Norwegian Govt to Review Admission System at Universities and Colleges

The Norwegian government has announced it is planning to establish a committee that will be responsible for reviewing the whole admission system at Norwegian higher educational institutions.

The committee will make assessments and provide competent bodies with guidelines in order to improve the system, Erudera reports.

Regarding this issue, the Research and Higher Education Minister Henrik Asheim said that the

implementation of the admission system in higher education must be reviewed. According to him, an admission system that will be fair and effective for all has to be preserved.

According to a press release issued by the Norwegian government, students in Norway start their studies later compared to their peers in Europe.

The reason why the Norwegian students need several years before they become eligible to start studies is because the current admission system contributes to a high-grade point average in several study programmes. Therefore, they spent many years attempting to secure subjects and accumulate age points.

Grade point average (GPA) is the number that indicates the average of grades that a student has accumulated in various courses over the years.

Moreover, students also get additional points for military service, civilian service, vocational school, gender, science, language, etc.

According to Asheim, the review of the entire admission system, including the way on how the additional points function is very necessary.

Among others, Asheim expressed optimism that the established committee would work towards this issue and offer explanations on what needs to be done. Regarding the committee and its mandate, it will be known later in autumn.   

Nowadays, the admission system in Norway is divided into two quotes; the first quote which includes the competition of students through high school grades, and the usual quote which means that the applicants compete through grades, additional points, age points, subjects, etc.

Over the years, the number of students at higher education institutions in Norway has increased. In 2019, there were 296 thousand students pursuing studies at Norwegian higher education institutions, with more female than male students.