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What are credit points?

Credit points measure the student workload required for the successful completion of a study programme or qualification – one credit point represents about 10 hours of study. At the OU, you’ll be awarded credit points after you have successfully completed a course. For example, if you study a 60-point course and successfully pass it, you will be awarded the full 60 points, never fewer than this. This usually represents 600 hours of study over 9 months, which is equivalent to about 16 hours per week.

The credit points system used by the OU is aligned to the national CATS (Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme) system. CATS helps you to move the credit points you accumulate from one institution to another. So if you have completed some previous study at another institution, you may be able to count it towards your OU qualification. OU courses carry credit points normally ranging from 10 to 60 points.

Academic credit in Europe and ECTS points

Using OU credit in Europe - If you are looking to use your Open University credit in Europe, you may be interested to know of the existence of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is the system commonly used in the EU for measuring study workload. Since the systems don't compare like with like, and ECTS doesn't take account of academic level, direct comparisons are difficult to make. However, broadly, at any given level, 60 OU credit points would be worth 30 ECTS points, and 30 OU points would be worth 15 ECTS points.

Using ECTS points towards OU study - If you have completed study elsewhere, that is recorded in ECTS points, and you want to count this towards your OU qualifications, please contact the Credit Transfer Centre for advice.

The table below shows the typical number of credit points required at each level to achieve an OU qualification

There are some exceptions to these general rules, so please check the exact rules for the qualification you are interested in.

Qualification	Credit points required at Level 1	Credit points required at Level 2	Credit points required at Level 3	Credit points at professional or postgraduate level	Total
Certificate	60 normally from Level 1 courses but can be at any level				60
Diploma		120 from Level 2 and / or Level 3			120
Foundation degree or Diploma of Higher Education	120	120			240
BA or BSc Degree without honours	120	120	60		300
BA or BSc Degree with honours	120	120	120		360
Advanced diploma			60	60	120
Postgraduate certificate				60	60
Postgraduate diploma				120	120
Masters				180	180

If you have successfully completed some study (either a full qualification or part of one) at higher-education level elsewhere, you may be able to count it towards your OU degree or other qualification. See counting previous study.