A university course is a course of study that is normally recognized for credit towards the granting of an approved degree. Under Program 5, courses considered for evaluation may either be referred to as full courses or half courses.
A full course (or full year course, or a university degree-credit course) is a course of study which would normally take an entire school year to complete. For example, in a school with fall, spring, and summer semesters, a full course would normally begin in the fall semester and end after the spring semester.
A half course (or a half year course, or a university degree-credit half course) is a course of study which would normally take half of a school year to complete. For example, in a school with fall, spring, and summer semesters, a half course might only span the fall semester.
The amount of time required to complete a course can differ by institution, and even among different programs offered by the same institution (e.g. accelerated programs which provide the same amount of content in less time). To maintain a consistent and rigorous standard under Program 5, QECO will only consider in our evaluations the weight or credit value of a course towards conferral of an approved degree.
For QECO purposes, any one of the following constitutes one (1) full course:
- Two (2) half courses, or;
- Six (6) semester credits, or;
- Nine (9) quarter credits, or;
- Twelve (12) ECTS.
For QECO purposes, any one of the following constitutes one (1) half course:
- Three (3) semester credits, or;
- Four and a half (4.5) quarter credits, or;
- Six (6) ECTS.
Note that individual universities offer courses and indicate their weight or credit value in a variety of ways. Information regarding the credit system and course weights can usually be found on the back of an official university transcript.
Under Program 5, Additional Qualification and Additional Basic Qualification courses approved by the Ontario College of Teachers, are considered “university degree-credit courses” when they appear on the applicant’s Certificate of Qualification and Registration. Each has a value of one full-year course. QECO will assign a grade of B unless officially indicated otherwise by the course provider.
Each course that leads to an entry on the Certificate of Qualification and Registration from the Ontario College of Teachers will be used by QECO as either one Additional Qualification course or as a maximum of one full university course, but not both.
University practicum courses credited on a university transcript towards a degree other than the basic teacher training program used for certification purposes will be accepted at transcript value for evaluation purposes.
Additional university courses used for upgrading may not duplicate the course content of university studies previously completed (please see Regulation 4). In addition, if QECO has advised you that, for category upgrading purposes, a degree-credit course is required in a specific subject from a faculty of arts or science and with a specific grade, you may not substitute courses from a faculty of education or from other faculties to fulfill your requirements.
Please ensure that you follow your personalized upgrading requirements as specifically stated in the letter from QECO.