Avoid time-table clashes
The academic system in Sweden is more or less built out of taking one course at a time. It is important to avoid time-table clashes. This page provides useful information that will help you select and map courses for your exchange semester.
Planning you courses
In many countries, it is common to take several courses in parallel for the entire semester. At the University of Gothenburg, it is most common to take courses sequentially, i.e., one course after the other during the semester.
Four quarters
The semester is divided into four quarters. Exchange students are expected to take 30 academic credits per semester, which means that you can take four 7.5 credit full-time courses one after the other, one per quarter. There are several other acceptable examples of how to plan your studies.
The number of courses you should take depends on how many credits they are. Most commonly, courses are either 7.5 or 15 credits but they can vary between 2 and 30 credits. To avoid scheduling conflict and to achieve a satisfactory study load, you need to pay extra attention to when a course is given during the semester and if it is full-time studies or less, when preparing your course application.
100% is maximum workload
If the study pace of a course is 100 % it is very difficult to combine that course with other courses taught in the same period. When courses are taught at less than 100% study pace, they can be combined with other courses during the same period.
In exceptional cases, a study load exceeding 100% can be accepted, but it will have to be discussed with your international coordinator at the University of Gothenburg.
You can see some of the acceptable examples in the table below. Note that there also might be other ways of combining courses.
Quarter 1 is the first part of the semester (usually around a month), Quarter 1 to 2 is the first half of the semester and Quarter 1 to 4 is a full semester.
Entry requirements
You must meet the entry requirements of each course you intend to take. The assessment of qualifications is made by the relevant departments. Your English proficiency is expected to correspond to at least CEFR B2 in all areas.
Transcript of Student Records
Upon completion of the exchange, the University of Gothenburg will issue a Transcript of Records listing all your passed courses, credits and grades. Please note that the failing grade (F) will not appear on the transcript. Only passed courses can be included in the transcript. You will be able to download your Transcript of Records in Ladok. Contact your international coordinator at the University of Gothenburg if you have any questions.
Read more about Transcript of Records at the Student portal.
