The European Credit Transfer System
The credit-based educational system of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music has been arranged in agreement with international teaching experience and the European ideas of higher education at the same time remaining in accordance with the 127-year old educational traditions of the institution.
The legal and educational documents defining the credit-regulations of the Liszt Academy are as follows:
Act 139:2005 on High Education Government decree 289/22.12.2005. Government Decree 77 of 2002 (April 13), European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), Users manual, References to the introduction of credit-based training (National Credit Council January 2001), References of the quality assurance issued by the Hungarian Accreditation Board.
Credit-based teaching was introduced in the academic year 2003/2004 in an ascending line. The strictly regulated educational order has been replaced by a flexible training system offering more possibility to choose between subjects. The need to repeat a term has ceased to exist, incompleted subjects - if the syllabus permits - can be retaken and carried further with other subjects. The main features of the system are in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System - ETSC, which facilitates the completion of partial studies abroad.
The essence of this system is that the student, upon completion of the study requirements, receives credits for each subject every semester. A credit is supposed to measure the student's individual learning achievement, whilst the number of credits indicates the progress made in a specific subject. This latter is expressed in the number of accumulated credits, as they are added to the ones earned earlier up until the student accumulates the necessary number of credits required to receive the diploma.
The minimum number of credits in the case of a 6-semester course is 180 credits, (in the case of 4 semesters it is 120 credits).
The old term-based training structure has been replaced by more suitable semesters to measure actual learning activity . One semester corresponds to the completion of an average of 30 credits. Each faculty sets its own specifics in the credit acquisition process.
Unlike in the traditional teaching system, credit-based education is built upon a more flexible "syllabus", which enables students to adjust their own learning process in order to meet the graduation requirements in an optimal time frame. The syllabus also facilitates the division of subjects and training tasks per semester in such a way that a student wishing to follow his own learning pattern at a normal speed can register for any new subject only upon completing the prerequisites. Students can individually tailor their own learning pattern based on the available courses and subjects. However, it is strongly recommended for everybody to follow the master-syllabus.
Subjects in the credit-based teaching system are divided into three categories:
Compulsory, compulsory electives and electives.
Major learning areas of training
I.A. Subjects of artistic practice
This category includes all those compulsory, compulsory elective or elective studies, which prepare students to be able to acquire the musical knowledge required for graduation. These subjects are for example: major subject (principal subject), chamber music, choir, orchestra.
I.B. Subjects of artistic theory
This category includes subjects that give a broad theoretical and historical knowledge of music. These subjects for are example: history of music, theory of music, folk music, thesis work.
I.C. General theoretical subjects
This category includes theoretical subjects, which provide the necessary skills and knowledge needed for the general intellectual existence of students studying in higher education institutions, such as philosophy, aesthetics, etc.
II. Other requirements
1. Final examination:
Conditions of entering the final examination:
completion of all learning and exam requirements set forth in the syllabus, accumulation of the required credit numbers, i.e. obtaining the final certificate.
Preparation and acceptance of thesis.
Parts of final examination:
Thesis discussion
Public diploma-concert and /or complex music final exam.
2. Conditions of issuing the diploma:
Accredited foreign language certificate, intermediate level, type C or an equivalent certificate, or proof of the required language certificate.
Successful completion of the final examination.
Knowledge testing system
The various ways of testing the acquired knowledge as prescribed in the syllabus include signatures and qualified signatures of professors, marks of practices, exams, (colloquium, basic and closing examination), preparation and discussion of the thesis, diploma concert and/or complex music final examination .
5-scale evaluation system
Excellent (5), good (4), satisfactory (3), poor (2), fail (1).
The qualified signature - which equals credit points, known as AI - has three categories:
Well completed : relates to excellent - (5)
Completed: relates to satisfactory - (3)
Incomplete: relates to fail - (1)