Academic Recognition

General information

Academic recognition refers to determining the academic value of a qualification, i.e. it determines whether the foreign qualification meets the general academic requirements for a similar qualification in Lithuania.

Legislation

The procedure of the recognition of foreign qualifications at the University is performed following the Guidelines of the Procedure for Assessment of Education and Qualifications Concerning Higher Education and Acquired under Educational Programmes of Foreign States and International Organizations (approved by the Order No. A-126 of the Rector of Kaunas University of Technology, on 6 of April 2022).

Admission to the University is regulated by the Rules of Admission to Kaunas University of Technology. Foreign academic qualification documents, complying with the general and specific requirements for academic recognition of foreign qualifications does not guarantee admission to the University. Additionally, specific requirements for the holder of a foreign qualification seeking access to a specific study programme are being applied. Specific requirements are related to the different study programmes and intend to access subject-specific knowledge of an applicant.

Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC) performs the role of an external supervisor of the process. The Centre monitors decisions concerning academic recognition of foreign qualifications made by KTU as well as provides methodological assistance and recommendations.

Academic recognition is carried out in accordance with the Lisbon Recognition Convention and its subsidiary documents. Additional information is available at: https://www.enic-naric.net/the-lisbon-recognition-convention.aspx

The principles of the Convention have been transferred into the Guidelines of the Procedure for Academic Recognition of KTU. The Guidelines have been prepared according to the Resolution of Government of Lithuania on Approval of Description of the Procedure for Recognition of Education and Qualifications Concerning Higher Education and Acquired under Educational Programmes of Foreign States and International Organizations (dated 29 February 2012, No 212) and the Order of the Director of the Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC) on the Methodology For Assessment of Education and Qualifications Concerning Higher Education and Acquired Under Educational Programmes of Foreign States and International Organizations (dated 28 May 2012, No V-48).

Other useful sites:

Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education (SKVC)

EAR Manual of HEIs

Procedure and Requirements for Documents, Fees

Procedure and Requirements for Documents

An applicant (candidate) submits one application online at apply.ktu.edu for admission to studies at the University and an assessment and recognition of a qualification:

Candidates applying to the study programmes in the Lithuanian language submit their application at stojantiesiems.ktu.edu;
Candidates applying to the study programmes in the English language submit their application at apply.ktu.edu.

The following documents have to be submitted with an application:

A document certifying a foreign qualification or other equivalent documents (Diploma or degree certificate, if the final diploma is yet to be issued, please include a provisional certification, which confirms the fact of your graduation and provides the title of your qualification in the original language);
An appendix (appendices) to the document certifying a foreign qualification or other equivalent documents (The academic transcript, records of grades, or a similar document has to be in the original language. It should list all the subjects, grades, and credits and/or hours. For some countries, it is required for the academic transcript to be sent directly to our office from the educational institution. Logins from the electronic examination systems can be submitted in the initial stage if the appendix (appendices) to the document certifying a foreign qualification is not issued at the time of document submission);
In case of admission to the second and third cycle studies – a document certifying the education of previous study cycles (for example, if you are applying for recognition of a second-cycle higher education qualification, such as a Master degree or similar, your Bachelor diploma has to be submitted) and its appendix (appendices) (these documents and their translations or copies do not need to be notarised or legalised);
A document certifying the change of name and/or surname if the documents of education are issued in a different name and/or surname;
Other documents (if any) required for the objective assessment of qualification, certifying another education acquired by the applicant, explaining the acquired qualifications or the submitted documents of education;
Depending on the preferred study programme(s), additional documents may be required (for example, a certificate of the knowledge of the English language); however, they are not directly related to the assessment and recognition of qualification.
All scans must be made from original documents (i.e. NOT copies), be in full colour and also be clear and legible. Any scans that do not meet such requirements will be disregarded.

All documents issued in languages other than English or Lithuanian should be supplemented with an official translation. Documents issued in English or Lithuanian do not require a translation.

Please note! Requirements for submission of documents may vary by country. For more information, please see Country Specific Requirements.

Please note! The application will not be processed if the submitted documents are suspected to be fraudulent.

By submitting the application, applicant confirms that documents submitted are correct, truthful and complete and that KTU can verify the authenticity and accuracy of the provided documents. KTU might contact the document issuing authority and/or national ENIC/NARIC (SKVC) centre for more information about the presented qualification.

Fees

The procedure is free of charge. The University will not cover any costs related to the submission of the required documentation.

Country specific requirements for documents

Country specific requirements

The following qualifications are recognised automatically without any additional procedures:

the European Baccalaureate Diploma
Estonian and Latvian qualifications concerning higher education awarded from 2019

More information on automatic recognition can be found HERE.

