Recognition of competences acquired outside the university

Credits are only recognised upon application. Applicants can seek advice in advance from the Student Advisory Service if they have any questions regarding content and from the Central Student Advisory Service or the Examination Service if they have any questions regarding the application process. Students can download the application for recognition of non-academic competences from myCampus or the website and send it fully completed by email to the Examination Service.

You can find a step-by-step description of the application process here

Formal application review: All documents submitted will be checked by the examination service for formal completeness and correctness. If necessary, further documents will be requested from the applicant.

The examination service forwards the complete documents to the responsible examination board or the study commission.

Subject-related application assessment: The application is assessed by the examination board or the study commission for each (sub-)module applied for. The core of the credit transfer check is the equivalence comparison (equivalence check) with regard to the content-related correspondence of competences and the comparability of level and learning outcomes.

Competences are recognised by the responsible examination board or the study commission if the acquired
skills and knowledge are equivalent to the learning outcomes of the modules applied for in the respective degree programme at the FH Potsdam. Otherwise, recognition is only possible in part, with conditions or not at all.

The applicant will be informed of the decision on the credit transfer by the examination service. The (partially) credited credits are recorded in the examination system (credit overview). If the decision differs from the application, the applicant will be informed of the reasons for the rejection.

The crediting decision can be objected to in writing within 4 weeks.

For the recognition of competences and skills acquired outside the higher education system, up to 50% can be credited to a higher education degree programme, provided that they are equivalent in terms of content and level to the part of the degree programme that is to be replaced.

Always attach a tabular CV to the application with precise details of the stages of your education, training and further education biography as well as any professional activities. Please also enclose evidence of the relevant educational and professional phases and the knowledge you have acquired. Evidence can be as individual as the educational pathways, e.g:

• Certificates of completion of vocational training
• job references
• Certificates from further education and training programmes
• Curricula and course descriptions
• Job descriptions
• Work samples, concept papers
• and much more.

The burden of proof for credit transfer lies with the student, i.e. you. This means that you must provide all the necessary information required for an unambiguous assessment of your application. Otherwise, the university may stop processing your application prematurely and refuse to recognise your course due to a lack of information.

No. If it can be proven that the required competences or achievements are available at the time of application, it is generally irrelevant when they were acquired. However, the learning outcomes must actually match in terms of content and level. If, for example, computer skills were acquired in the 1990s, the examining university cannot assume that these competences correspond to the current state of science and technology. However, if the content and level of existing and required competences match, competences can be recognised for a lifetime.

Formally acquired competences are acquired in organised and structured contexts and are documented by a certified qualification (e.g. school-leaving certificate, vocational training and further education qualification). Formal learning is goal-oriented from the learner's perspective.

Non-formally (also: non-formally) acquired competences are acquired in the context of planned activities that contain a distinct "learning element", but are not documented by transparent curricula and final examinations (e.g. in-company further training). Non-formal learning is intentional on the part of the learner.

Informally acquired competences are acquired through practical experience - especially professional experience - or in everyday life. This type of skills acquisition is not intended, organised or planned and is not documented in detail. However, they can be proven by work certificates, work samples or similar.

Firstly, try to contact the institution you attended and subsequently request evidence. If you are unable to submit further evidence because it does not exist or is not available to you, competence assessment procedures, e.g. a specialised interview or a relevant seminar paper, can be used for verification. In any case, you must seek advice from a student counselling service in advance.

Ultimately, all competences must be proven. "Self-evidence" is not permitted.

One ECTS credit point corresponds to an average workload of 30 hours at the FH Potsdam. In addition to participation in the continuing education programme, the workload also includes time for preparation and follow-up work, examinations and additional components (e.g. group work, coaching, exercises). The workload in hours should be indicated on a certificate or the programme of the continuing education course.

• If you have any questions about the content of the application, please contact your student counselling service.
• If you have any questions about submitting an application , please contact the Central Student Advisory Service or the Examination Service.