Admissions officer Annette Larsen answers the most common questions from international applicants interested in our Master's programmes.
Video: Aarhus Universitet
In general, admission to a Master’s degree programme requires successful completion of a relevant and recognised university degree equivalent to a Danish Bachelor’s degree in level and length (180 ECTS).
In addition, you must meet the specific requirements for the individual programme, including language requirements.
The specific admission requirements for each Master's degree programme are stated in the academic regulations of the programme in question, but you can also find them in our Study Guide under the specific 'admission requirements’ for the individual programme.
To facilitate our assessment of your qualifications, you must upload documents to your application which describe the general and specific contents of your Bachelor's degree.
For some programmes you must include course descriptions describing the specific contents of each course included in your Bachelor’s degree programme. For other programmes, especially within the field of humanities, you will also be asked to upload a ‘statement of relevance’ describing which courses from your Bachelor’s degree programme in your opinion are considered relevant to the Master’s degree programme.
As a consequence of the study progress reform, the rules on supplementary Bachelor’s courses have been changed. The government’s policy is that as a general rule, degree programmes must be organised so as to minimise the need for supplementary courses, but without compromising their academic level. Supplementary courses should therefore be seen as an exception to the normal course of studies. The new ministerial orders which regulate students’ access to supplementary courses have been adopted. How the new rules will be implemented at Aarhus University has also been decided.
Taking supplementary courses between Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programmes, in other words after the completion of the Bachelor’s degree, is only possible in case of Master’s degree programmes with unrestricted admission. In such cases, the following rules apply:
Read more about the study progress reform
The staff of the Admissions Office is generally unable to determine in advance whether or not you are qualified for admission to a specific Master's degree programme.
This means you must apply for admission in order to receive an assessment of your qualifications for a specific programme, unless something else is stated under the admission requirements for the programme in question.
Generally, admission to a Danish Master’s degree programme requires a Bachelor’s degree within the same specific area of study (except for a few programmes within the humanities that admit students from different areas of study).
There is no list or overview of Master’s degree programmes you can apply for with a specific Bachelor’s degree. To find out which Master’s programmes you can apply for, you have to look at how the admission requirements may match the contents of your Bachelor’s programme.
The Danish Agency for Science and Education provides assessments of non-Danish degrees, diplomas and certificates and information about international recognition of qualifications.
Such assessments are very useful if you live in Denmark but completed your qualifying degree in a non-EU/EEA-country. If you do not live in Denmark, you should NOT apply for an assessment from The Danish Agency for Universities and Internationalisation.
The assessment offered by The Danish Agency for Science and Education is a brief statement saying what your foreign qualifications correspond to in Denmark: Which educational level and, if possible, which field of education. It does not guarantee admission to specific programmes, as you must always meet the admission requirements of the desired programme.
To see if your Bachelor’s degree corresponds to a Danish Bachelor’s degree in level and length, you can use this link to find information about your own country.
The Danish Parliament has signed an agreement to extend the legal right of admission to three years. However, as the Danish universities do not know the details of the agreement, Aarhus University is not yet able provide any specifics regarding the implementation of the agreement. Read the agreement and the press releases on the (Danish) web page of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science.
The rules that currently apply are described below. This page will updated once the new regulations are implemented.
Some Master’s degree programmes have restricted admission, which means only a limited number of student places are available for a specific programme. For those programmes, only the most qualified applicants will be selected for admission according to the selection criteria announced for the programme.
In case of restricted admission, the selection criteria used to select among the qualified applicants will appear under the specific "admission requirements" of the individual Master's programme in the Study Guide.
Your chances of being admitted to a specific Master’s programme depend on the number of applicants this year and the level of qualifications of all the applicants. As the number of applicants varies from year to year, we cannot comment – based on previous year's records - on the likelihood of admission.
If you already hold a Master’s degree you can find more information about your possibilities of being admitted to a second Master’s degree programme under Students already holding a Master’s degree.
All applicants to English language Master's degree programmes must provide documentation of English language qualifications identical or comparable with an 'English B level' in the Danish upper secondary school ('gymnasium').
Please note that Danish language Master’s programmes may also have and English B requirement.
Please note the following changes to the English B documentation requirements as of winter admission 2019/20
All applicants with a non-Danish qualifying degree to English language Master's degree programmes must document English language qualifications identical or comparable with an 'English B level' in the Danish upper secondary school ('gymnasium').
English language qualifications identical or comparable with an 'English B level' in Denmark can be documented as follows:
In addition, the following applies:
Applicants exempt from submitting an English test are:
Applicants with a complete (professional) Bachelor’s or Master’s degree from a Danish educational institution to which a Danish B level in English (‘English B’) was a requirement at the time of admission.
Application before you have passed your English language test
It is possible to apply for admission before you have taken your English language test and obtained the required result. Instead you must submit documentation that you have signed up for a test or that you submit your documentation at a later date (please state expected submission date).
When you have passed your English language test, you must upload your test result to your application. See documentation deadlines.
If you are considered academically qualified for admission, you will receive a letter of admission conditioned on the submission of a sufficient test score before the stated deadlines.
