The University of Cambridge does not formally articulate student achievement in terms of credits and does not award credit value for the majority of its courses. No credit value will be assigned on University transcripts. However, the University aligns all of its courses with sector recognised standards, including:
- The sector recognised standards published by the Office for Students
- the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) and the Higher Education Credit Framework for England, issued by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), which provide guiding principles for the use of credit across UK institutions;
- Degree Characteristics Statements, issued by the QAA, which outline distinctive features of each qualification;
- where relevant, Subject Benchmark Statements, issued by the QAA, which describe academic standards expected of graduates in particular subjects;
- the Bologna Process, to enable greater coherence between European institutions.
This alignment ensures that all University of Cambridge courses equate to recognised standards and values, to assist in greater mobility and transparency. This can be used to identify an approximate equivalent credit value for the UK Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS) and the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), specifically:
- Undergraduate bachelor degrees (with honours) normally equivalent to 180 ECTS or 360 CATS
- Integrated Masters courses normally equivalent to 240 ECTS or 480 CATS
- Standalone taught Masters courses1 normally equivalent to 90 ECTS or 180 CATS
- Postgraduate Certificates normally equivalent to 30 ECTS or 60 CATS
- Postgraduate Diplomas normally equivalent to 60 ECTS or 120 CATS
In all cases, this is an overall equivalency value, which cannot be broken down into particular course components or modules. The equivalency is based on the overall learning outcomes achieved by successful candidates. Any exceptions to these equivalencies are rare, and will be declared within the programme specification for the relevant course.
Equivalencies are not applied to any of the following:
- Research degrees, which are not commonly assigned a credit weighting in England; this includes the M.Phil. by Thesis, M.Litt., M.Sc., and Ph.D.;
- any medical or veterinary course of study, which are not commonly assigned a credit weighting in England;
- any course which has been authorised to award formal credit values, which will be shown in the programme specification.
Specific information about the content of the University’s courses, and any exceptions to the above equivalencies, can be found in programme specifications and on departmental websites.
1 Standalone taught master's courses are: the M.Phil. by Advanced Study, M.St., M.A.St., M.Res, M.B.A., M.Fin., M.Acc., M.C.L., LL.M., M.Ed., M.Mus, and M.Arch. degrees