If you apply for dispensation no later than March 15 at 12 noon, then you will receive an answer to your application for dispensation before we allocate the study places on 26 July.
We cannot guarantee that applications received after March 15 can be processed before 26 July. Therefore, your application for dispensation may not be taken into consideration on the allocation of study places.
It is possible to apply for dispensation from a number of admission rules in case of special, documented circumstances.
You can assume that you will not be given dispensation if your reason is oversight, misunderstandings, lack of knowledge of the rules or similar circumstances.
The most common types of dispensation are:
The outcome of the specific dispensation case is based upon an individual and specific assessment. Therefore it is not possible to tell whether or not your dispensation will be granted beforehand.
If you are granted dispensation, you are not necessarily guaranteed a student place. Typically, a dispensation will only be valid within the current year. This means that if you apply for admission in another year, you will have to apply for a new dispensation – however we kindly ask you to upload your previous dispensation in that case.
The possibility of being granted a dispensation has been provided by the Ministry in the relevant ministerial orders and in the rules and regulations of Aarhus University.
You can find more information here:
You need to write an application for dispensation or fill out a special application form in order to apply for dispensation. You find the forms at the bottom of this page.
You must upload your application for dispensation and your documentation on www.optagelse.dk.
Please do so no later than 15 March if you want us to take your application for dispensation into consideration when we allocate the study places.
It is important that you clearly state what type of dispensation you apply for and for what reason you apply for dispensation. Also, remember that you must upload documentation for the special circumstances that you want us to take into consideration in the assessment of your dispensation application. You can find information in the forms at the bottom of this page on what kind of documentation is relevant in your case.
You will receive feedback to your dispensation application separately, but you will not receive the final letter of admission/rejection before 26 July. In a few cases, the case-work of your dispensation application will take longer time. This means that you may receive a letter of rejection or a letter of admission to one of your lower priorities on the 26 July and after that date, you will receive the final feedback on your dispensation application. If this is the case, you will always receive information about the procedure from Aarhus University.
Application deadline regarding dispensation to apply with special permission is 15 March at 12:00 noon.
If you do not hold a qualifying exam, the university can grant you dispensation to apply for admission with special permission. Special permission is granted based on a concrete and individual evaluation of your application in which we will consider the following:
Even though you are granted a dispensation to apply for admission with special permission, you are not guaranteed a student place. The dispensation ensures that your application is evaluated on equal terms with other applicants in quota 2. It is not possible to apply for admission in quota 1 with a special permission because you do not have a convertible grade point average (GPA).
Please note that programmes with limited student places often only will have few student places in quota 2.
When we evaluate your application for special permission, we take the following criteria into consideration:
Relevant Education
Normally, you can only expect to be granted special permission, if you can document that you have completed parts of a relevant theoretical or practical education/training of a considerable duration. Please note that the education/training must not be completed if the education/training is a medium-cycle post-secondary degree or higher level degree (because of the law on limiting double degrees)
Examples of relevant educations are:
Written production
Upper secondary written projects are considered an advantage. They can be written as part of the relevant education.
Examples of written projects are:
Relevant general upper secondary school courses
It will also be an advantage, if you have finished and passed general upper secondary school courses such as Danish level A, History level B and Social Science level C.
In certain cases, we will also consider:
Relevant work experience
Documented work experience of a certain duration that is considered exceptionally relevant for the degree you have applied for, can be considered an advantage. The work experience must be closely related to the desired degree programme.
Even though you are granted a dispensation to apply for admission with special permission, you must also fulfill the specific admission requirements for the desired programme. Normally, the specific requirements must be documented by secondary school courses diplomas or by an Individual Assesment of qualification by the VUC (IKV) (see also Credit for comparable academic qualifications).
If you are granted a dispensation to apply for admission with special permission, your application will only be evaluated in quota 2. Therefore we recommend that you read about the quota 2 criteria for the desired programme(s). You can find information about the specific admission requirements and quota 2 criteria at http://bachelor.au.dk/en/ (you must choose the desired programme and the subsection admission requirements).
When you apply for dispensation to apply with special permission, you must upload a dispensation application (use Form A) as well as documentation for the qualifications that you want us to take into consideration when we evaluate your application. Examples of relevant documentation are:
If you have completed 12 years schooling from a Waldorf school, you normally fulfill the general requirements for a special permission provided that your school report indicates an academic level equivalent to a passed upper secondary degree.
You still need to fulfil the specific requirements for your desired programme(s) by passed supplementary upper secondary school subjects and your application will only be evaluated in quota 2.
When you apply for a dispensation to apply with special permission with a Waldorf school report, you must upload your application for dispensation (use Form A) as well as the following documents:
Application deadline regarding dispensation from the specific requirements is 15 March at 12:00 noon. If you apply later than this, we cannot guarantee that you have an answer before 26 July.
If you do not fulfill the specific requirements, it is possible to apply for dispensation, if you have other qualifications comparable to the specific requirement. You must be able to document these qualifications when you apply for dispensation.
If possible, we strongly recommend that you have your qualifications assessed by VUC (IKV), if you think that you have qualifications equivalent to one of the specific requirements. Unfortunately, this assessment is only available in Danish. An IKV certificate that fully recognizes a full subject is considered to equal an upper secondary school subject diploma.
In rare cases, if you do not have an IKV certificate, Aarhus University grant dispensation from a specific admission requirement on the basis of qualifications from other exams or tests you have passed.
If you are granted dispensation, it will only be valid for your applications to Aarhus University and for the desired programmes in the current year.
If you have an IKV certificate, you do not need to apply for dispensation. Simply upload the certificate to your application at www.optagelse.dk.
