Assessment

State establishment Ivano Frankivsk National Medical University follows the European credit transfer and accumulation system. ECTS makes teaching and learning in higher education more transparent across Europe and facilitates the recognition of all studies. The system allows for the transfer of learning experiences between different institutions, greater student mobility, and more flexible routes to gain degrees. It also aids curriculum design and quality assurance.

Course descriptions contain ‘learning outcomes’ (i.e. what students are expected to know, understand and be able to do) and workload (i.e. the time students typically need to achieve these outcomes). One academic year corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits that are equivalent to 1500–1800 hours of study in all countries irrespective of standard or qualification type and is used to facilitate transfer and progression throughout the Union.

A series of ECTS key documents help with credit transfer and accumulation – course catalogs, learning agreements, transcript of records and Diploma Supplements.

Although ECTS can help recognition of a student’s studies between different institutions and national education systems, higher education providers are autonomous institutions. The final decisions are the responsibility of the relevant authorities: professors involved in student exchanges, university admission officers, recognition advisory centers (ENIC-NARIC), ministry officials or employers.

The European Commission has established a network of Recognition experts (ECTS/DS) and developed the ECTS and DS labels to recognize the excellent application of either system.

ECTS is closely related to other efforts to modernize higher education in Europe. In particular, it has become a central tool in the Bologna Process which aims to make national systems converge.

The ECTS grading scale is based on the class percentile (similar, but not identical to the class rank) of a student in a given assessment, that is how he/she performed relative to other students in the same class (or in a significant group of students). The ECTS system classifies students into broad groups and thus makes interpretation of ranking simpler. This grouping is the core of the ECTS grading system.

The ECTS system initially divides students between pass and fail groups, and then assesses the performance of these two groups separately. Those obtaining passing grades are divided into five subgroups: the best 10% are awarded an A-grade, the next 25% a B-grade, the following 30% a C-grade, the following 25% a D-grade and the final 10% an E-grade.

Those who have not achieved a performance sufficient to allow a passing grade are divided into two subgroups: FX (Fail – some more work required before credit can be awarded) and F (Fail – considerable further work is required). This distinction allows differentiation between those students who have been assessed as almost passing and those who have clearly lacked the required knowledge and skills.

This system can be represented in a table, as follows:

Grade Best/Next Definition
A 10%
B 25%
C 30%
D 25%
E 10%
FX Fail – some more work required
before the credit can be awarded
F Fail – considerable further work is required

ECTS Users’ Guide: “The use of words like “excellent” or “good” is no longer recommended as they do not fit with percentage based ranking of the ECTS Grade Transfer Scale.”

 

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