Learning agreement and transferability of study performances

Learning agreement

The Learning Agreement is a written agreement (study contract) between a student, the home university and the host university within the framework of an exchange programme. Before you start your studies abroad, you must enter the courses you plan to take at the host university in the Learning Agreement. You must also specify and assign the modules of your degree programme at THWS for which you would like to have the courses recognised.
The learning agreement must be checked and approved by your contact person at the faculty and your host university before you go abroad. The host university often requires the learning agreement directly upon registration. In addition, the approved learning agreement is also one of the requirements for the payment of Erasmus funding.

How do you structure a learning agreement?

Studying abroad is an integral part of your degree programme. You should thus take courses at your host university that are comparable to THWS modules of the 3rd and 4th semester or to failed THWS courses of the 1st and 2nd semester regarding the competences, contents, and workload. When planning your stay abroad, please also keep your further studies in mind as they are laid down in the module handbook or the study and examination regulations. Most courses are only offered in the stated semester. You may also consider taking general or subject-specific electives at the higher education institution abroad.

For semesters abroad within the Erasmus+ programme countries (“semester abroad EU”), the digital learning agreement (DiLA) is used with a few exceptions. During the preparations for your semester abroad, you will receive an email request to initiate the digital Learning Agreement via the portal MoveON, through which, after completion of the faculty-internal process, i.e. your acceptance of the study place, you also apply for the semester abroad at the International Office (HSIN). Only after receiving this email will you be able to create the Learning Agreement in the MoveON portal.

To create the DiLA and then obtain approval for it in MoveOn, we recommend following these steps:

  1. You will receive an email request from MoveOn informing you that you can create your digital learning agreement.
  2. Research the courses at the host university, collect the course descriptions and decide which courses you plan to take abroad and which modules of your degree programme you would like to have recognised. To do this, compare the course descriptions of the host university with the module descriptions of your degree programme in terms of skills taught, ECTS and workload. When registering for courses, please note that, regardless of recognition, 20–30 ECTS should be taken abroad, with the faculty's lower limit being 20 ECTS.
  3. Have the eligibility of the courses for recognition against the modules of your degree programme checked and confirmed via the new faculty-specific recognition portal, which you can log into using your THWS access data. To do this, submit the application "Prüfung der Anerkennungsfähigkeit" (Recognition Check) in the portal and enter all your planned courses and the modules for which you want recognition. Upload the separate course descriptions of your planned courses at the host university. Please make sure that your entries are correct, especially the name of the host university, module and course titles, and ECTS information.
  4. With the results from the recognition portal, you can now create your digital learning agreement in MoveON. Instructions for creating the digital learning agreement and further information on the digital learning agreement can be found on website of the International Office of the university (HSIN).
  5. Once you have created and approved your digital learning agreement in MoveOn, it will be automatically forwarded via MoveOn to the contact person in your faculty for approval and then to the host university for approval. The learning agreement approved by all parties is one of the prerequisites for the payment of Erasmus funding by your coordinator at the International Office (HSIN) and should be available before the start of your stay abroad.

To create the Learning Agreement and then obtain approval for it, we recommend following these steps:

  1. You will receive information from your faculty that you can start creating your Learning Agreement.
  2. Research the courses at the host university, collect the course descriptions and decide which courses you plan to take abroad and which modules of your degree programme you would like to have recognised. To do this, compare the course descriptions of the host university with the module descriptions of your degree programme in terms of skills taught, ECTS and workload. When registering for courses, please note that, regardless of recognition, 20–30 ECTS credits should be taken abroad, with the faculty's lower limit being 20 ECTS.
  3. Have the eligibility of the courses for recognition against the modules of your degree programme checked and confirmed via the new faculty-specific recognition portal, which you can log into using your THWS access data. To do this, submit the application "Prüfung der Anerkennungsfähigkeit" (Recognition Check) in the portal and enter all your planned courses and the modules for which you want recognition. Upload the separate course descriptions of your planned courses at the host university. Please make sure that your entries are correct, especially the name of the host university, module and course titles, and ECTS information.
  4. Download the current learning agreement form, available on the website of the International Office (HSIN) in the tab "Before the mobility".
  5. Fill out the Learning Agreement. Use the results from the recognition portal and the instructions for filling out the form (German version/English version).
  6. Send your completed and signed Learning Agreement by email to international.business[at]thws.de for signature. You will then receive a copy of the document signed by your faculty contact person, which you should forward to your host university for signature. Finally, forward the document signed by you, your faculty and the host university to your contact person at the International Office (HSIN). 

