Regulations governing admission to 1- to 2-year master's degree programmes at the University of Oslo

Introduction

This English translation is for information purposes only. For all legal purposes, the original document in Norwegian is the authoritative version. This document relates to the Norwegian grading system and structure of education.

Statutory authority

As laid down by the rector on behalf of the Board of the University of Oslo on 17 March 2009 under the provisions of § 3-2, § 3-4, § 3-6 and § 3-7 of Act No. 15 of 1 April 2005 relating to universities and university colleges (Universities and University Colleges Act), Regulations No. 1392 of 1 December 2005 governing master's degree requirements, and Regulations No. 173 of 31 January 2007 governing admission to higher education.

Amendments: Amended by Regulations No. 1185 of 22 June 2009, No. 22 of 5 January 2010. 

§ 1. Scope

The Regulations apply to admission to all one- to two-year master's degree programmes that the University of Oslo offers leading to:

• a) a master's degree of 120 ECTS credits, cf. § 3 of Regulations governing master's degree requirements

• b) an experience-based master's degree of 90-120 ECTS credits, cf. § 5 of Regulations governing master's degree requirements

• c) a master's degree of one to one and half year's duration, cf. § 7 of Regulations governing master's degree requirements

§ 2. Basis for admission

§ 2-1. Requirements relating to Higher Education Entrance Qualification

(1) Higher Education Entrance Qualification is ordinarily required for admission to a master's degree programme.

(2) For admission to a master’s degree programme or a programme option taught in English or in both English and Norwegian, one of the following special entrance requirements in English applies:

• a) English foundation course in Norwegian upper secondary school (140 annual hours / 5 hours per week) with a grade of 4 or better, or successfully completed English advanced course I or II if applicable.

• b) Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with at least 550 points for Paper-based Test (PBT), at least 213 points for Computer-based Test (CBT) or at least 80 points for Internet-based Test (IBT).

• c) International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) with at least 6.0 points.

• d) Other approved documentation by individual assessment.

(3) Should an applicant to a master's degree programme or programme option taught in English or in both English and Norwegian meet the special entrance requirement in English, dispensation may be granted from the Norwegian language requirement in the Higher Education Entrance Qualification.

(4) Should an applicant to a master's degree programme or programme option taught in both English and Norwegian meet the Norwegian language requirement, dispensation may be granted from the special entrance requirement in English.

§ 2-2. Requirements relating to academic foundation

(1) The faculty itself stipulates in the programme description the academic foundation of the lower degree or the course of study on which the master's degree is based, when this is:

• a) a bachelor's degree

• b) a cand.mag. degree

• c) another degree or professional training of at least three years' duration

• d) Education that pursuant to § 3-4 in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges is approved as equal to aforementioned degrees or course of study. In special cases the faculty itself can approve other documented qualifications as wholly or partly equivalent to these courses of study.

(2) Requirements relating to the academic foundation for admission to master's degree programmes in accordance with § 3 or § 7 of the Regulations governing master's degree requirements must be presented in the programme description for the master's degree programme as:

• a) specialization in subject, courses or course group of at least 80 ECTS credits, or

• b) integrated professional education or programme-defined courses of at least 120 ECTS credits within the field of the master's degree.

In the programme description the faculty itself may stipulate specific requirements relating to the academic foundation within the subject areas of the master's degree programmes.

(3) At least two years' of relevant work experience is also required for admission to the experience-based master's degree programmes in accordance with § 5 of the Regulations governing master's degree requirements. The faculty itself stipulates in the programme description what is relevant work experience, and may lay down requirements for longer professional practice.

(4) Admission to the master's degree programme in archaeology and conservation, Object conservation and Painting conservation specializations, requires a medical certificate that shows normal colour vision, evaluated by the "Ishihara test for colour blindness".

§ 2-3. Academic minimum requirement for admission

(1) For admission to master's degree programmes in accordance with § 3 or § 7 of the Regulations governing master's degree requirements, the following applies:

• a) For applicants with [Norwegian] letter grades the academic minimum requirement is C.

• b) For applicants with [Norwegian] numerical grades the academic minimum requirement is 2.7.

(2) For admission to experience-based master's degree programmes in accordance with § 5 of the Regulations governing master's degree requirements, the faculty itself may lay down special academic minimum requirements in the programme description.

