Admission requirements
Information about admission requirements for bachelor- and higher vocational studies at Noroff.
Noroff University College
There are two ways to meet the admission criteria:
1. By upper secondary education/higher education entrance qualification*
For international students, depending upon which country you have received your education from, the requirements will differ. Often you need to have at least one year education from a university beside det secondary education, to be qualified to higher education in Norway. Please use the website of Higher Education Entrance Qualification for Persons with Foreign Education - The GSU-list, where you can find the specific requirements for your country at the bottom of the page.
All our studies have English language requirements. More information about how to fulfill those requirements, can be found here.
Some countries have a specific way to fulfill the English requirement without the need to take an English test, you can see if that is the case for your country here.
In addition, we have a few IT studies that have additional requirements in mathematics. These are Bachelor in Digital Forensics, Bachelor in Cyber Security and Bachelor in Applied Data Science. The requirement will vary depending on which country you have your education from. If you are unsure, ask us.
All education documents and diplomas must be translated to Norwegian or English by a translator, a translation service or an interpreter or an interpreter service. Copies of your original education documents must always be enclosed. You may be asked to submit original documents.
If your education is already approved by NOKUT, please upload this documentation in your application.
There are six ways to achieve higher education entrance qualification:
▫️ Completed three (3) years of High School/Secondary Education
• You have completed a high school education over three (3) years and received a general university admission certification/diploma.
▫️ Vocational high school with extension for a general university admission certificate/diploma
• You have completed vocational training and received a general university admission certificate/diploma. Read more about the rule here.
▫️ 23/5-rule
• You turn twenty-three (23) within the year of admission as well as completed and passed the six admission subjects combined with at least five (5) years of education or vocational training. Read more about the 23/5-rule here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed an approved higher vocational education
• You are required to have completed a higher vocational education program lasting for a minimum of two (2) years as well as providing at least 120 higher vocational credits.
• Approved higher vocational institutes are defined in the NOKUT list.
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed High School education at Waldorf-school/ Steinerskolen
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed a university- or college program
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
2. By prior learning/work experience
For those who do not meet the admission requirements by upper secondary education/higher education entrance qualification, there is still the opportunity to apply for admission based on non-formal learning (your prior learning and experience). This is based on an individual assessment with specific guidelines.
• You need to be at least 25 years old within the first year of enrollment.
• You must have the competence equivalent to an education program that can compensate for not fulfilling the regular admission requirements. Examples of prior learning can be paid or unpaid work, education or work experience. In addition, minimum requirements for assessment of prior learning are satisfactory skills in English. See how to fulfill these English language requirements here. Some countries have a specific way to fulfill the English requirement without the need to take an English test, you can see if that is the case for your country here. If you do not meet any of the above-mentioned ways of fulfilling the English language requirements, please write to us in the “messages” field in your application.
• Select “Prior learning” as an option on your application form.
• You need to be at least 25 years old within the first year of enrollment.
• You must have the competence equivalent to an education program that can compensate for not fulfilling the regular admission requirements. Examples of prior learning can be paid or unpaid work, education or work experience. In addition, minimum requirements for assessment of prior learning are satisfactory skills in English. This English language requirement can be fulfilled in different ways. If you have passed the subject “English” in high school, you cover the English language requirement. In addition you can cover the language requirement if you pass one of the approved tests in English listed at Samordna Opptak. If you do not meet any of the above-mentioned ways of fulfilling the English language requirements, please write to us in the “messages” field in your application.
• Select Prior learning/experience as an option on your application form.
Noroff Higher Vocational College
There are three ways to meet the admission criteria:
1. By upper secondary education/Higher education entrance qualification
For international students, depending upon which country you have received your education from, the requirements will differ. Please use the website of Higher Education Entrance Qualification for Persons with Foreign Education - The GSU-list, where you can find the specific requirements for your country at the bottom of the page.
All our studies have English requirements, and some of the studies have Norwegian language requirements as well. More information about how to fulfill those requirements, can be found here.
Some countries have a specific way to fulfill the English requirement without the need to take an English test or equivalent, you can see if that is the case for your country here.
Higher education entrance qualification:
At least one of these requirements must be fulfilled:
▫️ Completed three (3) years of High School/Secondary Education
• You have completed a high school education over three (3) years and received a general university admission certification/diploma.
▫️ Vocational high school with extension for a general university admission certificate/diploma
• You have completed vocational training and received a general university admission certificate/diploma. Read more about the rule here.
▫️ 23/5-rule
• You turn twenty-three (23) within the year of admission as well as have completed and passed the six admission subjects combined with at least five (5) years of education or vocational training. Read more about the 23/5-rule here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed an approved vocational education
• You are required to have completed a vocational education program lasting for a minimum of two (2) years as well as providing at least 120 vocational credits.
• Approved vocational institutes are defined in the NOKUT list.
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed High School education at Waldorf-school/Steinerskolen
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
▫️ Completed a university- or college study
• Read more about this requirement here. Note, the rule is only found in Norwegian.
2. By Norwegian Vocational Upper Secondary Education from Norway
At least one of these requirements must be fulfilled:
▫️ Completed two (2) years of Vocational High School/Upper Secondary Education and in addition, received a craft certificate (fagbrev/svennebrev in Norwegian).
▫️ Completed three (3) years of Vocational High School/Upper Secondary Education without receiving a Higher Education Entrance Qualification Diploma (generell studiekompetanse), but you have received a Vocational Qualification Diploma (yrkeskompetanse).
▫️ You are an internship candidate with a certificate of apprenticeship and do cover our language requirements.
3. Prior learning/work experience
For those who do not meet the admission requirements by upper secondary education, higher education entrance qualification or by vocational upper secondary eduaction, there is still opportunity to apply for admission based on non-formal learning (your prior learning and experience). This is based on an individual assessment with specific guidelines.
• You need to be at least 23 years old within the first year of enrollment.
• Minimum requirements for assessment of prior learning are satisfactory skills in both Norwegian and English. (Norwegian is not a requirement for online applicants.) To see how you can fulfill these language requirements, follow this link.
- Some countries have a specific way to fulfill the English requirement without the need to take an English test, you can see if that is the case for your country here. If you do not meet any of the above-mentioned ways of fulfilling the English language requirements, please write to us in the “messages” field in your application.
• You must have the competence equivalent to an education programme that can compensate for not fulfilling the regular admission requirements. Examples of prior learning can be paid or unpaid work, education, or work experience.
• Select “Prior learning” as an option on your application form
• You need to be at least 23 years old within the first year of enrollment.
• Minimum requirements for assessment of prior learning are satisfactory skills in both Norwegian and English. (Norwegian is not a requirement for online applicants.)
- This English language requirement can be fulfilled in different ways. If you have passed the subject “English” in high school/upper secondary education, you cover the English language requirement. In addition, you can cover the English language requirement if you pass one of the approved tests in English listed at Samordna Opptak. At Samordna opptak you can read about all the ways of fulfilling both the Norwegian and English language requirements. If you do not meet any of the above-mentioned ways of fulfilling the language requirements, please write to us in the “messages” field in your application.
• You must have the competence equivalent to an education programme that can compensate for not fulfilling the regular admission requirements. Examples of prior learning can be paid or unpaid work, education, or work experience.
• Select “Prior learning” as an option on your application form.
* Upper secondary education/general certification
- “General certification” is the admission term for upper secondary education in Norway. If you have a diploma from upper secondary education outside Norway, it’s not necessarily equated with “general certification”.
Read more about the application process here.