In all other cases, you must upload an application for dispensation (use Form B) as well as documentation for the academic qualifications that the dispensation application is based on. Examples of documentation are:
Normally, the university will not accommodate your dispensation application from the specific requirements if:
We recommend that you examine the quota 2 criteria for your desired programme(s). A dispensation from a specific requirement may affect your quota 2 evaluation, if the quota 2 evaluation for the desired programme includes a subject average of relevant quota 2 subjects (quota 2 grade point average). A dispensation can cause a reduction of your subject average. You can find information about the specific admission requirements and quota 2 criteria at http://bachelor.au.dk/en/ (you must choose the desired programme and the subsection “admission requirements”).
If you apply for a dispensation because of special circumstances, you must apply by 15 March at 12:00 noon if you would like to be guaranteed an answer to your application of dispensation before the study places are offered 26 July.
If the result from your qualifying exam has been affected by special circumstances, it is possible for you to apply for dispensation. This dispensation type only applies for applications that can be evaluated in quota 1.
When we evaluate your application for dispensation, we make a concrete overall assessment. Among other things, we assess whether it is likely that the special circumstances have influenced your qualifying exam significantly. If your application for dispensation is accommodated you are not guaranteed an offered student place.
We do not grant dispensations on the basis on qualifications obtained by other means. This means that it is not possible to be granted a dispensation on the basis of post-secondary degree education or on the basis of excellent grades in the specific requirements. Likewise, we do not grant dispensation on the basis of immaturity during the qualifying exam, lack of planning or similar circumstances.
When you apply for a dispensation on the basis of special circumstances, you must upload a dispensation application (use Form C) as well as documentation for the special circumstances. You need to document the type of special circumstances and document that the circumstances have influenced your qualifying exam. Consequently, relevant documentation typically includes:
Application deadline regarding dispensation to extend the 2-year time limit is 15 March at 12:00 noon. If you apply later than this, we cannot guarantee that you have an answer before 26 July.
If you apply for admission no later than 2 years after passing your qualifying exam, your grade point average will automatically be multiplied with 1,08 in quota 1. This means that if you have finished your qualifying exam in the years 2017, 2018 or 2019, you will automatically be assigned the bonus for early study start.
If you have finished your qualifying exam in 2013, 2014, 2015 or 2016, it is possible to postpone the 2-year time limit, if you can document that you have been prevented from starting an education because of one of the following circumstances:
The years of extension can only be given for the number of years that you have been prevented from starting a programme, however no more than 4 years. This means that if you apply for admission in 2019, you need to have finished your qualifying exam no earlier than 2013 in order to apply for dispensation.
When you apply for dispensation you must upload a dispensation application (use Form D) as well as documentation that states that one or more of the above-mentioned circumstances have prevented you from starting a programme. Typically, the documentation will include:
The restriction on double education means that it is generally not possible to begin a new Bachelor’s, Professional Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme on a similar or lower level, until six years after completing your latest degree.
This means that if you have completed a fully State funded Danish Professional Bachelor’s, Bachelor’s programme or another Danish full time education on a similar or higher level, it is not possible to apply for admission at a new Danish Bachelor’s programme for six years. Note that the time between the issue date of the diploma and the starting date of the programme is used for determining the period. Also note that three-year medium length degree programmes following the “old” standard (before being converted to Professional Bachelor programmes), are also affected by the restriction.
The following programmes are exempt from the restriction, meaning that it is possible to apply for admission for these, regardless of when you completed your latest degree:
These six programmes are open for admission applications, as they are on the government positive list of programmes in particular demand on the labour market.
Read more about the restriction on double education and see the positive list on the website of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science (Link to the list (in Danish) – pdf).
Dispensation
If you have completed your latest degree more than six years ago, applying for dispensation is not necessary. You only need to submit documentation regarding the completion date of your latest degree (on similar or higher level than the degree programme(s) where you are now applying for admission).
If less than six years has passed since the completion of your latest degree, you are able to apply for dispensation from the rules. We may grant you dispensation if we determine that:
How to apply for dispensation
You must use form E and upload the form together with relevant documentation and your admission application on Optagelse.dk
It is important that you collect and submit relevant documentation, so that we are able to process your application on an informed basis.
It is always required that you submit documentation regarding your latest completed degree. In addition, we require the following, depending on the nature of your application for dispensation:
If you are taking a supplementary subject after 5 July and thus apply for conditional admission, you are normally only allowed to supplement one subject one level, which must be passed immediately after study start. If you wish/plan to take more than one supplementary subject or supplement more than one level, you can apply for dispensation to supplement two subjects one level each or supplement one subject two levels.
It is important that you read the rules of conditional admission, especially if you apply for a degree programme that has study start in February.
When you apply for dispensation, you must upload a dispensation application (use Form D) as well as documentation stating that you are enrolled in the relevant supplementary subjects and levels at GSK/VUC. The dates of the courses (including exam) must be stated at the documentation. If you cannot enroll in supplementary subjects yet, or you have not yet received confirmation of your enrollment, you must upload it to your application as soon as you receive it and no later than 5 July at 12:00 noon.
Usually, it is not possible to submit an application or documentation after the given deadlines.
We only grant dispensation in the case of special circumstances such as unexpected and urgent serious illness around the time of the deadline. The circumstances must be documented with a doctor’s note or similar documentation.
The following are not considered special circumstances: Delays, oversight of deadline, lacking knowledge of the deadlines, travelling, IT problems, log on problems.
You must contact us as soon as possible after the exceeded deadline.
You can use Form D for your application.
When you apply for dispensation, you must fill out a special form. You can find out which form to use under each type of dispensation:
Please note, that the deadline is 15 March at 12:00 noon.
You must upload your application for dispensation at optagelse.dk together with your application for enrollment. We must not receive your application by e-mail.
Remember to save the data in the form before you upload it.