§ 2-4. Basis for calculation of academic minimum requirement

(1) When the academic foundation is a subject/course group of at least 80 ECTS credits [according to Norwegian credit system], the following applies:

• a) The result from a subject/course group of at least 80 ECTS credits shall ordinarily be used.

• b) If the subject/course group in the academic foundation amounts to more than 80 ECTS credits, the result from the selection of courses that yields the best grade average may be used instead of the result from the whole subject/course group. The selection of courses must be at least 80 ECTS credits.

(2) When the academic foundation consists of programme-defined courses of at least 120 ECTS credits, the following applies:

• a) The result from programme-defined courses of at least 120 ECTS credits shall ordinarily be used.

• b) The faculty itself may nonetheless stipulate in the programme description that a selection of courses can be used, but not less than 80 ECTS credits of the total number of programme-defined courses.

(3) If the applicant does not have a graduated grading scale for all courses in the academic foundation, but for courses that make up at least 40 ECTS credits of the academic foundation, the result for the courses with a graduated grading scale may still be used.

(4) Applicants with courses without a graduated grading scale or with a graduated grading scale for less than 40 ECTS credits of the academic foundation must be assessed individually by an admissions committee, cf. § 6-2.

§ 3. Calculation of grade average for the academic foundation

§ 3-1. For courses with [Norwegian] letter grades

(1) The academic minimum requirement is met when the weighted average of the grades in all courses included in the academic foundation is C or better, cf. however § 2-4. The weighting is based on the scope of the courses in ECTS credits.

(2) The following numerical values for the letter grades is used in accordance with § 6 of the Regulations governing studies and examinations at the University of Oslo: grade A = numerical value 65, B = 64, C = 63, D = 62, E = 61. The grade average is rounded to whole numbers according to ordinary rounding rules.

§ 3-2. For courses with [Norwegian] numerical grades

The academic minimum requirement is met when the weighted average of the grades in all courses included in the academic foundation is 2.7 or better, cf. however § 2-4. The weighting is based on the scope of the courses in ECTS credits. The grade average is rounded off by one decimal place according to ordinary rounding rules.

§ 3-3. For courses with [Norwegian] letter grades and numerical grades

The grade average for letter grades and numerical grades must be calculated separately. If both grade averages do not individually meet the academic minimum requirement of C or 2.7, cf. § 2-3, a discretionary assessment must be made of whether academic minimum requirements have been met.

§ 4. Conditional admission

(1) In the programme description the faculty itself may stipulate whether a conditional admission may be made. A conditional admission to a master's degree programme can only be made if there are fewer qualified applicants than places in the programme.

(2) A conditional admission may be granted to applicants who are lacking up to 20 ECTS credits of the course of study on which the master's degree is based. [Applies to applicants residing in Norway.] The faculty itself may stipulate in the programme description which courses may be lacking if a conditional admission is used.

(3) A conditional admission requires that the missing exams be taken and passed at the earliest possible opportunity no later than within one year. All results, including the results from the missing exams, must in total meet the academic minimum requirement in § 2-3. If this requirement is not met, the student will lose the place acquired through the conditional admission.

§ 5. Ranking of applicants for admission

§ 5-1. General remarks on ranking

(1) If there are more qualified applicants than the number of places the applicants must be ranked.

(2) The basis for ranking corresponds to the calculation basis for the academic minimum requirement that the faculty stipulated in the programme description.

(3) Applicants with a high number of points are ranked ahead of applicants with a low number of points. In the event of equal points the following applies:

• a) The underrepresented gender is given first priority. The faculty itself determines which master's degree programmes this should apply to.

• b) Then, a weighted average of the grades in the other courses in the basis for admission, cf. § 2-2, is used, with the exception of Examen philosophicum and Examen facultatum.

• c) If points are still equal older applicants shall be ranked ahead of younger applicants.

§ 5-2. Ranking of applicants with calculable points

(1) Applicants are ranked by calculating a number of points that is a weighted average of the grades for those courses that are part of the academic foundation.

(2) Calculation of number of points is done in accordance with § 3, but for reducing the possibility of equal points the grade point average is calculated for ranking by two decimal places after ordinary rounding of the third decimal place.

§ 5-3. Calculating the points of applicants with more than one basis for ranking

The points of applicants who have several possible ranking bases, cf. § 2-4, shall be calculated according to all the foundations for ranking. The point calculation that yields the highest ranking shall be used.

