When you're planning for a study abroad adventure, whether it's for a semester or two as an exchange student or for a full Bachelor's or Master's degree, you'll need to go through a lengthy 'paperwork' procedure. One of the crucial documents you'll have to look after is the transcript of records. Make sure all of the information is correct.

The transcript of records, also known as academic records or student records, is inextricably tied to the learning agreement plan, which is an official document that details the courses, research, and training/teaching activities you are expected to complete during your mobility.

Both your home university and the host institution must sign and accept the learning agreement, and any changes must be agreed upon by all three parties (the universities and yourself).

The Learning Agreement and transcript of records are primarily used to document academic acknowledgment of your studies and credits acquired while studying abroad.

What is a transcript of records?

The Transcript of Records is a document you will need to present, as part of the application process at your future host university from abroad. If you will be part of an exchange programme, you will also need another official transcript of records at the end of your study period, completed by the university where you attended courses.

The Transcript of Records (ToR) consists basically of a list of the course units taken, the exams you have passed and the credits gained.

In the Transcript of Records, you can usually see:

• the course unit code (basically the code the host university gives to a specific academic course)
• the title of the courses you have attended at your host university
• the duration of the course (if one semester or two)
• the local grade (your exam mark, which is very important in order to get your ECTS credits)
• the ECTS credits you have gained by passing the exam

In case your home university does not use the ECTS system, the transcript of records should include an explanation of the credit and grading systems used. If you’re submitting the ToR online, you can describe the grading scale used at the institution at the time of study. The description should clarify which are the highest and lowest grades.

Depending on the rules set by each university, your academic records can be filled by yourself or the home and/or host university, usually the International Office. Normally, the ToR is being filled once you have passed all your exams included in the Learning Agreement, and, usually, the failed courses won’t be listed, just the ones you passed.

When to request a Transcript of Records?

Because the transcript of records contains the list of the exams passed (or failed) during your exchange program, it is one of the last documents you would normally fill in or ask for.

To ensure you won’t have to wait too long for this document to be completed 100%, once you pass an exam, you can ask your professor to write in your Transcript of Records rough copy your exam result in the “Local Grade” part, while the other parts should be filled by you with all the information needed.

When your Transcript of Records is completed, all you have to do is deliver the document to your home International Office together with the rest of the required application paperwork.

What happens if I have to leave and the Transcript of Records is not ready?

This is a common situation, especially in the case of Erasmus students. Normally, the exams take place in the very last weeks of the Erasmus period and getting all the grades in a very short time makes the process for filling the transcripts a little slow. But you don’t have to worry!

Your home or host institution should be able to provide an official interim transcript of your student records showing your grades achieved to date. You can also send an e-mail to the professors telling them to send the results directly to the International Office that will fill in the document with the information needed.

When your exam results have been registered, three hard copies of your transcript will be sent directly to the International Office at the university. The home university should forward one or two hard copies directly to you.

Remember to check your academic record

Once you got your Transcript of Records, double check and see if all the required fields are completed, especially:

• “Date”
• “Signature of the administration officer”
• “Stamp of the Institution”

If the transcript of records is incomplete, it can be denied by the university

Finally, the layout of your student records is different from one university to another so the information provided above refer to the general one and can be found in every Transcript of Records. However, if you have any doubt about this document you have to ask both your home and your host International Offices.