Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for primary and secondary school, upper secondary and tertiary vocational education and higher education sectors, kindergartens, cultural schools, vocational education and training and adult learning. The Ministry is also responsible for research and integration.

Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training is responsible for the development of kindergarten and primary and secondary education. The Directorate is the executive agency for the Ministry of Education and Research.

Universities Norway (UHR) is a cooperative body for 33 accredited universities and university colleges.

Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) is a professionally independent government agency that contributes towards quality assurance and enhancement in higher education and tertiary vocational education. NOKUT’s tasks include as well as recognition of foreign education qualifications in Norway.

Diku - the Norwegian Agency for International Cooperation and Quality Enhancement in Higher Education is a Norwegian public sector agency that promotes development and innovation in education, encourage international cooperation and digital learning methods.

Information on the Norwegian education system.

Ministry of Education and Research

Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service (NUCAS) coordinates the admission to regular undergraduate studies at all the universities, university colleges, state colleges, and some private colleges in Norway.
Programmes for international students are presented at www.studyinnorway.no Individual institutions provide information considering the admission to their postgraduate degrees.

NOKUT is the controlling authority for educational activity at all Norwegian universities, special field universities, university colleges and institutions with single accredited higher education programmes, as well as for all tertiary vocational education.

NOKUT provides accreditation of education institutions and study programmes, revision of previously-granted accreditation, and evaluates the institutions’ quality assurance systems, for more information see NOKUTs website. 

The newest annual report on the state of higher education in Norway Tilstandsrapport for høyere utdanning 2021 has been already published online by Diku. 

Earlier annual reports can be found in the Norwegian Government's public report database.

Tertiary vocational education is provided by 'fagskoler', which are considered as tertiary vocational education institutions. Tertiary vocational education is based on upper secondary education and training or equivalent competence and comprises the equivalent of at least one-half and no more than two entire academic years.

See the thematic pages on the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.

The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) is the controlling authority for all tertiary vocational education. All provisions must be accredited by NOKUT.

Database with the accredited higher education institutions in Norway. An accredited higher education institution is granted the right to offer educational provision, without having to apply to NOKUT for specific (programme) accreditation, in accordance with the powers that its institutional category implies.

University colleges that are not accredited institutions must apply to NOKUT for accreditation of their study programmes at all levels, see the list in the link under.

Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) is a governmental agency which among other tasks evaluates foreign higher education. This assessment leads to a general recognition decision that shows how a foreign education is comparable to Norwegian higher education.

Recognition of foreign tertiary vocational education is a new recognition scheme provided by NOKUT. It includes an assessment of foreign education in comparison to the Norwegian education system, in accordance with Act relating to Tertiary Vocational Education (fagskoleloven), section 7 (in Norwegian).
NOKUTs decision provides information on the level and the scope of a qualification, and what it can be normally used for in the country where it is gained. This recognition scheme does not assess the vocational content of an education.

NOKUT evaluates as well foreign vocational education and training (VET). The recognition decision here shows that a foreign qualification is comparable with a Norwegian craft or journeyman’s certificate. NOKUT began with this recognition scheme in 2016 and will gradually expand the scheme for new countries and qualifications. 

NOKUT is the Norwegian assistance centre for the Professional Qualifications Directive, and provides guidance to professionals about the directive, as well as about Norwegian legislation on regulated professions.
NOKUT cooperates with assistance centers in other EU/EEA countries, as well as with Altinn, the Norwegian contact point for the Services in the Internal Market Directive (2006/123/EC). The center can also assist Norwegian citizens who wish to work in a regulated profession in the EU/EEA.

In accordance with the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (the Lisbon Recognition Convention), section VII, the Norwegian ENIC-NARIC office, NOKUT, has developed a procedure for formal recognition of higher education qualifications for persons without verifiable documentation.

This procedure is intended for refugees with insufficient documentation and individuals in a refugee-like situation who are unable to fulfil the documentation requirements for NOKUTs regularprocedure for general recognition of higher education. It is called recognition procedure for persons without verifiable documentation (the UVD-procedure). The UVD-procedure is administrated by NOKUTs Section for Interview-based Procedures.

NOKUT has carried out a successful pilot project with the intention of testing the new method for evaluation of refugees’ qualifications: 

NOKUT’s Qualifications Passport for Refugees. The method corresponds to the proposal made by NOKUT and UK NARIC for a European Qualifications Passport for Refugees  (presented to the European Commission and other international organizations in September 2015).

Q-Entry: Online Database with the list of the final upper secondary school qualifications and with the qualifications that in the national education system of reference give access to Higher Education.

The general basis for admission to universities and university colleges in Norway is called Higher Education Entrance Qualification. For applicants with foreign education, the requirements are specified in the GSU-list.

The GSU list is managed by NOKUT. However, all questions regarding admission requirements to higher education should be addressed to Samordna opptak (The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service /NUCAS): sokerinfo@samordnaoppak.no

NUCAS: https://www.samordnaopptak.no/info/english/

Will this year’s upper secondary graduates receive a final diploma? If yes, when? Yes, upper secondary graduates will receive a final diploma as usual. Diplomas will be issued in the end of June. However, no written examinations will take place this spring, so all grades are based on the overall achievement pupils receive during the school year (standpunktkarakter). There might be oral examinations as usual, our government will take a decision later. For more information, please see: https://www.udir.no/kvalitet-og-kompetanse/sikkerhet-og-beredskap/informasjon-om-koronaviruset/eksamen-2021/

Will the final diploma have a calculated grade point average? N/A Norwegian Upper Secondary School Diploma contains only subjects and grades, no calculated GPA. 

Are there any consequences for admission to higher education in your country for this year’s graduates? No, admission to higher education will proceed as usual. But grade conversion into points for admission might be a little different since pupils do not have written examinations this year. For information about how grades are converted, please see: https://www.samordnaopptak.no/info/opptak/opptak-uhg/poengberegning/index.html