This page answers questions that the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science gets about assessment and recognition of qualifications.
You can ask us for an assessment, which you can use when applying for a job, applying to enter a Danish study programme or clarify your possibilities.
Please note, however, that you must apply to the public authority responsible for authorisation if you intend to work in a regulated profession (for example as a school teacher, physiotherapist, nurse, etc.). If you wish to be admitted to a Danish study programme, the educational institution must approve your entry qualification.
You can look up a number of countries and see which examinations satisfy the general requirements for admission to higher education in Denmark:
If the country of origin of your qualification is not listed on that page, we may be able to provide an assessment of your certificate. The assessment will indicate the level of your qualification in relation to the level required for access to Danish higher education.
Specific admission requirements often apply to the individual study programme. You should therefore inquire at the educational institution where you may intend to apply for admission.
See also:
We do not provide grade conversion. For upper secondary school-leaving certificates, grade conversion may take place at the higher education institution when you apply for admission.
See also:
No, only a Danish educational institution may issue Danish qualification titles (or, in the case of vocational qualifications, a trade committee (fagligt udvalg)). This may normally only be done after (part of) the study programme has been taken in Denmark.
For more information, see:
We can make an assessment stating the Danish educational level and, where possible, the concrete Danish study programme to which your foreign qualification corresponds:
No, it is up to the individual educational institution to decide how much credit, if any, you can have transferred from your foreign qualifications.
For more information, see:
If you have not used your qualifications or taken any supplementary training and education in recent years, it will be expedient to supplement the qualifications with knowledge of working methods that are aimed at Danish conditions and that correspond to the current requirements that are made for the field in question.
Educational institutions may have rules on obsolescence in connection with an application for admission and credit transfer.
You can see the documents required here:
Only if the primary and lower secondary school leaving certificate was the basis for admission to the study programme that you wish to have assessed. However, a primary and lower secondary school leaving certificate is not a condition for an assessment by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.
We provide the assessment itself free of charge. The assessment does not include translation of documents.
An assessment normally takes between 1 and 2 months. If you need the assessment in connection with a specific deadline, for example an application for admission to a study programme, you should mention this when you apply for an assessment.
The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science does not provide advice and counselling by personal appointment, but you can contact the Agency if you have any questions about assessment and/or recognition of qualifications to which you have not found the answer on this website.
Email: vur@ufm.dk
Phone: (+45) 7231 8700 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 12:30 - 15:00
Unfortunately, we cannot assess your coming foreign qualifications in advance. But we are happy to assist with advisory information where this is possible on the basis of the knowledge acquired through our assessment work.
You can get an idea of our assessments by visiting our database of previous assessments:
For standard assessments of foreign upper secondary school leaving certificates, go to:
See also:
If you want an assessment in connection with acceptance as a member of an unemployment fund, you can send us your application before you have received your final examination certificate provided that you enclose documentation that you have completed the study programme in question.
When applying for membership of an unemployment fund (within the deadline set by the unemployment fund), you may refer to your qualifications currently being assessed by the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.
If you can substantiate that it is impossible or excessively onerous for you to obtain the documentation required, we can make a background report describing your qualification.
It depends on what is meant by "translate". If you mean a translation of your certificates and diplomas or other documents into Danish, you must find a translator.
For more information, see:
If you mean a translation of the degree title itself, the title should normally be left in the original language if there is no official translation. You should also be aware that titles may be protected by national legislation. For most Danish qualifications, the English title is stated in a Diploma Supplement (for higher education) or a Certificate Supplement (for vocational education and training).
We do not provide a translation of degree titles.
If you mean an explanation of your foreign qualification with terms and concepts from the Danish educational system, this will normally be part of an assessment from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.
No, we do not provide translations.
For more information, see:
The requirements for translations are stated on this page:
If you are a holder of foreign qualifications, you may use an assessment to clarify your opportunities and explain your qualifications in different contexts. In some cases, however, you are not to request an assessment from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science.
Read more about the procedure, based on whether you intend to:
See this page:
Work experience does not form part of the assessment of educational qualifications, but information about relevant work experience should be provided, as it makes it possible to see if and when the applicant has used the qualifications in question and has consequently maintained the competences obtained.
We examine the documentation and confirm, if this is the case, that the PhD degree is at a level that is comparable with a Danish PhD degree.
We cannot enter into a detailed assessment of a PhD degree. This is due to the high degree of specialisation of PhD programmes and the important differences that exist within the main academic fields in terms of research traditions and academic requirements, nationally as well as internationally. If you apply for a job there may be a specific academic assessment, and it will then be up to the employer to assess whether you meet the requirements for teachers and academic staff at universities, etc.
You can find information on these pages:
We do not provide general educational guidance, but an assessment of foreign qualifications may sometimes contribute to such guidance. Read more about…
Information about study stays in Denmark, including the possibilities of financial support, can be found here:
We do not provide general vocational guidance, but we can contribute by making an advisory assessment of foreign qualifications.
Read more about…
You must contact the relevant foreign authorities in order to find out what your qualifications correspond to in the education system of the country in question and to which extent your Danish qualifications give you access to occupational and academic activities in that country.
See this page:
No, we do not convert (translate) grades/marks, but documentation in English about the Danish grading system can be found here:
If you wish to explain your Danish examination marks abroad, you may be able to receive examination statistics for the year in question from your educational institution.
The Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science or other Danish public authorities cannot decide how Danish qualifications are to be assessed in other countries. We only make decisions about foreign qualifications in relation to the Danish education system.
We therefore refer to the office in the country in question that provides information about recognition of foreign qualifications. For many countries, the relevant website can be found via the ENIC/NARIC networks:
If, on the basis of your foreign qualifications, you have applied for credit transfer for a Danish study programme and you have received a decision with which you are unhappy, you may bring the decision before the Qualifications Board:
If you have received an assessment from the Danish Agency for Higher Education and Science, you cannot appeal to any other public authority about the content and the matter of the assessment. However, we consider any communication that we receive and may choose to make a new assessment, for example if you provide new information that changes the basis for the assessment.
You can find information about complaints procedures under the regulated profession in question:
