Each Semester consists of twelve teaching weeks followed by a three week assessment period. Full-time students normally study six modules per Semester. Students normally commence their Semester One studies in late September or early October and commence Semester Two studies in late January or early February of each academic year. They are sometimes located outside the home department in which a degree is located. They offer students the opportunity to extend their academic studies and pursue particular interests.
Linked units operate for twenty four weeks and are worth twenty credit points.
It is possible in all cases to follow only the first half of such a module for ten credit points. These terms refer to the linkages between modules within particular programmes. It provides a way of measuring and comparing learning achievements and transferring them from one institution to another. Institutions participating in the ECTS Programme must describe the courses it offers both in terms of content and credits that are assigned. ECTS credits are a value allocated to course units to describe the student workload required to complete them.