ECTS at CPE Lyon
ECTS was initially set up in 1989 as a credit transfer system in the framework of the Erasmus
programme. It aims to facilitate student mobility and inter-university cooperation through an enhanced
transparency and comparability of study programmes, course units and individual student curricula. It
has become an essential tool for the creation of the European Higher Education Area and ECTS credits
have come to be the basic components for elaborating and managing degree programmes. Recently
ECTS has developed into a credit accumulation system and so the acronym ECTS stands for European
Credit Transfer and Accumulation System.
History of ECTS at CPE Lyon
•
•
•
1992-1995: Participation of CPE Lyon in the ECTS pilot project for subject area 13.3 –
Chemistry.
2006: General implementation of ECTS at CPE Lyon as a means to reaffirm its policy of pursuing
quality and to have a student centred approach of the learning process. Enhancing the
transparency and quality of the information on programmes, courses and student curricula
facilitates:
orientation of the student within his or her degree programme (choosing of
learning activities and outcomes)
student and teaching staff mobility
management of teaching activities (programmes, contents and evaluation)
coherence of the degree programmes, taking into account the workload of the
student
academic recognition and inter-university cooperation in Europe and beyond.
May 2007: CPE Lyon was awarded the “European Quality Label” by the Agence Europe Education
Formation France for Erasmus student mobility.
Allocation of credits
Each of the engineering diploma course activities is awarded credits.
Credits are a numerical value which expresses the total workload that a student needs
to accomplish in order to meet the objectives in terms of learning outcomes of that activity.
A credit not only represents the contact hours of the subject concerned but also the time spent in work
placements, library research, study and exam preparation, laboratory activities, etc. The engineer
diploma programme comprises 270 credits for coursework and practical classes and 50 credits for work
placements and the final year project.
At CPE Lyon, one credit corresponds to approximately 26 hours of work.
Each module has a value of 3, 6 or 9 credits. An academic year of study is estimated at 1560 hours of
work and counts as 60 ECTS credits. The credits for the year 3 work placement (5 credits, 1 month) and
the student engineer placement (15 credits, 3 months), which take place during the summer ‘vacation’
period, are attributed in addition to the 60 credits of years 3 and 4.
In particular, this is because in year 4 the students are working a full 12 months (over 2000
hours) as shown in the table below. Thus a total of 75 ECTS for the 12 month period is
justified and keeps the number of hours of work per credit to about 26.
The 30 credits of the final year project (6 months) are counted as part of the 60 credits of the final (fifth)
year of study. It is emphasised that CPE Lyon does not simply convert the number of contact hours into
credits, but bases the number of credits on the overall student workload. This workload is evaluated
through student and teaching staff surveys and validated by a teaching committee consisting of teaching
staff and students.
Table for years 3, 4 and 5 for the Diplôme d’Ingénieur (Master degree) in chemistry and
process engineering and in electronics.
Year
Sept
3
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apl
May
Semester 5
Semester 6
(30 ECTS)
(30 ECTS)
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sept
Industrial
placement
(Min. 1
month)
4
Semester 7
Semester 8
(30 ECTS)
(30 ECTS)
(5 ECTS)
Industrial
placement
(3 months)
(15 ECTS)
5
Semester 9
Semester 10
(30 ECTS)
Final Year Project (6 months)
(30 ECTS)
The total number of ECTS credits is 200 for these three years of study. This is because the
compulsory industrial placements in years 3 and 4 are undertaken in the summer period
making these years of study 11 and 12 months long respectively. To keep the number of hours
per credit to a reasonable value (around 26) these work placements are given 5 and 15
credits respectively, in addition to the 60 ECTS for the two full semesters of study per year.
Table for years 3,4, optional year in industry, and 5 for the Diplôme d’Ingénieur (Master
degree) in chemistry and process engineering and in electronics for students choosing the
option of a year in industry.
Year
3
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apl
May
Semester 5
Semester 6
(30 ECTS)
(30 ECTS)
Jun
Jul
Aug
Industrial
placement
(Min. 1
month)
(5 ECTS)
Semester 7
4
Optional
Year in
Industry
5
Semester 8
(30 ECTS)
(30 ECTS)
12 months in industry (of which 3 months are compulsory)
(60 ECTS)
Semester 9
Semester 10
(30 ECTS)
Final Year Project (6 months)
(30 ECTS)
The total number of ECTS credits is 245 for these four years of study. This is because the
compulsory industrial placement in year 3 is undertaken in the summer period making this
year of study 11 months long. To keep the number of hours per credit to a reasonable value
(around 26) this work placement is given 5 credits in addition to the 60 ECTS for the two full
semesters of study for that year.
Table for years 3, 4 and 5 for the Diplôme d’Ingénieur in Computer Science and
Communications Networks
Year
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Semester 5
3
(30 ECTS)
In
industry
Semester 7
4
Apl
Mai
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sept
Semester 6
(30 ECTS)
Project 1
(15 ECTS)
Semester 8
(30 ECTS)
International
placement
(30 ECTS)
Project 2
In
industry
(15 ECTS)
5
Internat.
Placement
continued
Semestre 9
Semestre 10
(30 ECTS)
Project 3 (7 months)
(10
ECTS)
(35 ECTS)
The total number of ECTS credits is 225 for these three years of study. This is because each of
these years of study is 12 months long. The students are either in class or working in industry
as apprentices. To keep the number of hours per credit to a reasonable value (around 26)
these years of study are allocated 75 ECTS.
It should be noted that this programme is NOT available to exchange students.
Grading scale
Each examination is marked on a scale of 0 to 20. There are at least two evaluations for each module. To
be awarded the credits for a module the student must obtain an average mark of at least 10 for the
evaluations of that module. For each module, the students obtain a grade (A, B, C, D, E, F). These
grades correspond to the following scale:
A: Top 10% of students passing the module
B: Next 25% of students
C: Next 30% of students
D: Next 25% of students
E: Next 10% of students
F: Fail (credits are not awarded)
This scale appears on the transcript of marks.
To validate a semester, a total of 30 credits must be obtained. To validate an academic year of study, a
total of 60 credits must be obtained.
To obtain the Diplôme d’Ingénieur (Master degree) all academic semesters must be validated as well as
the 5 and 15 ECTS credits for the industrial placements of one month and of three months, respectively.
ECTS institutional co-ordinator
Prof. Anthony Smith
Institutional Co-ordinator for Erasmus and Student mobility
Director of International Relations
Contact:
Catherine Ponthus
Relations Internationales
CPE Lyon
43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre 1918
BP 82077
69616 Villeurbanne cedex
France
Tel.: +33 472 431728
Fax: +33 472 431729
E-mail: ponthus@cpe.fr
For any matter related to courses, ECTS credits and the Learning Agreement at CPE Lyon, students
should contact Catherine Ponthus.