NOKUT’s guidelines for general recognition of foreign higher education

General recognition of foreign higher education qualifications as equivalent to accredited Norwegian higher education qualifications is regulated by the Act relating to universities and university colleges § 3-4 (“University and university colleges act”) and the Regulations concerning quality assurance and quality development in higher education and tertiary vocational education § 6-1 (“Regulations on quality assurance”).

All requirements and guidelines decided by NOKUT are continued in the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.

As basis for case processing, NOKUT has operationalized the provisions in the laws and regulations into guidelines on criteria that a qualification needs to fulfil in order to be granted general recognition. The guidelines’ main principle is that a qualification shall be recognized unless there are substantial differences, in accordance with the Lisbon Recognition Convention, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (5).

    1. The qualification must be sufficiently documented from the educational institution or education authorities in the country of origin, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (2).
      a) NOKUT’s Chief Executive Officer establishes documentation requirements.
    1. The educational programme leading to the qualification must be accredited or officially recognized as higher education, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (3).

      The educational programme leading to the qualification must fulfil one of the following requirements:
      a. The education programme/degree must be a part of the country of origin’s higher education system.
      b. The educational institution must be officially recognized as having self-accrediting rights on the relevant level or the educational programme must be officially recognized/accredited as higher education.
    2. NOKUT can make exceptions from the requirement of accreditation or official recognition in special cases where recognition clearly should be granted, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (3), government circular F-2010-8 and Governing document on the operationalization of the exemption clause for recognition of foreign higher education qualifications in § 6-1 (3) (archive ref.: 17/07376-11).
    3. The qualification must be on the level of Norwegian higher education. To assess whether a foreign qualification is on the level of Norwegian higher education, the education system in the country of origin is compared with the Norwegian education system, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (1). If there are substantial differences between the education systems in Norway and the country of origin, the foreign qualification will not be fully recognized. Only higher education qualifications above the requirement in the list of Higher Education Entrance Qualification for Persons with Foreign Education (the GSU list) can normally be recognized as higher education.
    4. The qualification is normally recognized based on the principle that a full year of study or its equivalent in the country of origin equals a full year of study in Norway, cf. University and University Colleges Act § 3-4, 3-8 (1), comments to Regulations concerning Supervision of the Educational Quality in Higher Education § 2-2 (3) and the ECTS Users’ Guide.
    5. Only completed semesters can be recognized. A qualification is recognized in full and half academic years where equivalence of degrees cannot be granted, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 and clarification in Requirements for decision making under the Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (1), archive ref.: 20/00843-1.

  • * These requirements come in addition to requirements for general recognition. All requirements must be fulfilled to be granted equivalence of degree, cf. Regulations on quality assurance § 6-1 (1) and University and University Colleges Act § 3-2.

    University college candidate degree

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: minimum 2 years that can be recognized as higher education. 
    Must be a completed degree or study programme.

    Bachelor’s degree

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: minimum 3 years that can be recognized as higher education. 
    Must be a completed degree.
    Should normally give access to second cycle studies in the country of origin.

    Shorter master’s degree

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: minimum 1 year
    Must be a completed degree.
    Should normally be based on a completed bachelor’s degree or comparable degree, and has a minimum of three years full time study as admission requirement. 
    Can give access to third cycle studies in the country of origin.

    One-and-a-half-year master’s degree

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: 1,5 year
    Must be a completed degree.
    Should normally be based on a completed a bachelor’s degree or comparable degree, and has a minimum of three years full time study as admission requirement. 
    Can give access to third cycle studies in the country of origin.
    Must comprise a piece of independent work.

    Two-year master’s degree

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: 2 years
    Must be a completed degree.
    Should normally be based on a completed a bachelor’s degree or comparable degree, and has a minimum of three years full time study as admission requirement.
    Must give access to third cycle studies in the country of origin.
    Must comprise a piece of independent work.

