09 - Estonia - Organisation of the academic year
An academic year is divided into two terms – the autumn and the spring
term. An academic year begins in September and ends in the first half
of June. The autumn term usually lasts from September to December; and
the examination session is in January. The spring term lasts from the
end of January or the beginning of February to the end of May, but
examinations often take place until the end of June. Students shall
have at least eight weeks of holiday each year.
The study load
determined in the curriculum is calculated in credit points. One credit
point corresponds to 40 hours or one week of study by a student. The
study load of one academic year is 40 credit points, corresponding to
60 credit points of the European Credit Point Transfer System (ECTS).
Until 1 January 2010, the credit points stating the volume of study
will, at issuing academic transcripts, be transferred into the credit
points of the ECTS. Since the academic year 2009/2010, the existing
credit point system will be abandoned and only the ECTS, i.e.
outcome-based curricula, will be implemented. Since then, one credit
point will correspond to 26 hours of work used by a student for
studying and it constitutes 1560 hours of work per academic year.
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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