The ECTS Tables and Grading Scale

The "European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System System" - ECTS was instituted in 1989, within the Erasmus programme, as a way of transferring credits that students earned during their studies abroad into credits that counted towards their degree, on their return to studying in their home institution. In the following years, it came to be used not only for transferring credits, based on workload and achieved learning outcomes, but also for accumulating them in institutions’ degree programmes. The ECTS tables and grading scale are tools designed to facilitate the transfer of academic results (expressed in terms of grades) between different national assessment systems. They are adopted by the universities in the countries belonging to the European Higher Education Area and they allow the conversion of the grades from one country into grades used in another country, following common European rules.

Following the ECTS Users’ guide 2015 and the guidelines of the CHEER project, the University of Basilicata implements the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to facilitate the transfer of acquired credits and the academic recognition of studies carried out abroad. As a general rule, 1 CFU (University Educational Credit) credit equals 1 ECTS credit which amounts to 25 hours of work. Credits are gained by passing end-of-course exams, independent of the marks attained. The list of exams passed by the student, the relative scores and the acquired credits (CFU / ECTS), are reported in the "Transcript of Records", issued by the Internationalization Service, according to the information provided by the structures responsible for teaching, prepares and updates the ECTS tables. 

The ECTS, tables containing the statistical distribution of the grades achieved by homogeneous groups of students in a given period, are updated every year and contain the data of the exams and final examinations of the previous three ended academic years (1 November - 31 October).

In the ECTS tables, for each grade, the percentage of students who achieved it is reported. They thus show how a national scale of grades is used within an institution, based on its grading policies, and also allow, through comparison of cumulative percentages, the conversion of grades between different national systems.

By clicking on the name of the Department of reference of the course of study, it is possible to view data relating to all the courses of study ordered as follows: degree courses ex DM 270, degree courses ex DM 509, master's degree courses ex DM 270, specialist degree courses ex DM 509 and single-cycle degree courses (if activated). Courses are then classified according to the ministerial class and ISCED code (table of correspondence between the degree programme classes and ISCED codes - Annex 2 DD 389).

Starting from the year 2017, statistics are calculated according to class of degree as per ministerial provisions. 

Check the ECTS tables up to the 2022/2023 academic year 

From the academic year 2023/2024, at the University of Basilicata, homogeneous groups of students are identified by merging courses of study in the same ISCED disciplinary area (1 digit). Within each disciplinary area, students are divided by study cycle (bachelor's, master's and single-cycle degree). 

Check the ECTS tables for the academic year 2024/2025

Check the ECTS tables for the academic year 2023/2024 

Check the list of study programmes by ISCED subject area (.xlsx)

WARNING: the grades may differ depending on the reference legislation (DM 270 or DM 509) and the same tables also show the grade converted to the ECTS scale. 

The ECTS scale is constructed according to the following rule: 

• grade A corresponds to the grades obtained by the best 10% of students; 
• grade B corresponds to the grades obtained by the next 25%; 
• grade C corresponds to the grades obtained by the next 30%; 
• grade D corresponds to the grades obtained by the next 25%; 
• grade E corresponds to the grades obtained by the final 10%. 

The ECTS scale is used on a residual basis for the conversion of grades obtained at institutions that have not yet adopted the ECTS tables, but only the scale. 

It is important to underline that the ECTS scale only allows the transfer of grades between universities in countries belonging to the European Higher Education Area which have adopted the same ECTS scale and should not be confused with other grade scales expressed in letters of the alphabet. Outside the European Higher Education Area, different grading systems exist and often coexist, but no general mechanisms have been defined at the international level for the conversion of grades similar to ECTS.

Supporting documents: Students, before arriving, have to agree on a learning agreement for study or traineeship in case of placement, with the coordinators at home and host institutions detailing the student’s proposed study programme for the duration of the stay (i.e. individual course units and the number of related ECTS credits). This agreement must be approved by all the involved parties before the mobility.

At the end of the stay the student will receive a document called Transcript of records, or Traineeship certificate in case of a placement, to ensure that students have an accurate and up-to-date record of their progress, the educational components they have taken, the number of ECTS credits they have achieved and the grades they have been awarded. The transcript of records/traineeship certificate will be issued by the University of Basilicata for each incoming student and sent to the home institution at the end of their period of study.

Assessment methods: Each course is graded on a scale from 1 to 30, with 18 and 30 e lode (30 cum laude) as a minimum and maximum pass grade, respectively. Some exams can be evaluated by pass/fail (pass = superato or idoneo) or by sufficiente (sufficient); buono (good); eccellente or ottimo (excellent). For the final dissertation a 110-point scale is used, which is divided in two as well, with 66 being the minimum grade for passing. For outstanding results, the Lode "praise" is added to the maximum grade”. Please keep in mind that the “Idoneo”/”Pass” or "Approvato/approved" can never be transformed into a numerical grade and "respinto/failed exams" are not usually recorded therefore they cannot be listed in the Transcript of records. It is not possible to record a numerical grade lower than 18. If you fail the exam, you do not obtain the relative credits.