How does credit transfer work? (Faculty Approval)

Credit transfer involves seeking approval to study courses at your host university with the understanding that you will receive equivalent credit towards your University of Adelaide degree. Exact transfer of credit is negotiated between the student and their Faculty before the student leaves Australia.

Credit transfer is a crucial part of the exchange process, so please ensure you understand it clearly:

Before you apply to Global Learning

Step 1 - Check you can go

You should approach your Faculty adviser for a general chat about when you can go on exchange. You do not need to discuss with them your destination or specific courses, but simply whether or not it is an option as part of your program. Many circumstances can influence whether or not an exchange will be possible for you, in particular the structure of your current degree. You should not be requesting course approval at this stage.

Step 2 - Find a host institution which offers your study area

Not all of our partner universities offer all study areas. You need to find out if your desired destinations offer courses that look like they would fit into your program. The Global Learning office may be able to point you in the right direction, but the best way to find out what you can study at a host university is by researching on their website. Try terms like ‘academic departments', ‘study areas' or ‘majors'.

If you are confident that the institution offers courses in your study area, and your adviser has agreed that exchange is an option for you, you can apply to Global Learning. You do not need to take any further steps until you receive an offer.

After you are accepted by Global Learning

Step 3 - Find suitable courses

Once accepted into the Global Learning program, you will need to find courses that fit into your program and seek approval to study them on your exchange. Courses are best found on the host university's website. Try terms like ‘course catalogue' or ‘modules'. You should print out the courses' syllabi, credit loads, assessment requirements and textbook lists and take them with a Study Plan Approval Form (under ‘Forms', under ‘How to Apply') to your Faculty adviser for approval. Some advisers will need to refer your request onto school academics, so you should not expect your approval to be completed immediately. We recommend you seek approval for more courses than necessary in case some are not available.

To find out how many overseas credits you will need to make up a full time load, download our credit transfer guide (currently being updated - please enquire for details).

Step 4 - Submit your approval

You will need to submit your approval to the Global Learning office. We ask that you submit it when you accept your offer, and at the very latest before you leave Australia. Some host universities require an approved study list as part of their application.

Make sure your study plan indicates exactly how many units' credit you will receive, and how many units you will have remaining in your program when you return. OS-HELP loans cannot be processed without submission of a complete, approved study plan.

Step 5 - Enrol at the University of Adelaide

You will need to enrol in ‘dummy' exchange courses (found under EXCHANGE in the University of Adelaide Course Planner) to the value of your approved study in the semester(s) in which you will be overseas. This is to ensure you accrue the correct amount of HECS (or tuition fees). You should not enrol in any on-campus Adelaide courses. You should enrol in only one course per Faculty - for example, if you are studying a Bachelor of Arts you can simply enrol in one course worth 12 units, but if you are studying Arts (9 units) and Science (3 units), you will need to enrol in two courses which correspond to each Faculty to the correct value.

Step 6 - Enrol at the host university

You will need to enrol as a non-degree student in your approved courses at the host university. Every university has a different process; you will find out about it in due time.

Step 7 - Receipt of transcript

Your host university will send a copy of your academic transcript to the Global Learning office once you have returned to Adelaide. This will be passed onto your Faculty office so that they can apply the appropriate credit to your University of Adelaide academic transcript. You will receive an NFE (No Formal Exam) grade, and credit will be awarded based on the results achieved at the host university. You will be able to collect your original transcript from the Global Learning office once processed.