Admission to Danish higher education for holders of foreign qualifications

Do you want to find out about studying for a degree in Denmark on the basis of your foreign qualification?

Learn about the rules:

Admission to undergraduate degree programmes

Do you have a Master's degree?

If you hold a degree equivalent to a Danish Master's degree you can only be admitted to a Danish degree programme if there are vacant study places. The rule does not apply to certain programmes under the Danish Ministry of Culture.

Three types of requirements

You can apply for admission to Bachelor's, Professional Bachelor's, and Academy Profession programmes if you fulfil the following requirements:

  1. General entry requirements
  2. Specific and local entry requirements
  3. Language requirements

1. General entry requirements

Your qualification must be on a level with a Danish upper secondary school leaving certificate in order to give access to higher education programmes in Denmark. However, certificates equivalent to a Danish vocational qualification can give access to Academy Profession programmes (short-cycle professional higher education) and certain Professional Bachelor's programmes.

If the information that you want is not available on the page linked to above, you can ask the educational institution where you wish to apply or the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science. If necessary, the Agency can make an assessment of the level of your qualification:

2. Specific and local entry requirements

Each individual study programme may have specific entry requirements such as having completed certain upper-secondary subjects at a certain level. Furthermore, the individual educational institution may have local entry requirements such as having obtained a minimum grade point average or passing an entry exam.

You are advised to ask the educational institution where you wish to apply whether you fulfil the entry requirements.

3. Language requirements

Requirements concerning your Danish or English proficiency may apply. For programmes taught in Danish, you must be able to document sufficient oral and written proficiency in Danish. You must meet such requirements by the beginning of the study programme.

Danish language requirements

You must provide evidence of your Danish language skills.

Academy Profession and Professional Bachelor’s programmes: The educational institution will assess your Danish language skills. If your proficiency is not sufficient, you must at least pass the Dansk 3 exam at B2 level.

University programmes: You must pass the Study Test in Danish as a Second Language (Studieprøven i dansk som andetsprog) or provide evidence of equivalent proficiency in Danish.

Students from Nordic countries are normally not required to take a Danish test if they studied Danish, Norwegian or Swedish at a sufficient level as part of their entry qualification. It depends on the rules laid down by the institution.

To see the specific language requirements please visit the institution's website.

If you need Danish language tuition you can find links at the Study in Denmark website:

English language requirements

If the programme is taught in English you must submit proof of English proficiency equivalent at least to English B level in Denmark.

Please visit the educational institution's website to see the specific language requirements.

Application for admission

If you wish to enroll in a programme of higher education you must apply via the admissions portal Optagelse.dk, except for Master's programmes and adult higher education (see below).

The deadline for applications to most higher education programmes is 15 March, 12:00 noon.

Supplementary courses

If you do not meet the entry requirements that apply to the programme that you wish to study, you must supplement your entry qualification.

The supplementary courses must be completed before the start of the study programme or shortly after the start of the study programme depending on the rules of the educational institution.

You must find out which educational institutions offer the courses that you need to take and enroll in these courses.

Learn more about supplementing your qualification

See also:

 

Admission to Master's and adult higher education programmes

If you wish to apply for admission to a Master's (candidatus) programme or an adult education programme (Academy Profession, Diploma or Master degree), please contact the educational institution directly.

A guidance counsellor at the institution or faculty can help you find out whether your educational background is relevant to the programme that you want to study.

Do you have Master's degree?

If you hold a degree equivalent to a Danish Master's degree you can only be admitted to a Danish degree programme if there are vacant study places. This rule does not apply to programmes within adult education and programmes under the Danish Ministry of Culture.

The level of your non-Danish qualification

Entry requirements

Find out about the entry requirements for the programmes that interest you:

Language requirements

For each university programme please find the language requirements on the university's website.

For Academy Profession programmes and Diploma programmes within adult education, there are no formal Danish language requirements. However, it is necessary to speak and read Danish in order to follow the courses.

If you need Danish language courses, find out more on these websites:

See also:

 

Coming to Denmark?

If you want to move to Denmark and you are not a Nordic citizen, please check to see if you need a residence permit:

New to Denmark – Danish Immigration Service