ECTS

Around the turn of this century, representatives from universities and individual European countries set the groundwork for a common organization of university programs, their content, and evaluation. The goal is to raise the standard of education, unify the organization and approach to instruction, facilitate student transfers among individual universities, and ensure well-prepared graduates for future employers in both the private and public sectors.

The system had been in effect since 1989 in several western European states, and was put into effect in the Czech Republic in 1993. This system provides a common scale for measuring in credits the student workload required to complete course units. Students progressively meet the requirements within the framework of their programs – for bachelor’s programs 180 credits, and for master’s programs 120 credits.

The Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague introduced the credit system in 2002. The current credit system in is accordance with the Bologna declaration and facilitates study at partner schools abroad.

The credit system at IHM is intended to make it possible to compare universities and exams from different countries and allow students greater freedom to plan their individual path of study.

Completion of an academic program using the ECTS results in a Diploma Supplement. This is a Czech-English document containing general information about the school system in the Czech Republic, basic information about the academic program, personal details of the holder, a list of students who have successfully completed final exams including results, thesis topic, and results from state exams. The Diploma Supplement is being issued in a widely spoken European language (English), given automatically and free of charge to every o student upon gratuation.

The supplement is a tool to facilitate recognition of the completion of a program or individual parts of a program in the Czech Republic or abroad. Employers can also use the document for employees and applicants as a detailed record of specializations and levels of education gained.