06 - Norway - Admission requirements
Admission capacity to higher education is decided centrally by the government. To many studies
admission is competitive, since demand exceeds the number of places available.
A general matriculation standard has been introduced, setting minimum requirements for admission to
higher education, which include the following components:
● Successful completion of 3 years of upper secondary education including foundation course,
advanced course I and advanced course II (regardless of programme), or a recognised
vocational qualification/trade certificate.
● Included in, or in addition to, the above-mentioned criteria, it is necessary to have successfully
completed upper secondary studies corresponding to a specific level of attainment,
determined in periods (or lessons) per week, within the following general subject areas:
Norwegian (14); English (5); history and social studies (6); mathematics (5); natural science
(5).
Pupils from the three general education programmes have this level of attainment in the subject areas.
Pupils from the nine vocational education programmes may take a one-year supplementary general
course to meet the admission requirements.
Additional admission requirements of advanced courses in mathematics and sciences (physics,
chemistry, biology) in upper secondary school are set by institutions for certain professional studies
(engineering, medicine etc).
Applicants can be admitted to higher education without having passed the normal upper secondary
final examinations. Such students must, however, fulfil the specific minimum subject requirements
mentioned above, be 23 years old or more, and have at least five years of work experience or a
combination of work experience, education and training.
As part of the Competence Reform from 2001, applicants who are older than 25 years of age can
apply for a study programme, be evaluated and admitted on the basis of their total documented formal,
non-formal and informal competence from work and life (realkompetanse). Each institution decides if
the applicant is found qualified for the chosen study programme. The institution is free to set additional
admission requirements related to the programme, for example number of years spent in relevant
work or sufficient competence in English (due to textbooks in English). Institutions are not allowed to
reserve a quota of places for these applicants, who must compete with those who have completed
upper secondary school. These students are admitted on probation, but may be awarded a general
study competence after having passed examinations after at least one year.
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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