ECTS Credit Converter
Enter a number of credits in ECTS, US semester credits or UK credits and see it in the other two, with the share of an academic year and an estimate of the study hours behind it. You choose the ECTS-to-US ratio and the rounding, because the receiving university decides both. Free, no sign-up.
No rule fixes this. Michigan, TCNJ and Washington and Lee all use 2 ECTS per US credit; your receiving university may not.
Result
6
ECTS credits
3
US semester credits
12
UK credits
10% of a full-time academic year (60 ECTS, 120 UK credits)
Estimated workload
| Credit system | Hours per credit | Hours for this amount |
|---|---|---|
| ECTS | 25–30 hours | 150–180 |
| UK | 10 notional hours | 120 |
| US | 45 hours (1 in class + 2 outside, 15 weeks) | 135 |
The three systems count different things, so the hours differ even when the credits are 'equal'. ECTS estimates the typical total workload; the UK figure is notional learning time; the US figure is the federal minimum benchmark.
How to Use the ECTS Credit Converter
- 1. Pick the unit you have. ECTS credits, US semester credits or UK credits (CATS).
- 2. Enter the amount. A single course, a semester or a whole degree — anything from zero upwards.
- 3. Set the ratio and rounding. The default is 2 ECTS per US credit, the most common convention. If your receiving university publishes a different ratio, choose the custom option and type it. Pick the rounding that matches its transfer policy.
- 4. Read the three values and the workload. The table shows how many study hours each system implies, which is why 'equal' credits are not equal effort.
What an ECTS Credit Measures
The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System allocates 60 ECTS credits to a full-time academic year, which is normally 30 per semester or 20 per trimester. The ECTS Users' Guide published by the European Commission says that in most cases a year's workload runs from 1,500 to 1,800 hours, so one credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work — lectures, seminars, projects, placements and individual study. It also stresses that this is a typical workload: individual students will take more or less time.
ECTS to UK Credits
The conversion to UK credits is the settled one. The QAA's credit framework for England says that, in everyday practice, two UK credits are equivalent to one ECTS credit, so a 120-credit UK year is a 60-ECTS year and a 20-credit module is 10 ECTS. UK credits are counted differently, though: one credit typically represents 10 notional hours of learning, which makes the UK year 1,200 hours against ECTS's 1,500 to 1,800.
ECTS to US Credits: A Convention, Not a Rule
No body fixes the ECTS-to-US ratio. The usual convention is 2 ECTS credits to 1 US semester credit, so 30 ECTS is a 15-credit semester. Universities that publish their policy mostly follow it: Michigan multiplies ECTS by 0.5, TCNJ states that 2 ECTS credits equal 1 US credit, and Washington and Lee counts 2 ECTS as 1 credit. They differ on fractions. TCNJ keeps 5 ECTS as 2.5 US credits, Washington and Lee awards no fractional credit so the same course earns 2, and the University of North Florida awards 3 credits for 4 to 7.5 ECTS and rounds partial credits up.
The ratio is an approximation because the systems count different things. The US federal credit hour definition asks for about one hour of instruction plus two hours of outside work each week for fifteen weeks, or 45 hours per semester credit — which is close to, but not the same as, the 50 to 60 hours that 2 ECTS credits imply. Treat the result as a planning estimate and confirm it with the registrar.
Worked Example
A 6-ECTS course at a ratio of 2 converts to 3 US semester credits and 12 UK credits, and it is 10% of a full-time year. The hours behind it are 150 to 180 on the ECTS guide's 25 to 30 hours per credit, 120 on the UK's 10 per credit, and 135 on the federal US benchmark. A 5-ECTS course gives 2.5 US credits, which rounds up to 3 or down to 2 depending on the university's policy.
ECTS Grades
ECTS credits come with no letter grade. The old ECTS grading scale — A for the best 10% of passing students, B the next 25%, C the next 30%, D the next 25% and E the last 10% — is no longer used: the 2015 Users' Guide says it was replaced in 2009 by grade distribution tables. These show what share of students in a field at your institution earned each grade, and the receiving institution compares your table with its own to convert a grade. For country-specific grades, see the German, French and Dutch grade converters.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How many hours is one ECTS credit?
- The ECTS Users' Guide says one credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work, based on a typical annual workload of 1,500 to 1,800 hours for 60 credits. It counts everything: classes, independent study, projects and placements. The real time varies by student.
- How many ECTS credits is a US semester credit?
- The common convention is 2 ECTS credits per US semester credit, so a 3-credit course is about 6 ECTS and a 15-credit semester is about 30 ECTS. No official rule sets this, and some universities use a different ratio or round fractions differently.
- How many ECTS credits is a UK credit?
- Two UK credits equal one ECTS credit in everyday practice, according to the QAA. A 20-credit UK module is 10 ECTS, and a 120-credit UK year is 60 ECTS.
- How many ECTS credits are in a year, a semester and a degree?
- A full-time academic year is 60 ECTS credits, which is usually 30 per semester. The Framework of Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area associates first-cycle (bachelor's) qualifications with 180 to 240 ECTS credits and second-cycle (master's) qualifications with 60 to 120, as the QAA notes, but the length varies by country and programme.
- Why did my university give me a different number of US credits?
- Each receiving institution sets its own ratio and rounding. One may count 5 ECTS as 2.5 credits, another as 2, another as 3, and some assess courses individually. Use the custom ratio and the rounding option here to match the policy your university publishes.
- Does the ECTS grading scale A to E still exist?
- Not as a system institutions are asked to use. The ECTS Users' Guide says the A to E scale was replaced in 2009 by grade distribution tables. Some universities still print it on transcripts, so you may see it, but conversions between institutions are meant to use the tables.