    Longer integrated master’s degrees

    Requirements for equivalence
    Scope: minimum 4,5 years*
    Must be a completed degree.
    Must give access to third cycle studies in the country of origin.
    Must comprise a piece of independent work.
    *For Pre-Bologna degrees with a minimum of 4 years full time studies: general recognition as equivalent to master’s degree can be granted on individual assessment.

    PhD

    Separate guidelines adopted by NOKUT’s board of directors on 30.10.2015.

  • A. Minimum requirements for general recognition of a foreign doctoral degree

    – The education must be a completed and officially recognized doctoral degree from an officially recognized/accredited institution accredited to offer doctoral degrees within the specific field of study. A doctoral degree is defined as research education in the educational system in the country of origin (third level in the degree structure).   

    – The main component of the doctoral degree is an independent research carried out under academic supervision, and which leads to an approved scientific doctoral thesis. The duration of the work on the doctoral thesis must be minimum (2) years.   

    – The doctoral thesis must be assessed and approved by an expert committee.

    – Nominal length of study should be minimum three (3) years.

    B. Criteria for equivalency to a Norwegian PhD, in addition to the minimum criteria

    1. For countries with a qualifications framework  

    – Doctoral degrees from countries with QF-EHEA/EQF: The education must be on level eight (8) in EQF.

    – Doctoral degrees from countries with a qualifications framework comparable to EQF: The education must be on a level equivalent to level eight (8) in EQF. 

    – Doctoral degrees from the countries mentioned above, from the time before the framework was introduced: The doctoral degree, together with prior higher education, must have a total course of study of preferably eight (8) years, in some cases seven (7) years.

    2. For countries without a qualifications framework and without GSU-requirements of either one (1) or two (2) years of higher education in addition to upper secondary school

    – The doctoral degree must have a total course of study of eight (8) years, including the years of prior higher education.

    3. For countries with centrally regulated doctoral degrees and alternative admission requirements for the doctoral degree

    – The doctoral degree together with prior higher education must have a total course of study of eight (8) years.

    4. For countries where the GSU-requirements are one (1) or two (2) years of higher education in addition to upper secondary school

    – The doctoral degree is assessed individually

    5. For countries with doctoral degrees where the nominal length of study is not regulated

    – The doctoral degree is assessed individually.

    6. For countries that do not fall under the categories B.1–5

    – The doctoral degree is assessed individually.

    C. Recognition procedure for completed and approvable doctoral degrees that do not meet the requirements for degree equivalency

    – The doctoral degree can be recognised in full and half academic years. 

    D. Recognition procedure for incomplete doctoral degrees 

    – NOKUT can only assess incomplete doctoral degrees which contain successfully completed credit awarding courses. These courses can be recognised in full and half academic years.

    Explanation of terms

    QF-EHEA: Qualifications Frameworks in the European Higher Education Area, the Bologna framework, describes the three cycles: bachelor, master and PhD.

    EQF: European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning

    GSU: Higher Education Entrance Qualification for Persons with Foreign Education

  • Postgraduate studies

    NOKUT can grant recognition of foreign postgraduate studies as long as they are a part of the system of academic higher education in the country of origin.

    Distance learning and internet-based education

    NOKUT can recognize a foreign qualification achieved through distance learning/internet-based education, provided that:

    – it is awarded by an accredited/recognized institution of higher education,

    – it is a part of the country’s educational system,

    – it has the same admission requirements, and grants the holder the same rights as campus-based qualifications,

    – it is subject to satisfactory quality assurance.

    Transnational education

    Transnational education is a type of education where the student spends large parts of the stipulated study time in a country other than that which awards the degree. NOKUT can recognize this type of education when the institution awarding the degree is an accredited or officially recognized institution of higher education, and the transnational education is subject to satisfactory quality assurance, cf. Code of good practice in the provision of transnational education, UNESCO/European Council 2001.

    Special cooperation agreements between recognized and non-recognized institutions

    NOKUT can determine specific guidelines for evaluation of education given by special cooperation agreements between accredited or officially recognized and non-recognized educational institutions, cf. criterion 1.2.

The guidelines above were introduced on 1 June 2020. If you need to check the old criteria, you can find them here.