In exceptional cases (refugees etc.), the application for academic recognition must be submitted in the usual way. The Study Quality Assessment Center would be addressed for the recommendations. Academic recognition would be carried out in accordance with the Guidelines on the Recognition of Refugee Qualifications.

Holders of certain third-country foreign qualifications are subject to an additional requirement to pass a standardised mathematics examination at the OMPT in order to be considered for admission to a specific study programme. The OMPT-A, OMPT-D test is applicable to admission to undergraduate and postgraduate studies for these foreign qualifications. The minimum compulsory mathematics examination score is 75 %

Admission to postgraduate programmes is only open to individuals who meet the following requirements:

The minimum grade to pass the OMPT test is 75%.
The OMPT must be taken no later than 1 April of the current year.
The resulting OMPT certificate must be uploaded to the Dream Apply international student admissions system before the application is submitted.
The results must be no more than 2 years old.
A maximum of two attempts may be made, the results of the third attempt will not be accepted.

General country specific requirements can be found on the interactive map bellow by clicking on specific country.

For full information, please refer to General Documentation Requirements and Country Specific Requirements.

Criteria and Decisions

Criteria

The academic value of a foreign qualification is assessed by comparing the foreign qualification with a similar same level qualification awarded in Lithuania according to the following criteria:

quality, which refers to:
- whether the institution and/or programme has been properly quality assured at the time of your studies (for example, properly accredited and/or recognised by the national authorities)
- whether your grades are sufficient for the required purpose;
profile, which refers to the orientation of the programme (academic ally and/or professionally oriented, general and/or specialised, etc.);
contents, which refer to the structure of your programme, such as presence of periods of practice and/or final thesis, etc.;
workload, which refers to the provisioned workload of the programme;
learning outcomes, which refer to the knowledge and competences associated with the qualification.

Decisions

The decisions of academic recognition:

To recognise a foreign qualification. In this case, approval of academic recognition is not issued to the applicant and the examination of his/her application for admission to study under the selected study programme(s) continues; the fact of recognition is recorded in the decision regarding the admission to studies at the University;
To recognise a foreign qualification and grant the holder of the qualification the right to be admitted only to the study programmes of a certain field (group of study fields) or only to a certain type of higher education institutions. The decision is presented to the applicant and he/she is offered the possibilities of studies at KTU corresponding to his/her qualification, if any;
To recognise a foreign qualification only with additional requirements (examination(s), additional courses, studies, etc.) that have to be met by the holder of the qualification. The decision and its reasons are presented to the applicant and he/she is offered the possibilities to meet the additional requirements at the University, if any. If the applicant meets the requirements specified in the decision, this fact is recorded in the University’s qualification recognition log and the examination of his/her application for admission to KTU continues;
Not to recognise a foreign qualification with the possibility to recognise a part of the foreign educational programme as a part of the educational (study) programme. The negative decision and its reasons are presented to the applicant.

Duration

Once application is submitted, it will be reviewed within 1 month. If application package is complete and no additional information and/or documentation is required, decision will be issued within the same 1 month.

If application package is incomplete and/or additional information is required, applicant will be notified by e-mail. Then the processing of the application will be suspended, until the required documentation and/or information is provided.

If the required documentation and/or information are not submitted within 3 months after the request, the processing of such application will be terminated. An applicant may reapply at any time, but it is required to resubmit a complete documentation package.

Right to appeal

The submission and examination of appeals for academic recognition:

An applicant who does not agree with the University’s decision on the academic recognition of a foreign qualification may, within 7 calendar days, submit a request to review the academic recognition of foreign qualification decision. In this case, the applicant must submit the originals of the educational documents or their duly certified copies. The Qualification Assessor, together with other Qualification Assessors, shall re-evaluate the qualification and, if necessary, revise the decision within 7 calendar days from the date of receipt of the original documents or certified copies thereof;
An applicant who does not agree with the decision of the University on the academic recognition of a foreign qualification may, within 14 calendar days from the receipt of the decision, appeal to the Academic Recognition of Foreign Qualifications Concerning Higher Education Appeal Committee under the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science.
Please note: Only recognition decision can be appealed. If a candidate hasn’t met the specific requirements for the programmes at Kaunas University of Technology, this decision can’t be appealed. A signed appeal should be filed within 14 days from the receipt of a decision. The appeal should include an explanation as to why the decision is contested, a valid form of identification, and all the supporting documentation.

All appeals must be submitted to:
Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education
Tel: +37052104778
Email: recognition@skvc.lt
Address: A. Goštauto st. 12, LT-01108, Vilnius, Lithuania