The second edition of the PRIME study has shown that the level of recognition that is awarded to Erasmus students is slowly improving. 73% of the students receive full recognition of their studies abroad (66% in PRIME 2009) and 62.2% not only receive the full recognition, but also don’t have to repeat any courses or exams upon return (42.6% in PRIME 2009). However, one cannot forget that 24% of the students got only part of their courses recognised and 3% got no recognition for their credits gained abroad. 21.6% of the students needed to pass some or all of their courses and exams upon return. Even though the progress in the numbers can be observed, the study clearly showed that many barriers and obstacles to full recognition remain. The rigid curricula imposed on students limits the choice of matching courses when they go abroad for exchange. This is often not possible, as the teaching programmes in European Higher Education Area are very diverse. As a result, the study programmes at home and host universities are incompatible. The same applies to the transfer of credits. Through a standardised system, ECTS, commonly used in HEIs, the ways of calculating credits and allocating them to the courses remain. Moreover, in almost 40% of the institutions, alternative credit calculation systems exist, constraining the transfer. This poses a problem to both HEIs and students, as often no clear procedure of calculation and transfer is developed and applied. Different grading scales and no system of grade transfer constitutes another problem in the recognition of studies abroad. The long procedure and non-existence of common guidelines (or even a definition) of how to recognise the courses results in organisational chaos. The information provided to students is partial and does not arrive in due time. Moreover, the university staffs are not always capable of providing students with accurate information. Last but not the least, the professors’ attitude and personal opinion plays a role in the decision on recognition. Students need to negotiate the recognition of their studies individually with professors and if they do not get the approval (which still does happen) they may need to make extra effort-repeating exams or courses upon return. ESN believes that these problems need to be overcome so that a real difference can be made. Therefore, as a conclusion from this report, we suggest several steps that should be taken up with a shorter and longer perspective to facilitate the student’s exchange. To facilitate the recognition of courses more attention should be put on signing bilateral agreements between institutions in which specific corresponding courses will be determined. However, more flexibility and freedom in the choice of courses need to be allowed for outgoing students. In a longer perspective, to make it possible, study programmes should be re-built in a way that the “mobility windows” would be included. To facilitate the credit transfer and accumulation, the ECTS should be used as the one and only credit system in all of the Higher Education Institutions. More attention should be given to the correct use of the system. Thus, the ECTS label should be promoted to HEIs. To make the grade transfer more transparent and fair, each HEI should develop a clear procedure of transferring the grades. Information about the applied system, together with the conversion table, should be provided to all the outgoing students in advance.
Conclusions and further steps 87