Glossary

The words, explained.

MQF, ECTS, OTHM, LOA — the terms you will meet on course pages and offer letters.

AACSB: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. eie is a Business Education Alliance member — membership, not accreditation of a specific degree.
ACCA: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. Two eie programmes give up to four ACCA exam exemptions.
Accredited award: A short, single-module MFHEA-accredited qualification with its own MQF level and ECTS.
CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference for Languages — the scale used on English course certificates (A1 to C2).
Conditional offer letter (OL): The first document eie sends after you apply, listing the conditions you must meet. It arrives with an invoice.
ECTS: European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System — credits that measure study workload. 60 ECTS is roughly one full-time academic year.
EQF: European Qualifications Framework — the European reference scale that lets qualification levels be compared across countries. MQF levels are aligned with it.
Exit award: A lower qualification you can receive if you leave a longer programme early after completing enough ECTS, e.g. a PG Diploma after 60 ECTS of an MBA.
Get Qualified: A Malta Enterprise scheme that lets eligible, self-funded students recover up to 70% of fees as a tax credit after completing an accredited course.
IELTS: International English Language Testing System. eie diplomas and degrees usually ask for IELTS 6.5 or equivalent.
Letter of acceptance (LOA): Issued by eie after you meet the conditions, sign the student agreement and pay. Visa applications depend on it.
Level 5: Diploma level — eie's Undergraduate Diploma (60 ECTS) and Undergraduate Higher Diploma (120 ECTS).
Level 6: Bachelor's degree level — eie's Bachelor of Arts programmes (180 ECTS).
Level 7: Master's level — eie's Post Graduate Diplomas (60 ECTS) and MBAs (90 ECTS).
MFHEA: Malta Further and Higher Education Authority — Malta's regulator for further and higher education. It licenses eie (Licence No. 2005-TC-001) and accredits its programmes.
MQF: Malta Qualifications Framework — Malta's national scale of qualification levels, from Level 1 to Level 8.
Ofqual: The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation — the regulator of qualifications in England.
OTHM: A UK awarding organisation regulated by Ofqual. eie lists several OTHM diplomas; they are awarded by OTHM, not by eie.
RQF: Regulated Qualifications Framework — the UK framework OTHM qualifications sit on.
Schengen area: 27 European countries with open internal borders, including Malta and Spain.
Short course: “The eie Course in…” — an online, non-academic course that ends with a certificate of completion, not an MQF qualification.
Student agreement: The contract you sign with eie. Refund rules and terms in it are the binding ones.