Academic Credit

Making your field experience really count

The courses run by the Galway Archaeological Field School (GAFS) are accredited by the University of Galway (formerly the National University of Ireland, Galway, or NUI Galway) and so students undertaking courses at GAFS can be awarded academic credit from the University of Galway.

An Academic Credit Application Form is sent to all students when they book their course and the completed form should be returned to the Galway Archaeological Field School as soon as possible. Our 2-week courses come with 3 semester credits (or 6 ECTS) and our 4-week courses come with 6 semester credits (or 12 ECTS) and students undertaking two courses can receive credit for both subject to the agreement of the student’s home university. Some universities place limits of the amount of credit students can earn elsewhere, so please discuss your plans with the Study Abroad team at your home university at soon as possible to allow them time to contact us to discuss the course syllabus, the assessment process, the accommodation arrangements etc. – don’t expect them to approve your plans overnight!

For assessment purposes, each student will be required to keep a daily student diary to record field activities and the assessment of these diaries will be combined with an assessment of the student’s participation and a series of short quizzes to generate an overall grade for each student. Student grades will be compiled at the end of the summer and submitted to the University of Galway for approval – transcripts will then be issued by the University of Galway to the students’ home universities and copies will be sent to each individual student. Prospective students should note that transcripts are normally issued by the University of Galway in late September or early October, so please bear this in mind if you hope to graduate soon after your participation in the field school. 

Here is an interactive map of over 120 universities and colleges across the world from which our students have come – Zoom in to see the detail as some cities have more than one pin and click on a pin to find the name of the institution – different colour pins are used each year so watch for updates!. Apply now to begin the process of adding your institution to the map!