New project on automatic recognition assessment starts work

Recognition processes are an integral component of mobility programmes. Efforts to ensure automatic recognition of study periods have intensified since the 2018 EU Council Recommendation on automatic mutual recognition of qualifications and learning periods abroad. However, uneven implementation of the Council Recommendation persists among member states, according to a recent evaluation of the Council Recommendation’s implementation.

To address this, the AUREA project, which will run until 2027, aims to support automatic recognition of study periods abroad by identifying barriers and analysing existing options to overcome them, as well as providing policy recommendations for the future of automatic recognition. The project seeks to address challenges and promote unobstructed mobility within the Erasmus+ community, thereby advancing the goal of automatic recognition, by:

• assessing the state of play in recognition for mobile students undergoing credit mobility;
• creating a shared understanding of (full) automatic credit recognition on a European level;
• providing higher education institutions with the necessary tools and information to assess their readiness for implementation of automatic credit recognition; and
• supporting evidence-based policy making.

Coordinated by the European Students’ Union, alongside project partners including the European University Association, AUREA’s target groups range from national and international higher education stakeholders and policy makers responsible for education matters, to staff and students at universities across Europe.

AUREA project outputs and activities include:

• focus groups with students and representatives of higher education institutions, as well as national and European stakeholders and policy makers;
• surveys and interviews to collect data on automatic credit recognition practices;
• report and online multiplier event on the current state of automatic credit recognition;
• Higher Education Social Labs;
• self-evaluation framework for higher education institutions on the implementation of automatic recognition of study periods abroad; and
• online capacity-building workshops.