for the degree programme at FAU. You must be sure to discuss your study plans at the host university with the person responsible for accreditation in your degree programme before going abroad. They will be able to tell you what you need to bear in mind when choosing courses to take abroad and which requirements have to be met for them to be accredited.

Course achievements obtained abroad are not accredited automatically. You need to actually apply for accreditation yourself.

Accreditation is generally granted as follows

1. Before beginning time abroad

  • Find out in detail about the courses offered by your host university abroad (preferably a detailed course description with details of workload and form taken by examination).
  • Think about which achievements to be completed at FAU are to be replaced by achievements obtained abroad (e.g. individual seminar, module, compulsory electives).
  • Get in touch with the person responsible for accreditation in your degree programme and discuss your planned studies with them. Remember to provide as much detail as possible about the teaching units at the host university.
  • Agree with the respective accreditation officer on what you will study while you are abroad . At some faculties it is possible to conclude a Learning Agreement even for time spent abroad which does not qualify as an ERASMUS+ exchange.

2. During the time abroad

  • Keep in touch with the person responsible for accreditation and check with them before making any changes to your choice of course.
  • Before returning, find out from your host university how and when you will receive official confirmation of the teaching units taken, including grades obtained for them (Transcript of Records). In most cases, the Transcript of Records is issued automatically and sent to you after examinations have been taken.
  • Please bring all the documents required for accreditation back with you (seminar plan, module or course descriptions, Transcript of Records) after your time abroad.

3. After completing your time abroad

  • Submit an application for accreditation, the Transcript of Records and all other necessary documents to the person responsible for accreditation.
  • They will check the documents and sign the application for accreditation,
  • before forwarding the documents to the Examinations Committee or to the office responsible for accreditation according to the specific regulations for the subject in question. The Examinations Committee will issue a confirmation of accreditation, if applicable, and send a copy of it to the Examination Office. The confirmation of accreditation details which modules/teaching units the achievements received abroad will count towards. If accreditation is rejected, the examination officer will inform students of their options for filing an appeal.
  • The Examination Office records which achievements which have been accredited.
  • The Examination Office includes the time abroad on the Diploma Supplement.

Faculty information

Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology

General information, information on accreditation and the Learning Agreement is available in the download centre of the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology at ‘Downloads International’.

Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law

Information about accreditation and the Learning Agreement is available on the website of the School of Business, Economics and Society.

Information and contacts for stays abroad are available on the website of the School of Law.

Faculty of Medicine

Information about the accreditation of achievements is available on the website of the Faculty of Medicine.

Faculty of Sciences

Information about the accreditation of achievements is available on the website of the Faculty of Science.

Faculty of Engineering

Information about accreditation of achievements is available on the website of the Faculty of Engineering.