Any more questions on learning agreements?

Read on for the answers to the most frequently asked questions (FAQ).

With the digital learning agreement (DiLA) with EU - Erasmus+ studies: After you have received the e-mail request via the MoveOn portal or by the International Office (HSIN) to initiate the digital learning agreement. At the latest after you get the go by our faculty and receive information on the learning agreement and on the recognition of study achievements completed abroad.

With learning agreements for NON-EU studies and freemovers: After you get the go by our faculty and receive information on the learning agreement and on the recognition of study achievements completed abroad.

The following additional requirements must be met: You were assigned a place at a higher education institution abroad and you have received the invitation of the hosting institution.

Get active and research options or contact current or former exchange students at your hosting institution. Look for courses and collect course and module descriptions.

You need course/module descriptions including an overview/schedule and the contents covered and competences, credit points and workload (in semester hours per week).
You can obtain these, for example, either by researching on the website of the host university or, if you cannot find them online, by contacting the International Office of the host university. 

During your semester abroad, it is recommended to take courses at the host university that are similar to the modules offered in your degree programme at THWS at the time of your semester abroad in accordance with the module handbook or study and examination regulations of your degree programme. These are usually courses similar to the modules of the 3rd/4th semester or similar to modules of the 1st/2nd semester that have not yet been completed. At the same time, you can also take general or business electives (AWPFs, FWPFs) at the university abroad.

Similar to the workload of a semester at THWS, you should plan in such a way that you also take around 20-30 ECTS with your courses at the university abroad. Of course, you should pass as many of these as possible, but at least 15 ECTS, regardless of whether they are recognised. 

Not all credit points are equal. There are various denominations like ECTS, CP or STP and all are weighted differently.

Yes, as long as they are all listed in the grade overview. However, all study achievements to be accredited must have been completed abroad.

Please send the learning agreement via e-mail only to international.business[at]thws.de! We will evaluate it and send a signed copy of the document back to you. You then forward this to the foreign host university for signature and finally you must forward the document signed in triplicate (by you, by THWS and by the host university) directly to your contact person at the International Office (HSIN) of THWS. 

Yes, it is your responsibility to specify in the Learning Agreement which course at the foreign university you would like to have recognised for which module of your degree programme at the Business School. The key factor here is that there should be no significant differences in terms of skills between the chosen course at the foreign university and the module at THWS Business School for which you would like to have the course recognised. To do this, compare the course descriptions of the foreign university with the module descriptions of your degree programme.

Transferability of study achievements

The learning agreement only determines whether credit points can be transferred - or not. The actual recognition of study achievements must be requested by students after they have returned to THWS.

What about the request process?

The final recognition of study achievements earned during the semester abroad is carried out by the Department of Student Affairs (HSST). Since the 2025 summer semester, you can apply for recognition of your study achievements using the ‘Anerkennung Studium’ (Recognition of Studies) application form via the recognition portal, where you log in with your THWS access data and where you may have already checked the eligibility of your courses for recognition before your semester abroad. If there have been any changes to your learning agreement, these changes may need to be checked first. This check is also carried out via the recognition portal.

Once the application has been submitted in full via the recognition portal, including uploading all the necessary documents (learning agreement, transcript of records, overview of the host university's grading system, course descriptions if applicable), it will be checked and processed by the Department of Student Affairs (HSST). The grades will then appear in the grade overview in the CampusPortal. Please note that it may take some time before you can see the grades. It is therefore in your own interest to submit the application as quickly and as completely as possible.