Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) is used by many

Open College Network credits.[3]

Credits are associated with a level at which the learning took place. At universities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, this will be one of Levels 4 to 8 on the

Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), representing the first, second and third year of a bachelor's degree (levels 4 – 6), master's level (level 7) and doctoral level (level 8).[4] In Scotland this will be at one of level 7 to 12 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF), representing the first, second, third and fourth year of a bachelor's degree (levels 7 – 10), master's level (level 11) and doctoral level (level 12).[5]

Typically, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a

PhDs or master's degrees by research.[6] In Scotland, a bachelor's degree with honours requires 480 credits, with at least 90 at level 9 of the SCQF and 90 at level 10; an ordinary bachelor's degree requires 360 credits with 60 at level 9; an integrated master's degree requires 600 credits with 120 at level 11; apostgraduatee master's degree requires 180 credits with 150 at level 11; and a doctoral degree requires 540 credits with 420 at level 12.[7] "Fast track" two-year bachelor's degrees at the University of Buckingham make use of the full calendar year to fit a 360 credit course into two years.[8]

Equivalence

UK Credits are the same at a nominal 10 hours of learning per credit unit across CATS, the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (covering higher and further education, vocational education and school qualifications in Scotland), the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales (ditto for Wales) and the Regulated Qualifications Framework (further education and vocational education in England and Northern Ireland and school qualifications in England).

There is an official equivalence with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) where two UK credits equals one ECTS credit, based on there being 120 UK credits and 60 ECTS credits to an academic year.[6]

Four CATS points are equivalent to one US credit hour.[9] Rather than award fractional credits, US universities will sometimes consider a typical British 10 credit module to be worth 3 (rather than 2.5) US credit hours, similarly rounding 15 UK credit modules to 4 US credit hours and 20 UK credit modules to 5 US credit hours.[10][11]

References

  1. ^ "SEEC - Credit System". Seec-office.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
  2. ^ "UK HE Europe Unit guidance on the relationship between UK arrangements for academic credit and the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)" (PDF). Universities UK. 20 July 2009. Guidance on how to relate UK HE arrangements to ECTS. Retrieved 11 March 2021. 20. Credit points provide a measure for describing the achievement of designated learning outcomes at a specified level. One UK credit point represents the learning outcomes expected to be achieved by the average learner at the relevant level in 10 hours of notional hours of learning. Credit is a measure of the volume of the outcomes, not of actual study time.
  3. ^ "Credit transfer scheme". Student record 2016/17. Higher Education Statistics Agency. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  4. ^ "What is the credit framework?". Current Students' Handbook. King's College London. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  5. ^ "SCQF Levels". Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  6. ^
    Quality Assurance Agency
    . August 2008. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  7. ^ "The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (Interactive)". SCQF.org.uk. Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership. Archived from the original on 16 June 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Bachelor's + Master's in Just Three Years". University of Buckingham. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  9. ^ "How to convert CATS to U.S. credits". foreign credits.com. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Education Abroad Credit Equivalency Guide". Northern Arizona University. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  11. University of Illinois
    . Retrieved 21 July 2016.