How Do You Change Courses in an Erasmus Learning Agreement?
A course signed into an Erasmus Learning Agreement before departure may be canceled, full, or incompatible with the host timetable. Enrolling in a different course abroad is not enough to ensure recognition at home. The student, host institution, home department, and international office may each have an approval role. Başkent University's guide explains the after arrival change section, and Trakya University describes its coordinator workflow. Time windows differ by institution and mobility period. Identify which home degree requirement the replacement course will satisfy before treating the amendment as complete.
Document and approve an amendment
1. Record why a change is needed. Keep evidence if an original course is unavailable, filled, taught in a different language, clashes with another class, or does not match the expected level. Download the host's current syllabus, ECTS value, language, and timetable for the proposed replacement. Compare it with both the removed course and the home curriculum. Substituting a course with the same number of credits does not guarantee comparable learning outcomes or academic recognition. Send your departmental coordinator the original and revised plans together, so the decision addresses the whole study program. 2. Use the right stage of the form. Rather than silently overwriting the signed pre mobility agreement, use the During the Mobility section or the institution's online amendment workflow. Başkent University's instructions emphasize recording changed courses in that section and obtaining approvals from the parties. Whether unchanged courses must be repeated depends on the form version in use. State the code, title, ECTS, and reason for each deletion and addition accurately. Keep the signed original for comparison. A clear version history helps resolve a later mismatch with the host transcript. 3. Follow the approval chain. The student, host coordinator, home departmental coordinator, and international office may act at different stages. Trakya University's instructions describe an approved document moving from the departmental coordinator to the Erasmus office. In an online system, inspect the status of every party's approval. An adviser's verbal agreement or a host institution's course registration alone is not a home academic recognition decision. Make sure the course is also correctly registered at the host and learn its assessment and attendance rules before the change deadline passes.
Deadlines and recognition on return
4. Verify the actual window. Başkent's example counts a number of weeks after arrival, while Trakya's example gives another period after the academic term begins. Do not turn either number into a universal Erasmus rule. Compare your current international office announcement, grant documents, and host add drop timetable. Notify the coordinators when a course is canceled rather than waiting until the final week. Late signatures can prevent recognition even if you attended and passed. Record the dates and version of each approved form; an unsigned draft does not have the same status as a completed amendment. 5. Confirm the home equivalent in writing. The host courses and the requirements they replace in your degree must remain consistent across the agreement. Ask how a withdrawn course affects the ECTS total and any compulsory requirement. İzmir Ekonomi University's exchange rules warn that a change without necessary approvals may not be recognized after return. That institution's rule illustrates the practical risk, although other universities set their own process. Conversion of grades and treatment of a failed course also depend on the current home regulation. Do not assume the originally planned recognition survives a changed course selection. 6. Reconcile the final records. On return, present the host's official transcript alongside the last approved Learning Agreement and change section. Check that codes, course titles, and ECTS on the transcript correspond to the signed plan. Ask the host for a written explanation of any discrepancy. After the home institution records recognition, inspect your transcript for the agreed grade or exemption. Keep a single current approval file rather than relying on scattered email conversations and verbal statements. The original signed agreement and its approved amendment together show what was authorized.