University of Essex
Credit Transfer Information
How many classes should I take?
Courses at Essex (called “modules”) are measured in “credit points” and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) to
designate how many credits each course is worth. Most Essex courses are 15 credit points and 7.5 ECTS credits. Old
Dominion divides the ECTS number in half when determining credit equivalencies. For example, a 7.5 ECTS credit course
would transfer back to ODU as 3.75 credits.
Students are required to take 30 ECTS credits for the semester that they are enrolled at Essex. An ODU student spending
a semester at Essex will enroll in 4 courses for the semester.
What grades do I need to earn?
Essex uses the following system for grading:
1:
2.1:
2.2:
3:
First Class Honours (69.5% and over)
Upper Second Class Honours (59.5% - 69.4%)
Lower Second Class Honours (49.5% - 59.4%)
Third Class Honours (39.5% - 49.4%)
Fail (<39.4%)
Students must receive at least 3rd Class Honours (39.5%) to receive credit at ODU. Any course where a final grade below
39.5% is received will not be transferred back to Old Dominion University.
How do I find courses at Essex University?
1. Go to the Essex Module directory: http://www.essex.ac.uk/modules/
2. In the drop down menu, select the department where you would like to take classes. Select the option to
“include only Undergraduate modules” and click “GO.”
3. The list of courses that appears will show all the courses that are taught at the undergraduate level in that
department.
You can tell a couple of things about the courses from their course codes. For example, the code for the Social
Psychology module is PS407-5-AU.
- The course identifier is the first part of the code (PS407). This number does not necessarily designate the
level or year of the course.
- The course level is the second part of the code. This course is taught in the second year (designated by the
5). First year courses have a “4” between the course code and semester abbreviation and third year courses
have a 6.
- The semester that the course is offered is the third part of the code. The “AU” here means that it is taught in
the Fall/Autumn semester. Spring semester courses use “SP” and Full-Year courses are designated “FY” (It
may be possible to take only one semester of a full year course if you will only be at Essex for one semester,
but special arrangements will be made for your final exams.).
4. The individual course listings will provide information regarding the title, description, number of credits, how
you will be assessed (graded), etc.
Example of course listing:
1
2
3
4
1
2
3
4
Number of credits: ECTS stands for European Credit Transfer System. Old Dominion divides this
number in half when determining credit equivalencies. For example, this 7.5 ECTS credit course
would transfer back to ODU as 3.75 credits.
Available to Study Abroad/ Exchange students: Not all classes at Essex are available to exchange
students. This must say “Yes” for you to register for the class.
Pre-requisites: You should note whether the course has any listed prerequisite courses. Many
upper-level courses will require that you have some background knowledge of the subject.
Terms: Indicates when a course is taught.
The rest of the course listing includes a full description of the course content, as well as information about the
final exam.
How do I get these courses approved?
Before departing for a study abroad program, it is the student’s responsibility to be academically advised and receive
approval (with appropriate signatures) for the transfer of credit earned abroad toward an Old Dominion University
degree.
You will need to review the courses available at the host university for the term you will be abroad and list the courses
you would like to take in the first column of the Transfer Credit Evaluation form (available in the Office of Study Abroad).
You should then meet with the chief departmental advisor (CDA) of any Old Dominion University department you are
seeking to take courses in while abroad. For example, if you plan on taking courses in economics and management, you
will need to visit the chief departmental advisor for each of these departments. When you meet with them, you should
provide them with the detailed course information that you have printed from the host university’s website and the
Transfer Credit Evaluation Form.
The advisor will evaluate each course that falls under their department and fill out the second column of the form with
the course equivalency at Old Dominion University. Their signature on the Transfer Credit Evaluation form indicates preapproval of that course to transfer back to Old Dominion University upon successful completion.
Once the courses have been approved by the individual departments, you should discuss your proposed course load
with your academic advisor to ensure your course of study will fulfill major, minor, and/or other requirements at ODU.
You must earn the equivalent of a passing grade for each study abroad course in order to receive credit at ODU (see
above for information on the grading scale used at the host university). Each course which has been pre-approved and
for which the student receives an acceptable grade will appear on your Old Dominion University transcript as transfer
credit. The grades for these courses will not appear on the transcript and will not be calculated into your grade point
average at ODU.