If you have successfully completed some study at a UK or Republic of Ireland institution with degree awarding powers you are likely to be eligible for credit transfer. You may have studied towards a certificate of higher education, diploma of higher education, foundation degree, higher national diploma, bachelor’s degree, a postgraduate qualification or a smaller stand-alone qualification or module.
To be eligible for credit transfer your previous study must fulfill the following requirements.
- It should have been completed at the higher education level – this is equivalent to the first year of a UK degree or above.
- On the Further and Higher Education Qualifications Framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland this is equivalent to Level 4 or above.
- On the Scottish Qualifications Framework this is equivalent to Level 7 or above.
- On the Irish Qualifications Framework this is equivalent to Level 7 or above
- Your study should have been credit rated by the institution. A credit-rating is given when a university has assigned a certain number of credits or CATS points to a module or course. Some older qualifications did not have a credit rating and in these cases the institution will need to provide confirmation that the study was credit bearing – meaning it was presented and assessed to the same standard as a degree programme.
Evidence required
With your application you will need to provide a formal academic transcript. This is obtained from your awarding institution or university, and shows all the modules you completed, the marks awarded and how many credits each module was worth.
If you do not already have a transcript you can complete this form and send it to your previous university to request the information.
Depending on the OU qualification you want to have your credit transferred to, you may also need to provide syllabus information.
Once we have received the evidence required we will work out the number of credits you have based on the credit rating shown on your transcript. Where the study does not carry a credit rating, but the awarding institution has confirmed that the study is credit bearing, we can normally award on the basis of 120 credits for each year of successfully completed full-time study (or the part-time equivalent).