Information for subject representatives and lecturers
Current waiting period: approx. 6 to 8 weeks
Please refrain from sending status enquiries by email during this period. If you have any questions, please contact us in person or by telephone.
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Information for subject representatives and lecturers
This website provides information for subject representatives, lecturers, and module coordinators about the recognition of university-level skills at the University of Oldenburg. If you have any questions, you can also contact the Recognition Team in person at any time.
If you have any questions about the recognition of professional skills, please contact the PLAR-Service.
Legal basis for recognition
The legal basis for recognition is the Lisbon Convention: the law on the agreement on the recognition of qualifications in higher education in the European region.
The convention is regulated in more detail in the Lower Saxony Higher Education Act (NHG):
„The examination regulations shall ensure that academic achievements and examination results obtained in a university of a signatory of the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region from 11 4 April 1997 (BGBl. [Federal Law Gazette] 2007 II P. 712) are recognised if there are no essential differences to the corresponding academic achievements and examinations to be obtained at the university.”
Article 7 Paragraph 3, sentence 3 NHG
The general section of the examination regulations elaborates on this. The examination regulations for the single-subject and double-subject bachelor's degree programs at Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg (BPO) state, for example:
Article 8 - Recognition of previous examination results and accreditation of skills acquired outside higher education
(1) The competent Examining Board shall decide on the recognition of previous examination results or accreditation of skills acquired outside higher education at the request of the student. The request must be made to the Examinations Office. Section 6 (3) sentence 8 shall remain unaffected.
(2) Examination results in the same or a related degree programme at a university or equivalent higher education institution in Germany or in the European Higher Education Area shall be recognised without a special equivalence assessment.
(3) Examinations in another degree programme shall be recognised provided there are no substantial differences in terms of the skills acquired. This needs to be verified bearing in mind the purpose of recognition and the wider context. Recognition involves checking the level, scope, quality, profile and learning outcomes. If there is a significant difference, the burden of evidence is on the University.
[…]
(5) For recognised or accredited examination results, the grades are adopted, provided that the grading systems are comparable. Grades from a non-comparable grading system are converted according to the Bavarian formula. If it is not possible to convert examination results achieved elsewhere, the examination will be recognised or credited with a “pass”, notwithstanding Section 13. Recognised or accredited examination results will be included in the academic transcript. Additional factual and legal information can be obtained from the information portal for the recognition of foreign educational attainments (anabin). Deviating provisions based on agreements with foreign universities shall remain unaffected.
All examination regulations at UOL contain a corresponding passage. As a rule, the wording in the various examination regulations does not differ. Some subject-specific appendices introduce additional provisions in some cases.
Content Criteria
The content criteria for recognition
When deciding on an application for recognition, the submitted work and the requested module are compared. Provided there are no legal restrictions (see formal criteria), recognition must always be granted if there is no significant difference in the following criteria: learning outcomes, level of study, workload, profile, and quality of the institution and the study program.
Slight differences between the submitted work and the requested module are generally insignificant. A different form of examination is also not decisive (unless it is an integral part of the competence profile of the module to be recognized). The focus is on the following questions:
- Is the difference so significant that recognition would jeopardize the successful completion of the program?
- Is the difference so significant that recognition would prevent the qualification objective of the degree program from being achieved?
In recognition procedures, the burden of proof is reversed. The university must prove that there is a significant difference. This means that any refusal of recognition must be justified.
Review by subject representatives
Criteria | Control questions |
|---|---|
Learning outcomes / acquired competencies | Are there no significant differences between the learning outcomes, teaching and learning content, and competencies? |
| Would the topic normally be included as an exam or seminar topic in the requested module? | |
| Would it be plausible to name the submitted work under the title of the requested module? | |
| Will the content of the requested module be devalued as a result of its recognition? | |
Level of performance (in terms of content) | Does the submitted work correspond to the level of the requested module? (E.g., difference between introductory and advanced modules) |
Quality of the study program (content) | Does the degree program from which the submitted work originates have a similar profile/focus? |
| Does recognition of the submitted work still meet the qualification profile for graduates of the degree program? |
Formal Criteria
The formal criteria for recognition
Review by the Recognition Team at the Academic Examination Office
If there are any concerns or objections regarding these criteria, the Recognition Team will notify you separately by email.