Legal basis
The Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education's Order No 241 of 11 March 2013 on Admission and Enrolment in Master's (Candidatus) programmes at Danish Universities
Students holding a foreign university degree applying for a Master’s degree programme taught in Danish must be proficient in Danish both orally and in writing.
It is a requirement for admission that you have passed Studieprøven i dansk som andetsprog (the “Study Test in Danish as a Second Language”) or the former “Danskprøve 2”.
Exemptions
Students from the Nordic countries who have had Danish, Norwegian, Swedish or Icelandic on the highest level as part of their entry qualification (high school) are not required to pass a Danish language test. See the Nordic entry qualification subject levels.
Danish citizens with foreign entry qualifications (e.g. International Baccalaureate) are not required to pass a Danish language test if they can document that they have passed the Danish primary and lower secondary school leaving examination (Folkeskolens Afgangsprøve or Folkeskolens Udvidede Afgangsprøve).
Studieprøven must be successfully passed with grade 2 in each of the four disciplines according to the new Danish 7-point grading scale, or if you have passed the test before 1 September 2007, grade 6 according to the former 13-point grading scale.
Please note that for some programmes the applicant is required to obtain a specific minimum grade in some or all of the four examination disciplines. This information will be stated under the specific 'admission requirements’ for the individual programme.
Studieprøven can be replaced by a written and oral examination at Higher Preparatory Examination (HF) level.
For further information and registration for "Studieprøven", please contact: LærDansk Language Centre.
The Danish Parliament has approved an amendment to the University Act that extends the legal right of admission to three years. This amendment has been adopted in order to enable graduates of Bachelor’s degree programmes to gain experience on the labour market while retaining their legal right of admission to a Master’s degree programme for three years after graduation. The act will enter into force on 1 July 2019. The extension of the legal right of admission will apply retroactively from 1 January 2019. This means that the legal right of admission will be extended for all graduates who complete their Bachelor's degree programme in 2019.
The Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education has produced a draft ministerial order under which students retain a legal right of admission for three years which they may only exercise once. However, according to the draft ministerial order, in the event that an applicant is offered admission to a degree programme to which he/she has a legal right of admission, he/she may retain his/her right of admission by declining the offer of admission by the 15 June acceptance deadline. In addition, in connection with 2019 summer admissions, if a graduate of a Bachelor’s programme withdraws his/her acceptance of an offer of admission before 31 July 2019, he/she will not be considered as having exercised the legal right of admission. However, it is important to comply with the 15 June deadline for accepting an offer of admission.
The ministerial order is expected to enter into force on 1 July 2019, although this may be affected by the national elections on 5 June 2019 and the subsequent formation of a government.
If you have any questions about the new ministerial order and your rights, or if you wish to exercise your right to withdraw your acceptance of admission to a degree programme, please write to kandidat@au.dk to have your ‘I would like to accept the offer of admission’ changed to ‘I do not wish to accept the offer of admission’.
Following Section 10 of the Ministerial Order on Admission to and Enrolment on Master’s (Candidatus) Programmes at Universities (Kandidatadgangsbekendtgørelsen), a Bachelor’s degree at a Danish university qualifies for admission to the Master’s degree programme constituting a natural extension of the subject area or subject areas of the Bachelor’s degree programme at the same university "immediately after the completion of the Bachelor’s degree programme". This means the first ordinary semester intake for the Master’s degree programme following the completion of the Bachelor’s degree programme.
Exempt are applicants for Master’s degree programmes with restricted admission at the Faculties of Arts and Science and Technology with commencement of studies in both February and September. Applicants who complete their Bachelor’s programme during the autumn semester have the liberty of choice between using their legal right of admission for either the forthcoming winter or summer start. Whichever decision is made, the applicant must always apply for admission before the set deadline.
In the academic regulations for the individual Master’s degree programme, the university specifies which Bachelor’s degrees obtained at the university give legal right of admission, as well as which Bachelor’s degrees obtained at the university and other universities also give access to admission to the Master’s degree programme.
At Aarhus University, it is a condition for retaining the legal right of admission that the applicant has applied for admission to the relevant Master’s degree programme within the application deadline. See the application deadlines.
Awareness of the legal right of admission is particularly important among undergraduate students wishing to apply for admission to a Master’s degree programme with restricted admission. Legal right applicants are guaranteed admission to the relevant Master’s degree programme, and other applicants will not be considered for admission until all legal right applicants have been offered a student place.
Applicants who do not have a legal right of admission include students who have completed their Bachelor’s degree at another Danish or non-Danish university, as well as former Aarhus University students who did not apply for admission for the first intake after the completion of their Bachelor’s degree.
All non-legal right applicants are assessed on an equal footing according to the same selection criteria, which will be described under the specific "admission requirements" of the individual Master's programme in the Study Guide.
The legal right applies to admission to a degree programme, but please note that you may not have a legal right of admission to degree programme tracks with restricted admission. You should therefore make sure to apply for several priorities.
The limitations on multiple degrees means that as a general rule, is only possible to enrol in a new post-secondary degree at equivalent (or lower) level six years after completion of the first post-secondary degree.
