AUREA

Recognition in mobility programs remains a challenge, with over 20% of mobile students facing additional exams or coursework upon returning home. This burdens students, strains academics, and may deter participation. Since the 2018 EU Council Recommendation on automatic recognition, progress has been uneven across member states. While Erasmus+ Learning Agreements now highlight “automatic recognition,” the European Commission stresses the need for further improvements, especially ahead of the March 2024 Council Recommendation on Quality Assurance and Recognition. The AUREA project tackles these challenges by identifying barriers, analysing solutions, and providing policy recommendations to support seamless credit recognition and enhance student mobility.

Aim: Support automatic recognition for credit mobility students by identifying barriers, analysing existing options, and providing policy recommendations for the future of automatic recognition.

Main Objectives: 

-Assess the state of play in recognition for mobile students undergoing credit mobility.

-Create a shared understanding of (full) automatic credit recognition on a European level.

-Provide higher education institutions with the necessary tools and information to assess their readiness for implementation of automatic credit recognition and fostering evidence-based policy making.

On February 12-13, the European Students’ Union (ESU) hosted the first Transnational Partner Meeting (TPM) of the Automatic Recognition Assessment (AUREA) project. AUREA, an EU-funded initiative coordinated by ESU, seeks to advance automatic recognition for students undergoing credit mobility, addressing barriers that continue to hinder full recognition of learning periods abroad.

The meeting gathered representatives from the project consortium, which includes the European University Foundation (EUF), the European University Association (EUA), the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), University Eötvös Loránd (Hungary), University of Marburg (Germany), University of Ghent (Belgium), and Public University Kadri Zeka (Kosovo).

During the TPM, work package leaders provided updates on their respective tasks, highlighting key progress made so far. The consortium also reached a consensus on the project timeline and deliverables, ensuring a coordinated approach to tackling recognition challenges. The meeting reaffirmed the commitment of all partners to evidence-based policy recommendations, institutional capacity building, and fostering good practices for automatic recognition across Europe.
Stay tuned for further updates as we continue working towards seamless mobility and a stronger European Education Area!