7

I did three years of my four year undergraduate degree in the UK. I want to do my final year at another university in another country (still in Europe). I contacted the university that I am interested in and after sending my academic transcript they confirmed that they would be willing to accept my credits and that I can start in a higher year.

My question is: Do I need anything from the University I am leaving? Do I need permission from them to transfer my credits?

5
  • 1
    What research have you done on the matter? Have you investigated how transferring works at either of these institutions?
    – MJeffryes
    Feb 12, 2016 at 14:31
  • 1
    @MJeffryes Most universities I researched do not provide any public accessible information about transferring. Like I said, I did contact the one I am interested in and they said something along the line of "Yes, we'll accept you. Just apply through the normal process and then get in touch with us in order to get exempted from some of the courses". I am confident that that's going to be ok. Now the only thing I am worried about is whether my current University has anything to say in that matter. If I don't have to I rather not contact them about this. If I have to then I will.
    – testus
    Feb 12, 2016 at 14:52
  • 1
    Note that the answer to this question is likely to apply to graduate education as well, so I believe that it should not be closed as "undergraduate only"
    – jakebeal
    Feb 12, 2016 at 15:07
  • 9
    One issue that occasionally comes up at US universities is that in order to transfer credits, the previous university has to send an official transcript to the new one. Many universities require that before they will send the transcript, you have to have paid all tuition and fees you owe them (or have financed them with a student loan). So if you are behind on tuition payments or even owe library fines, you may not be able to get the transcript you need. Feb 12, 2016 at 17:43
  • 1
    @NateEldredge That's important enough, and relevant enough, I'd suggest turning it into a full answer.
    – Patrick M
    Feb 12, 2016 at 18:15

5 Answers 5

34

You should not take the term "transferring credits" so literally -- nothing is taken away from the (at that time) previous university. Instead, you are convincing the new university that you already obtained some parts of the education they are offering (so that it would be a waste of your and their time to do that again), and have the credits to prove it. The new university then awards you the appropriate credits according to their regulations (which might be more or less than the corresponding ones at your old university) based on their trust that you could in principle pass the modules again. The credits at your old university remain (at least for some time), should you decide to switch back.

1
  • 8
    Yep, it's not a transfer, but a recognition. Feb 12, 2016 at 18:50
16

One issue that occasionally comes up at US universities is that in order to transfer credits, the previous university has to send an official transcript to the new one. Many universities require that before they will send the transcript, you have to have paid all tuition and fees you owe them (or have financed them with a student loan). So if you are behind on tuition payments or even owe library fines, you may not be able to get the transcript you need.

Other than that, in my experience, there isn't any particular permission that you need in order to transfer.

1
  • 3
    And they'll probably charge a fee for sending a transcript... Feb 12, 2016 at 20:24
8

Here in Chile it is up to the receiving institution to decide if they recognize previous work for credit or not. The original school has no say in the matter.

5

You are not telling us the most important thing -- you want to graduate and get a degree, right? From which university do you want the degree? If you intend to return to the UK to graduate, your university there will have to give you credit for the classes taken abroad, and you should ask them about their exact requirements to do so. If you intend to graduate at the new university, take a good long look at their requirents to graduate with a degree in the field of your choice, then make sure that between the classes you are going to take and the ones you have taken you meet these requirements. If you do not, it will cost you at least another semester (plus the fees and costs of living associated with any delays). From the university you are leaving (without graduating) you will only need proof of the grades from the classes taken there (this may involve a translation, possibly certified in some way; ask about this at the university you plan to graduate from). As detailed by Nate Eldridge, you probably should be current with all payments when you ask for a transcript. Good luck!

2
  • 1
    I think this answer is important, because it's unusual to take 3 years to another university, whereas bringing one year back from abroad, even the final year, is relatively normal.
    – Jessica B
    Feb 13, 2016 at 7:46
  • "If you intend to return to the UK to graduate" - if that is the case, quite a bit of the premise may be changing. For a planned temporary stay abroad, the process would usually be quite different than for (possibly permanently) changing the university. In particular, a transfer of credits to the university abroad might not be required in the first place as you are not entering any of their majors with the goal of graduating there. Feb 13, 2016 at 16:58
2

You don't need your old university's permission to enrol at a new one, and the new university doesn't need your old university's permission to recognise the transcript you've already showed them in lieu of taking their equivalent courses.

You should immediately ask the other university, the one you want to transfer to and that you're already in conversation with, the question you've just asked here. "Do you need anything from my current university?".

They might say, "no, we already have your transcript and the offer we've given you is unconditional". They might say (as Nate's answer suggests) "we need formal confirmation of the transcript we've seen". They might say, "we will request a basic reference from your current university, to establish your good standing and that you weren't expelled for some kind of misconduct". It's up to them what they want.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .