How to Transfer Credits When Changing Universities in Tricity

The process of transferring and rewriting grades is an administrative procedure regulated by the regulations of studies of individual universities and the Law on Higher Education and Science.

• A student of the current university
• Download the Mileage Card and Syllabus (stamped)
• Application to the Dean in Tri-City
• Analysis of programme convergence and ECTS credits

Step 1: Obtaining permission to leave the current university

You cannot transfer to a university in the Tri-City if you have been crossed off the list of students at your home university. You must have active student status and have completed at least the first year of study (in rare cases, the first semester).

Step 2: Download the official documentation of the course of study

Go to your current dean’s office and ask for:

• A study course sheet (a list of all courses passed, grades, forms of credit and ECTS credits).
• Syllabuses (item cards) for each passed subject you want to rewrite. These documents must bear the seal of the university or the electronic signature of the coordinator of the course.

Step 3: Submitting an application to the Dean in the Tri-City

The application for transfer with attachments should be submitted to the competent Vice-Dean for Education/Student Affairs of the host university in Tricity. Depending on the university, the application is submitted on paper to the dean’s office or electronically (e.g. through the recruitment system).

How do universities in the Tri-City compare subjects? ECTS and learning outcomes principle

The decision to rewrite the grade is not made on the basis of the mere coincidence of the name of the subject. The dean’s offices examine two parameters in detail:

ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System) credits

ECTS credits determine the student’s workload required to pass a course.

• Principle: If you passed the subject “Mathematics” at your previous university for 3 ECTS, and at the Gdańsk University of Technology the same subject in the chosen field of study has 5 ECTS assigned to you, the dean will most likely refuse to rewrite the grade. They will decide that the scope of the material you made was too narrow. If the relationship is the opposite (you had 5 ECTS, and at the new university there are 3 ECTS) – the grade will be rewritten without any problems.

Learning Outcomes (Syllabus)

The Dean compares the descriptions of learning outcomes. If the subject was called “Statistics”, but at your previous university it focused exclusively on descriptive statistics, and at UG the program includes statistical inference and econometrics – you will have to fill in the curriculum difference.

Comparison of procedures at the main universities in the Tri-City:

Curriculum differences: What happens when study programs don’t overlap?

It is rare that the study programs at two different universities are identical. Curriculum differences are subjects that students at the university in the Tri-City completed in previous semesters, and which you did not have in the curriculum at your previous university.

The Dean’s decision on curriculum differences

• Designation of subjects to be completed (e.g. Physics I, CAD Basics)
• Determining the form of credit (participation in laboratories, exam with a professor)
• Setting a deadline (by the end of the summer session of the 2026/2027 academic year)

Costs of program differences

This is a key financial aspect of the move. According to the Act, public universities may charge fees for repeating classes and for the implementation of classes not included in the study program (i.e. curricular differences).

• Note: Before signing the decision on transfer, check with the dean’s office (e.g. the Faculty of Economics of the University of Gdańsk in Sopot at Armii Krajowej Street) whether and how much you will have to pay for the implementation of the designated program differences. Rates are calculated for each ECTS point of difference and can range from PLN 100 to PLN 180 for ECTS.

Specifics of transfers to individual universities in the Tri-City

Each of the Tri-City universities has its own administrative specificity and organizational culture.

1. University of Gdańsk (UG)

At the University of Gdańsk, the process is quite digitized through the USOSweb system. After obtaining the Dean’s consent, your grades are entered into the system by a dean’s office employee.

• Local nuance: If you are moving to the Faculty of Management or Economics in Sopot, the dean’s office will meticulously verify quantitative subjects (statistics, econometrics). If you pursued them at a university with a humanities profile, be prepared for the need to pass the curriculum differences.

2. Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk University of Technology)

Gdańsk University of Technology is famous for its extremely precise and technical approach to educational programs.

• Local nuance: At the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Computer Science (WETI) at Narutowicza Street, transcribing grades in programming subjects (e.g. C++, Java) requires detailed verification of the projects you have completed at your previous university. Prepare your GitHub account – the Vice-Dean for Education may ask to see your code to assess whether the learning outcomes have actually been achieved.

3. Medical University of Gdańsk (MUG)

MUG is the most difficult university in terms of transfers. There are extremely strict limits of places (especially in the medical and medical-dental faculties).

• Local nuance: Transfer to the medical faculty of MUG (Dębinki Street) is usually possible only after completing a full year of studies and provided that a very high grade point average (often above 4.5) is obtained. Curriculum differences in clinical subjects or normal anatomy are almost impossible to pass during the semester, so a discrepancy in even one major subject may result in a negative decision.

Practical checklist for a student moving to the Tri-City

Going through the administrative process without delays requires excellent organization of work with documents.

• Obtain active student status at your current university (don’t quit and don’t get struck off before your formal transfer).
• Download the stamped Course of Study Card with a specification of grades, forms of credit (exam/credit) and ECTS credits.
• Collect the official syllabus of all the subjects you have passed (they must include the learning outcomes and the number of hours).
• Submit an application for transfer to the dean’s office of the university in the Tri-City (preferably by the end of August 2026, so that the decision is made before October 1).
• Receive the Dean’s decision to be included in the list of students and the designated program differences.
• Check in the system (USOSweb / My PG) that all prescribed grades have been correctly entered into your virtual index.

Transferring to a university in the Tri-City (UG, PG, MUG) for the academic year 2026/2027 is an excellent development decision, facilitating a professional start in the dynamic Pomeranian region. The success of the entire process depends on the precise preparation of the curriculum documentation from your current university.

Remember that the key to transcribing grades is to demonstrate the convergence of ECTS credits and the learning outcomes contained in the syllabus. Start the formalities early enough (preferably in July or August 2026) to avoid queues at the dean’s offices in September and enter the new academic year without an administrative backlog.

How do UG and Gdańsk Tech calculate “fives with a plus”?

One of the least researched, and extremely problematic areas in the case of transfers, is the difference in the grading scales used by individual universities in Poland. While the standard is a scale of 2.0–5.0, some universities (especially non-public ones and selected universities) use half upper grades (e.g. 4.5+, 5.5) or a scale of up to 6.0.

Gdańsk universities approach this issue in a highly formalized way:

• University of Gdańsk (UG): It has internal grade conversion tables used by the employees of the dean’s offices. If you received a grade of 5.5 (excellent) at your previous university, and the highest grade at UG is 5.0 (very good), this grade will almost always be reduced to 5.0.
• Gdańsk University of Technology (Gdańsk University of Technology): In the My PG system, grades are recalculated according to the percentage algorithm, if it appears in your original course of study. If the previous university did not show a percentage of the exam score, but only an unusual grade, the Vice-Dean for Education may order it to be recalculated in favor of the student or apply a rigid rounding down, which directly lowers your cumulative grade point average.

How to save a rejected grade from an official decision?

Since the decision to transfer and rewrite grades is an administrative decision, the Dean’s Office must strictly apply the provisions of the Code of Administrative Procedure (KPA). The most powerful tool in the hands of the student here is Article 10 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provides for the right of a party to actively participate at every stage of the proceedings, and before issuing a decision – to express their opinion on the evidence and materials collected.

• Syllabus analysis in the Dean’s Office
• Planned rejection of the subject “Physics I
• (Obligation to notify the student before making a decision)
• [Pismo z Dziekanatu o zebraniu materiału dowodowego (Art. 10 § 1 Kpa)]

How to use it in practice?

Before the Vice-Dean signs the final decision on transfer, in which he will assign you, for example, 4 program differences, the Dean’s Office will send you a notice of completion of the evidentiary proceedings. You then have 7 days to go to the dean’s office (e.g. the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Gdańsk Tech) and familiarize yourself with the draft decision.

If you see that the Vice-Dean has not prescribed a key subject for you, considering it to be non-congruent, you can immediately:

• Submit an extended syllabus from the previous university (e.g. containing a detailed list of laboratories that were missing in the abbreviated version).
• Ask for a substantive consultation with the course coordinator at UG/Gdańsk Tech – if a professor teaching a given course at a new university writes a short opinion on your application: “I consider the completed material to be equivalent“, the vice-dean is obliged to rewrite the grade, and you avoid a costly curriculum difference.

USOS and My PG database errors

After the decision is signed by the dean, the grades must be physically entered into the IT system (USOSweb at UG and MUG, Moja PG at the University of Technology). This is a purely manual process, performed by clerks in dean’s offices, in which structural errors occur very often.

During the transfer, IT systems do not allow for a simple rewrite of the grade if the course code (USOS code or My PG code) differs from the code at your previous university.

What to watch out for in a virtual index?

• Recognized subjects (equivalents): An employee of the dean’s office must link a subject from your old university to a subject in the new program as a so-called equivalent. Make sure that in the My PG or USOS system, next to the prescribed grade, there is the correct number of ECTS credits assigned to the subject at the new university, and not at the old one.
• Generating fees for “conditions”: If the IT system detects that you have failed courses (which the dean has designated as curriculum differences), it can automatically classify them as repeated courses (point debt) and generate a decision in the system to charge a commercial fee. Monitor the “Finances” tab in USOSweb/My Gdańsk Tech immediately after the transfer – in the event of incorrect calculation of fees for program differences (which should be paid according to a different tariff or exempt from fees by the Dean’s decision), you must immediately submit a request for a financial correction.

Transfer between profiles: Practical University (ANS) vs. Practical University (ANS) Academic UG/Gdańsk Tech

In recent years, many Academies of Applied Sciences (former PWSZ) have been established in Poland, which run courses with a practical profile. Transferring from such a university to a university with a general academic profile (such as UG or Gdańsk Tech) is associated with a serious methodological barrier, about which official guides are silent.

The dean of the host faculty at the University of Gdańsk or Gdańsk Tech, when analysing syllabuses from universities with a practical profile, has the right to reject theoretical subjects (e.g. Microeconomics, Physics, Algorithm Theory), considering that the implemented programme was focused on practical activities (manual/implementation), and not on mastering the scientific apparatus and mathematical proofs.

If you are transferring from a university with a practical profile, prove that you have also completed theoretical entrances as part of the coursework. Attach to the syllabus lists of scientific literature you have used or publications made during your studies. Otherwise, be prepared for the need to take differential (theoretical) exams with professors teaching given subjects in the Tri-City.

Point deficit “at the entrance” (ECTS) – Hidden limit at the Gdańsk University of Technology

When moving to the Gdańsk University of Technology, the dean will determine the number of curriculum differences. Each curriculum difference has its ECTS value.

At Gdańsk Tech there is a strict limit on the maximum cumulative deficit of ECTS credits at the end of the semester (usually it is 12 ECTS).

If the dean assigns you 4 programme differences with a total value of, for example, 15 ECTS, in the light of the My Gdańsk Tech system, you enter the university with a deficit exceeding the permissible limit. This may result in an automatic blocking of registration for the semester by the IT system.

How to solve this technological stalemate?

When submitting an application for transfer, you must also submit an application to the Vice-Dean for Education of Gdańsk Tech for an increase in the permissible deficit of ECTS credits for the first semester of studies after transfer. In the decision, the dean must explicitly state that the points resulting from the differences in the curriculum are not included in the current limit of the semester deficit, but are settled on an individual basis (e.g. until the end of the academic year 2026/2027). Without this record, the My Gdańsk Tech system may prevent you from registering for the next semester’s courses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the grade “3.0” (satisfactory) from the previous university be transferred to the University of Gdańsk or Gdańsk Tech?

Yes, a satisfactory grade (3.0) can be rewritten, provided that the course meets the criteria of curriculum convergence and ECTS credits. The decision is up to the dean. However, some faculties (e.g. at Gdańsk Tech) may refuse to rewrite the lowest grades in key subjects, suggesting that you re-participate in classes in order to better master the material.

What should I do if my previous university did not use ECTS credits?

If you are moving from a foreign university (e.g. outside the European Higher Education Area) or from a university that used a different accounting system, the Dean will make an individual estimate of the workload based on the number of hours of lectures and exercises and the form of credit for the course, assigning them the appropriate equivalent of ECTS credits at the new university.

Can I transfer to a university in the Tri-City during the semester?

Transfer of studies during the semester is permissible only in exceptional, particularly justified random cases (e.g. a sudden change in life situation, the need to take care of a family in the Tri-City). The standard procedure is to transfer before the start of the winter semester (until the end of September) or before the summer semester (during the midterm break in February).

Do grades transcribed from another university count towards the grade point average entitling to the Rector’s scholarship at UG or Gdańsk Tech?

Most of the regulations of benefits for students in the Tri-City specify that the average grade entitling to the Rector’s scholarship includes grades obtained at a given university in the previous academic year. When moving, in the first year of studies in the Tri-City, the Rector’s scholarship may be difficult to obtain, unless the regulations of your faculty explicitly allow for taking into account the average from the course of study of your home university. It is worth checking it directly at the Financial Aid Office of a given university.

What happens if I fail to pass the program differences by the deadline?

Failure to pass the curriculum differences within the deadline specified by the Dean (e.g. by the end of the summer session of the academic year 2026/2027) is treated in the same way as failure to pass any other course covered by the study programme. This results in the need to apply for repetition of the course (difference), conditional enrolment for the next semester (with ECTS credit debt) or – in extreme cases – deletion from the list of students.