However, you are not subject to the rule, if you by 1 February 2017 was admitted to a Bachelor's degree programme at Aarhus University, and you have a legal right of admission to the relevant Master's degree programme.
On 19 December 2016, the Danish Parliament adopted a new act which limits the number of post-secondary degrees Danish students may take.
The limitations on multiple degrees mean that as a general rule, it is only possible to enrol in a new post-secondary degree at equivalent (or lower) level six years after completion of the first post-secondary degree.
This means that if you have completed a fully government-funded Danish full-time Master’s degree programme, you must wait at least six years before enrolling in a new full-time Master’s degree programme. However, there are certain exceptions.
There are no limits on applying to admission to the eight Master’s degree programmes listed below, which are on the government’s ‘positive list’ of post-secondary degree programmes which are particularly in demand on the labour market.
This means that you are eligible to apply for admission to these Master’s degree programmes at Aarhus University in 2017 and 2018 regardless of when you completed your previous degree programme:
If you completed your Master’s degree programme less than six years ago, you have the option of applying for an exemption from the rules.
We can grant exemptions in the following situations:
How do I apply for an exemption?
To apply for an exemption, complete this form and upload it to the application system, together with the relevant documentation and your application, under the field ”Have you completed or do you expect to complete a Master’s degree programme before commencement of studies?” Tick the box next to ‘Exemption’.
It is important that you make sure that you collect and submit the right documentation so that we have sufficient information to process your application.
In all cases, documentation of your previously completed degree programmes is required.
In addition, you must also submit the following documents, depending on the grounds on which you are applying for an exemption:
For some Master’s degree programmes with a limitation on intake, a calculation of the GPA for your entire Bachelor’s degree programme or selected relevant courses may be required.
It will also appear from the selection criteria of the relevant programme whether the calculation of the GPA is based on the grades submitted by the application deadline or based on grades from the entire completed Bachelor’s degree programme by the documentation deadline.
If the calculation of the GPA is based on the completed Bachelor’s degree programme, and an official total GPA is stated on the Bachelor’s diploma, this GPA will be used. Exempt are Danish diplomas with GPAs based on the 13 point grading scale, in which case the individual grades are converted to the new 12 point grading scale (the 7 scale) before the total GPA is calculated.
Credit courses gained from other programmes or institutions that are transferred to the Bachelor’s programme without the grade are not included in the GPA.
Applicants who apply for admission based on qualifications from non-Danish universities must always upload documentation of the grading system and grading scale used in their home country or at their home university.
When Aarhus University calculates your GPA for selected courses or your entire Bachelor's degree programme, the individual grade is converted from the Danish 13 point scale to a grade on the Danish 12 point grading scale before the GPA is calculated.
The following conversion scale is used:
13 point scale | 12 point scale (the 7 scale) |
13 | 12 |
11 | 12 |
10 | 10 |
9 | 7 |
8 | 7 |
7 | 4 |
6 | 02 |
5 | 00 |
03 | 00 |
00 | -3 |
Applicants with a combination of grades from the 13 point scale and the 12 point scale will first have their grades from the 13 scale converted to the 12 point scale according to the above conversion table. Then a simple GPA is calculated.
All new Danish diplomas are assigned with an additional ECTS grade corresponding to the Danish grade in accordance with the ECTS grading scale.
The ECTS grading scale is made by the European Commission and used to compare and convert grading systems between different European countries. The ECTS system consists of 7 grades (A to Fx) and has been the model for the new Danish 12 point grading scale (the 7 scale).
| The Grading Scale | ||
| Danish Grade | Definition | ECTS Grade |
| 12 | For an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material, with no or only a few minor weaknesses. | A |
| 10 | For a very good performance displaying a high level of command of most aspects of the relevant material, with only minor weaknesses. | B |
| 7 | For a good performance displaying good command of the relevant material but also some weaknesses. | C |
| 4 | For a fair performance displaying some command of the relevant material but also some major weaknesses. | D |
| 02 | For a performance meeting only the minimum requirements for acceptance. | E |
| 00 | For a performance which does not meet the minimum requirements for acceptance. | Fx |
| -3 | For a performance which is unacceptable in all respects. | F |
Apart from the above official comparison between the ECTS grading scale and the Danish 12 point grading scale (the 7 scale), there are no official conversion tables between Danish and foreign grades.
Thus, when assessing applications for admission to Master’s degree programmes based on foreign qualifications, Aarhus University relies on the guidelines laid down by the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education in the Country handbook (information in Danish only) containing guideline conversion tables for a relatively small number of selected countries.
For countries where no guideline conversion tables exist, Aarhus University will perform a so-called linear grade conversion based on the lowest passing grade and highest possible grade on both grading scales (in Denmark, these grades are 2 and 12, respectively).
The individual foreign grade is calculated to a number with two decimal places between 2 and 12, and based on simple round-off it is converted to a full grade on the Danish 7 scale. This grade is then used in calculating the GPA.
Applicants with a combination of grades from Danish and non-Danish grading scales will have all their non-Danish grades converted to the Danish 12 point scale before the GPA is calculated.
The above calculation method is approved by the Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.
