Incoming Erasmus Students: Modules and Courses - Choosing Modules

Courses at UCC are taught in modules. A module represents a self-contained fraction of a student’s workload for the year. The value of a module is indicated by its credit weighting. The number of credits allocated to each module will vary depending on the fraction of work it accounts for. A module may equal 5, 10, 15 or 20 credits. A full year’s course load will equal 60 credits, as is the case in the ECTS system. A standard five credit module could, for example, consist of 25 hours of lectures plus associated tutorials, essays and reading, although in certain subjects the lecture load may be greater than 25 hours.

A five credit module could be taught for one hour per week over the course of the academic year or, in a number of cases, such courses may also be semesterised, i.e. they are taught for two hours per week over half the academic year, instead of one hour per week over the entire year. The principal subjects offering semester options are Archaeology, Celtic Civilisation, English, Folklore and Ethnology, Greek, Greek and Roman Civilisation, History, Latin, Music, Philosophy and Spoken Irish.

While the normal load for the full academic year equals 60 credits and for a semester equals 30 credits, European students should note that it is their home university which will advise them on their specific requirements in relation to the number of modules to be taken while at UCC.  However, advice is also available from the Educational Advisor, International Education Office, and departmental coordinators.