admission & Application

In order to obtain the neccessary application forms and information about the application deadlines you will have to contact each university or university college. In general the application deadline for foreign students is between January 15 to March 15 for courses starting the following autumn (August). Please note that some institutions have separate
"pre-qualification" deadlines that are earlier than this.

The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) supervises and helps to develop the quality of higher education in Norway through evaluation, accreditation and recognition of quality systems, institutions and course provisions. NOKUT is the official Norwegian ENIC-NARIC center.

For students with a Norwegian identity number most applications to undergraduate studies at public institutions of higher education in Norway are processed by a centralised application processing centre called Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS - Samordna opptak).

Below you will find the general requirements to previous education. These are minimum requirements determined by NOKUT. Please note that institutions may have higher and/or additional requirements for all or some programmes.

Academic requirements
A compilation of country-specific information called the GSU-list (formerly SIS list) states what level of education applicants from different countries need to meet for entry into Norwegian higher education, including any requirements concerning proficiency in English. For courses where the language of instruction is Norwegian, proficiency in the Norwegian language is also required.

An updated version of the GSU list can be found here.

Undergraduate studies
Completion of secondary education at advanced level, equivalent to passing the exam at the end of Norwegian secondary school, is the general basic requirement for entry to Norwegian universities and university colleges. For students from some countries at least one year of completed studies at the university level is required in addition.

Please check the GSU-list for detailed information regarding additional requirements for your country.

Some study programmes have special admission requirements, usually relating to specialist subjects or fields of study from secondary school. Please check with the institution for information about these special qualifications.

Masters programmes
Admission requirements are decided by each university and university college based on an academic evaluation of the applicants.

Applicants for Masters programmes have normally obtained an undergraduate/Bachelor's degree or equivalent of at least 3 years' duration. The degree must include courses equal to at least 1 1/2 years of full-time studies in a subject relevant to that of the programme applied for.

In special cases, the first (and sometimes the second) year of study at a foreign higher education institution will not be recognised as higher education in Norway.