In Vietnam, how many hours of study will 01 credit be equivalent to? How many credits are students in Vietnam required to complete during 04 years of university?

What is credit-based training in Vietnam?

Under Clause 2, Article 3 of the regulation on undergraduate education issued with Circular 08/2021/TT-BGDDT, credit-based training is defined as follows:

Methods for training organization

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2. credit-based training:

a) credit-based training is a method for training organization where units of study are organized into classes as appropriate to the teaching plan of the training institution, allowing students to accumulate credits of each unit of study and take the training program following their individual learning plans;

b) Students failing a mandatory unit of study shall retake that unit of study or take an equivalent unit of study according to regulations of the training program or a substituting unit of study if the unit of study that they fail is no longer taught;

c) Students failing an elective unit of study shall retake that unit of study or take another elective unit of study according to regulations of the training program.

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Thus, credit-based training is a method for training organization where units of study are organized into classes as appropriate to the teaching plan of the training institution, allowing students to accumulate credits of each unit of study and take the training program following their individual learning plans.

According to this training program, the handling of failed units of study is as follows:

- Students failing a mandatory unit of study shall retake that unit of study or take an equivalent unit of study according to regulations of the training program or a substituting unit of study if the unit of study that they fail is no longer taught;

- Students failing an elective unit of study shall retake that unit of study or take another elective unit of study according to regulations of the training program.

Overall, credit-based training not only ensures flexibility but also emphasizes students' self-study responsibility and self-direction capabilities, aligning with modern educational trends.

In Vietnam, how many hours of study will 01 credit be equivalent to? How many credits are students in Vietnam required to complete during 04 years of university? (Image from Internet)

In Vietnam, how many hours of study will 01 credit in undergraduate education be equivalent to?

According to the provisions in Clause 1, Article 7 of Circular 17/2021/TT-BGDDT, the regulations on credits are as follows:

Academic load

1. Academic load of a training program or each component or each unit of study of a training program shall be determined by number of credits.

a) A credit shall be equivalent to 50 hours of study by a learner, including time for class attendance, study with instructions, self-study, research, experiences, examinations and assessments;

b) For in-class teaching activities, a credit requires at least 15 hours of teaching or 30 hours of practical, experimentation and/or discussion, with one class hour equivalent to 50 minutes.

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The number of hours of study corresponding to 01 credit in undergraduate education is determined as follows:

- A credit shall be equivalent to 50 hours of study by a learner, including time for class attendance, study with instructions, self-study, research, experiences, examinations and assessments;

- For in-class teaching activities, a credit requires at least 15 hours of teaching or 30 hours of practical, experimentation and/or discussion, with one class hour equivalent to 50 minutes.

The actual duration of one credit will depend on the form of study (theory, practice) and the allocation between in-class hours and self-study, research time. However, 01 credit in undergraduate education will be equivalent to 50 hours of study for a learner.

How many credits are students in Vietnam required to complete during 04 years of university?

Also according to Article 7 of Circular 17/2021/TT-BGDDT, the minimum academic load of a training program must comply with the requirements of the Vietnamese Qualifications Framework. To be specific:

- For undergraduate programs: 120 credits and physical education and national defense-security education load per existing regulations;

- For dual-degree programs: add 30 credits and

- For major/minor degree programs: add 15 credits

Typically, a undergraduate program lasts 4 years (equivalent to 8 main semesters). As per the regulations, students following a standard undergraduate program need to complete at least 120 credits during this time.

However, depending on each specific training program or individual study plan, the actual number of credits students complete may exceed the aforementioned minimum.