§ 5-4. Ranking of applicants for experience-based master's degree programmes

For admission to master's degree programmes leading to experience-based master's degrees of 90-120 ECTS credits, the faculty itself stipulates the ranking basis and the use of individual assessment in the programme description.

§ 5-5. Ranking of applicants when points cannot be calculated

(1) Individual assessment shall be used for ranking qualified applicants:

• a) that the faculty has found qualified on the basis of documented qualifications wholly or partly equivalent to the course of study discussed in § 2-2

• b) with an academic foundation from Norwegian or foreign institution of higher education where the result cannot necessarily form the basis for the calculation of points

• c) with an academic foundation where the results with a graduated grade scale is too small to be used for calculation of points, cf. § 2-4

• d) with an academic foundation that consist entirely or partly of numerical grades, cf. § 3-2 and § 3-3.

(2) Qualified applicants who cannot be ranked using calculated points must be ranked in relation to applicants with calculated points through a discretionary review of their academic foundation. To be offered admission, these applicants must have skills and knowledge equivalent to applicants who are offered admission by ranking on the basis of points calculation.

§ 5-6. Additional ranking for specific one- to two-year master's degree programmes

(1) In the programme description the faculty itself may stipulate its own additional ranking rules for one- to two-year master's degree programmes where it is desirable to have a broader assessment of applicants' background than that shown by the academic foundation requirements. Additional ranking is done after the applicants have had their ordinary ranking point total calculated.

(2) Faculty may use one or more of the following criteria for the additional ranking:

• a) the underrepresented gender

• b) relevant other higher education and or other higher education

• c) relevant experience and/or practice

• d) motivation application and/or interview

• e) own work.

(3) The additional ranking can be expressed in the form of extra points. Any extra points can be given in addition to the ordinary ranking point total or only given in the event of equal points.

§ 5-7. Ranking on the basis of special assessment

(1) The basis for admission by special assessment may be documented illness, disability or other circumstances that give reason to believe that the applicant's ranking according to § 5-2, § 5-4 or § 5-5 does not give an accurate picture of the applicant's qualifications.

(2) Applicants who wish to be considered on the basis of special assessment must request this in the application and include their own justification and documentation of the circumstances that are noted.

(3) The aforesaid circumstances do not per se entitle applicants to be admitted to a programme of study. To be offered admission requires skills and knowledge equivalent to those of applicants who are offered admission under § 5-2, § 5-4 or § 5-5.

(4) Applicants who do not receive an offer of admission pursuant to these rules, shall be ranked according to the rules in § 5-2, § 5-4 or § 5-5, respectively.

§ 6. Processing of applications etc.

§ 6-1. Deadline for submission of application and forwarding of documentation

(1) The faculty itself shall stipulate in the programme descriptions whether to admit students once or twice a year to each master's degree programme.

(2) 15 April/15 October is the ordinary deadline for application for admission to the University of Oslo master's degree programmes. The faculty itself may nevertheless decide that 1 March or 1 June/1 December shall be the deadline for application for admission to specific master's degree programmes.

(3) All education, internships and other factors which may provide a basis for admission must be documented with officially certified copies.

(4) Applicants who complete education that provides a basis for admission after the application deadline, must submit preliminary documentation within the deadline. The faculty may set a deadline for submission of final documentation, but it may not be later than by the start of studies for the master's degree programme.

(5) The application deadline for applicants from countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) shall be set by the University Director.

§ 6-2. Admissions committee

(1) The faculty shall appoint one or more admissions committees with responsibility for admission to master's degree programmes at the faculty. Each admissions committee should have at least three members, including at least one student.

(2) The admissions committee will consider applicants who have an academic foundation that must be evaluated individually with respect to:

• a) academic minimum requirement equivalent to [Norwegian] C/2.7

• b) ranking in relation to applicants with calculable points

• c) ranking on the basis of special assessment.

§ 7. Miscellaneous provisions

(1) The University Director may in further rules to the regulations lay down his or her own administrative provisions concerning application processing and ranking.

(2) Changes in the entrance requirements for a master's degree programme should be ready for the applicants at least one year before they take effect.

(3) These regulations enter into force beginning with the admission to one- to two-year master's degree programmes in the autumn of 2010. At the same time Regulations No. 1801 of 22 December 2005 governing admission to one- to two-year master's degree programmes at the University of Oslo are repealed.