Course mapping for exchange students

At many universities you study several courses in parallel during the entire semester. At Uppsala University, you take courses sequentially one after the other, not in parallel. This is why you need to map the courses you will study during your exchange.

Background information

The academic year in Sweden is divided into two semesters. The academic year consists of 40 weeks (20 weeks per semester), and begins with the autumn semester and finishes with the spring semester. There are no formal holiday periods during the semester. There are however short breaks over Christmas and Easter.

Semester dates

2022/2023
Autumn 2022: 29 August – 15 January (weeks 35–02)
Spring 2023: 16 January – 4 June (weeks 03–22)

2023/2024
Autumn 2023: 28 August – 14 January (weeks 35–02)
Spring 2024: 15 January – 2 June (weeks 03–22)

Uppsala University has campuses in two cities far apart from each other: Uppsala, on mainland Sweden, and Visby, on the island of Gotland. Therefore, you need to make sure that you choose courses located either only in Uppsala or only in Visby.

You must meet the entry requirements for each course you select. The more specific the entry requirements, the more specific your answer must be.

For example, if a course requires “object-oriented programming” it is not enough to have taken any programming course. You must, in this case, be able to refer to an object-oriented programming course in your transcript of records.

All courses are labelled with the cycle and the in-depth level:

  • The cycle: if the course is of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.
  • The in-depth level: the expected number of credits a student will have completed within that specific subject area by the time they take that course (e.g. 7.5, 15 or 30 credits).

Credits

The duration and extent of programmes and courses is expressed in a system of credits equivalent to ECTS credits. That means, you take 30 credits per semester for full time studies. A full academic year corresponds to 60 credits, thus, one semester corresponds to 30 credits. Furthermore, one semester corresponds to 20 weeks and one week corresponds to 40 hours of study. Each week of full-time study is worth 1.5 credits.

Grading scales

Uppsala University uses five different grading scales. Each faculty decides which of the grading scales will be used in that faculty. The syllabus for a course must always specify which grading scale will be used for that particular course.

Note! If you receive a passing grade, no re-takes or supplemental assignments can be done to receive a higher grade. Nor can you be re-registered on the course.

How to map your courses

There are two key concepts students must understand to map their courses: study periods and study load.

There are four study periods during a semester. Period 1 starts on the first day of the semester and ends approximately five weeks later, when period 2 starts, et cetera. The study period of each course is defined by actual dates (YYYY-MM-DD), for example from 2019-09-02 to 2019-10-02, or weeks.

Please note that in the exchange student course catalogue, period 1 and 2 are merged and called period 1, while period 3 and 4 are merged and called period 2. As this may be confusing, please always check the actual dates that courses are given.

The duration and extent of programmes and courses is expressed in a system of credits, equivalent to ECTS credits. A full academic year corresponds to 60 credits and one semester corresponds to 30 credits. Courses at Uppsala University are often given during 5 or 10 week periods (7.5 or 15 credits courses).

  • 100% study load equals full-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 5 weeks
  • 50% study load equals half-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 10 weeks
  • 25% study load equals part-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 20 weeks

In order to get an even study load, students should make sure they have a 100% study load in each of the four study periods. This could mean one course with a 100% study load per period, or two courses with a 50% study load per period.

Study load formula

Still can’t work out your study load? Try the following formula:

(credits of one course)/(duration of one course in weeks x 1,5) x 100 = % study load

If the figure you get is less than 100 the course you are interested in is likely designed to be taken in conjunction with another course.

diagram showing course mapping for exchange students.

Three examples of acceptable ways to map your courses and one example of a non-acceptable way to map courses for one exchange semester of full-time studies.

  1. Acceptable: Four 7.5 credit courses, each with a 5 week duration (100 % or full-time study load), one after the other
  2. Acceptable: Two 15 credit courses, each with a 10 week duration (100 % or full-time study load), one after the other
  3. Acceptable: Two 7.5 credit courses, each with a 5 week duration (100 % or full-time study load), one after the other, followed by two 7.5 credit courses, each with a 10 week duration (50% or part-time study load for each course) taken in parallel.
  4. Non-acceptable: Two 7.5 credit courses each with a 5 week duration (100 % full-time study load) at the same time, i.e. in parallel, followed by a 7.5 credit course overlapping a 15 credit course.

Drop-in: Consult an International Officer

Meet with our International Officers to discuss your inquiries regarding your studies. You have the option to connect through Zoom or have an in-person meeting.

Kindly be aware that drop-in sessions will not be available on public holidays and during breaks such as Christmas, Easter, and summer vacations.

Temporary changes and extra drop-in sessions

The drop-in session on Thursday 21 September is cancelled.

Uppsala students

Visby students

Other contact details

Unit for International Mobility
Email: mobility@uu.se
Visiting address: Segerstedthuset, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 7, Uppsala
Postal address: P.O. Box 256, SE-751 05 Uppsala
Phone number: +46 18 471 00 00 (switchboard)

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