University-wide agreements

Uppsala University has campuses in two cities far apart from each other: Uppsala, on mainland Sweden, and Visby, on the island of Gotland.

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.

The departments that offer the courses in your course proposal determine whether you meet the academic entry requirements for each course. As some courses have limited availability, the departments also assess whether there is a place available for you. Please take note of this and ensure that you fulfil all the academic entry requirements before including a course in your proposal.

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).

The duration and extent of programmes and courses are expressed in a system of credits (equivalent to ECTS credits).

At Uppsala University a full academic year is 60 credits, and since the academic year in Sweden is divided into two semesters, one semester is 30 credits, making each week of full-time study worth 1.5 credits.

One week of full-time studies should consist of 40 hours of study.

Translating credits

Knowing the total number of credits needed to get a degree and the duration of the degree (the number of years) in your local credit system, you can estimate the conversion factor (CF) as follows:
CF = (the number of years in your system × 60) / the total number of credits in your system)

For example, if your 3-year Bachelor’s degree corresponds to a total of 120 credits in your system, then:
CF = (3×60) / 120 = 1.5

This means that a 4-credit course in your system corresponds to 4×CF = 6 credits at Uppsala University.

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.

The syllabus must specify the course goals, formulated as intended learning outcomes. The goals describe the requirements for a passing grade. The requirements for higher grades must be formulated in terms of increasing levels of quality of goal attainment.

Grading scales for first- and second-cycle courses as of 23 October 2018. The following grading scales are used at Uppsala University:

• Fail (U), Pass (G)
• Fail (U), Pass (G), Pass with distinction (VG)
• Fail (U), Pass (3), Pass with credit (4), Pass with distinction (5)
• Fail (U), Pass (B), Pass with credit (Ba), Pass with distinction (AB)
• Fail (F), Sufficient (E), Satisfactory (D), Good (C), Very good (B) Excellent (A)

The grade “Fail” does not appear on an official transcript of records.

If a student receives a passing grade, no re-takes or supplemental assignments can be done to receive a higher grade, nor can a student be re-registered on the course.

Note that ECTS grades are not offered to students at Uppsala University since a 2010 decision by the Vice Chancellor of Uppsala University.

There are four study periods during a semester. Period 1 starts on the first day of the semester and ends about five weeks later, when period 2 starts, and so on. Each course's study period is defined by specific dates (YYYY-MM-DD), for example, from 2019-09-02 to 2019-10-02, and can be found in the course catalogue's course information.

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. 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 (5, 7.5, 10 or 15 credits courses).

• 100% pace of study equals full-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 5 weeks
• 66% pace of study equals two third-time studies, i.e. 10 credits over 10 weeks
• 50% pace of study equals half-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 10 weeks
• 33% pace of study equals one third-time studies, i.e. 5 credits over 10 weeks
• 25% pace of study equals part-time studies, i.e. 7.5 credits over 20 weeks

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

Pace of study formula

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

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

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.

When applying for exchange studies at Uppsala University, you must submit course choices corresponding to 60 credits. This is because the number of places available on each course is limited, and you may not meet the entry requirements for all the courses you have selected. Uppsala University therefore cannot guarantee that you will be admitted to your first-choice courses.

The additional course choices serve as reserve options in case you cannot be admitted to your preferred courses. You will, however, only be admitted to full-time studies, corresponding to 30 credits per semester.

Not including reserve courses in your course proposal may result in a delay in the admission process.

Minimum number of credits

The minimum number of credits you must remain admitted to depends on your citizenship:

• EU/EEA citizens: 22.5 credits per semester.
• Non-EU/EEA citizens: 30 credits per semester.

For students who are not citizens of the EU/EEA, the requirement to remain admitted to 30 credits per semester is based on the Swedish Migration Agency's requirements for full-time, on-campus studies when issuing a residence permit.

Courses taught in Swedish

Exchange students may apply for courses taught in Swedish, provided that they can demonstrate a sufficient level of Swedish to successfully participate in university-level studies.

When it is confirmed that you meet the entry requirements for your chosen courses and there is available space, your Certificate of Acceptance and/or Letter of Admissions will be issued. This evaluation process will be completed before:

• Mid-June for the autumn semester intake
  
• Early December for the spring semester intake
  

Note: If you have not received a reply by the periods specified above, you must contact the Unit for International Mobility or your home university.

Changing a course

Under normal circumstances, you cannot change courses. Uppsala University does not have an "add-and-drop period".

Once the Letter of Admissions has been sent out, courses are fixed. A course change can be made only in one of the following cases:

1. If the courses chosen overlap substantially.
2. If the courses you have been admitted to would have a negative impact on your studies after the exchange. This must be confirmed by the coordinator at your home university via email to mobility@uu.se.

Dropping a course

The deadline to drop a course is three weeks after the course starts. As an exchange student, you can drop a course on two terms:

1. You do it before the deadline.
2. You still reach the minimum required number of credits per semester.