The European Study System, ECTS & Grades How does our system work?

In Europe, higher education institutions are taken to mean both universities and universities of applied sciences. The two types are equivalent but different. Put simply, a university focuses on science-oriented work with a high level of abstraction. In contrast, education and training at universities of applied sciences are practice-oriented and deal more with concrete issues, which corresponds to the philosophy of the HSLU.

We are a classic university of applied sciences. Universities of applied sciences are not to be confused with the higher technical colleges (HFS), which focus exclusively on practical issues and do not count as universities.

The Bachelor's degree is the standard degree at universities of applied sciences. It qualifies graduates for direct entry into a profession. For Bachelor's graduates with above-average grades and an interest in application-oriented research, the universities of applied sciences offer consecutive Master's programmes. These last one-and-a-half to two years, depending on the field of study.

Graduating with a BSc in International Sustainable Tourism is a stepping stone to HSLU’s Master’s degree courses in Business Administration with the various majors, namely

• Business Innovation & Entrepreneurship
• Online Business and Marketing
• Public and Nonprofit Management (German only)
• International Tourism Management
• People Management and Organization

ECTS stands for European Credit Transfer System, which enables transparent recognition of study achievements. ECTS credits are a unit of measurement for study time. Each education and training course is awarded a certain number of ECTS credits, depending on the average time required to complete the module.

In the case of the BSc in International Sustainable Tourism, this is 180 ECTS, which, according to the standard curriculum, corresponds to exactly 30 ECTS in all six semesters. One ECTS credit equals 30 working hours. The individual modules comprise 3 or 6 ECTS, the Bachelor thesis 9 ECTS.

Thus, it can be said that the 3 ECTS modules, which are the most in this programme, require about 90 working hours each, including lectures, exercises, self-study and projects, assignments and exam preparation, and much more.

An academic year consists of two semesters: the autumn semester (regular programme start) and the spring semester.

The autumn semester begins in September of each year and ends with teaching units at the end of December. Afterwards, the examination period usually takes place from late January to mid-February.

The spring semester then begins after the semester break at the end of February until the end of June. Examinations usually take place subsequently until the first week of July. 

At least 80% of the courses in each module must be attended, otherwise students cannot be admitted to the module examinations and therefore cannot pass the module.

Each module is completed with a performance record in the same semester. A performance record can consist of several equally or differently weighted parts: individual assignments, group projects or exams.

The performance record verifies the achievement of the specified learning objectives and, if passed, results in the recognition of the corresponding number of ECTS. In the modules of the first and second regular semester, at least 50% of the examination results per module consist of individual performances.

Assessed assignments and exams use a scale of «A» to «F» (ECTS grading). This grading represents numerical grades (Swiss grading) as follows:

• A = 6.0
• B = 5.5 
• C = 5.0 
• D = 4.5 
• E = 4.0 
• FX = 3.5 (failed, opportunity for improvement up to E = 4.0, if applicable)
• F ≤ 3 (failed)                                              

Failed modules can usually be repeated once. During the course, a maximum of three failed modules may be repeated a second time. Further details can be found in the study regulations 2.1.4 for bachelor's programmes.