The following table is for informational purposes only and is not reviewed by the departmental representative.
Criteria | Explanation |
|---|---|
Criteria according to the Lisbon-Convention | |
Level (formal) | The Recognition Team checks the origin of the credit: Does the credit submitted originate from a bachelor's or master's degree program? Exceptions: In some cases, it is still possible to recognize bachelor's modules in a master's degree program, namely if ... 1) ... the bachelor's degree program is designed to last seven or eight semesters and is completed with 210 or 240 credit points. There is a potential overlap between the last bachelor's and the first master's semesters. Recognition of master's modules for bachelor's modules is possible, but should be used sparingly for the sake of transparency and for possible later master's programs. |
Work load / Credit points | How much time was spent on the submitted work? The credits awarded are a reliable indicator for determining the scope, especially for work from the European Higher Education Area. As a rule, a deviation of 1 credit (30 working hours) is acceptable. In individual cases, deviations from this may be permitted if students can provide evidence of further work within the scope of the submitted module that has not been included in the calculation of credit points. For work from countries that do not award ECTS credits, the scope of the work must be converted. This requires precise module descriptions. |
Quality of the institution / study program (formal) | The Recognition Team checks the following questions: Is the original institution a university? Is this university state-recognized and accredited? Is the original study program an academic curriculum? Sometimes students want to have credits from vocational schools or other vocational preparatory schools recognized. However, this is not possible under the examination regulations. There are also country-specific differences in the education system that need to be taken into account. The PLAR-Service is responsible for the recognition of professional and informally acquired skills. |
Examination regulation criteria | |
Is the requested module even eligible for recognition? | Modules in which examination attempts have already been made cannot be concluded by recognition. The reason for this is that a started examination legal relationship can only be terminated by passing or definitively failing. It is also not permissible to improve a grade through recognition. |
The examination submitted for recognition is itself recognized. | From time to time, credits are submitted for recognition that have already been recognized at another university or in another degree program. In such cases, the Recognition Team always requests proof of the original credit, as the decision on recognition always lies with the university at which recognition is being sought. It may happen that recognitions that have been confirmed at other universities are rejected at UOL. However, this is not necessarily decisive. |
Verification of the transcript of records | We require that the proof of performance be verified. This means signed, stamped, with a verification link, digital seal, etc. |
Terms and Conditions of the provided examination | The Recognition Team checks the conditions under which the credit to be recognized was earned: Some students try to complete modules at other universities because they seem easier there, for example. When students submit domestic credits for recognition, the Recognition Team therefore checks whether they were enrolled at UOL while completing these credits. In this case, the students would fall under the examination authority of UOL for the module in question. Recognition would therefore be rejected on formal grounds. Some degree programs deliberately include modules in their examination regulations that can be used for the recognition of credits earned elsewhere (in Germany), or contain special opening clauses – for example, due to cooperation with other universities. If no such provision exists, recognition cannot be granted for the reasons mentioned above. This also applies to students who wish to study outside their own curriculum and take comparable modules at the UOL that are not part of their degree program. In these cases, too, recognition must be refused. The only exception is if the subject has previously agreed to a different arrangement. In this case, the Recognition Team requires a corresponding decision by the examination board in advance. |
Checklist for Recognition
The subject representative receives an email from the Recognition Team with the application for recognition, all relevant documents, and, if applicable, our comments. Before the email is sent, the Recognition Team has already checked the formal criteria for recognition (see formal criteria). If the formal review already requires rejection or if there are concerns about recognition, the Recognition Team will inform the applicant.
The aim of the formal review is to ensure that the specialist representative receives an application that is ready for a decision and only needs to be reviewed in terms of content criteria.
The content criteria can be checked using the checklist. You can download it here: Checkliste Anerkennung für Fachvertretungen.
Further links
- AN! Anerkennung und Anrechnung im Studium
- anabin - Infoportal zu ausländischen Bildungsabschlüssen
- Anerkennung und Anrechnung: Herausforderungen und Perspektiven (HRK Modus)
- HRK-Modus-Projekt (abgeschlossen)
- HRK Modus Good-Practice-Datenbank
- Lissabon-Konvention
- Praxishandbuch Anerkennung und Anrechnung an Hochschulen (HRK Modus)
- ZAB - Zentralstelle für ausländisches Bildungswesen