Accrediting education taken abroad

Primary and lower secondary education from abroad

Upper secondary education at Vg1 and/or Vg2 abroad

If you wish to take upper secondary education at Vg1 and/or Vg2 abroad in an education programme for specialization in general studies or a vocational education programme, for instance as an exchange student, you will always have the right to take upper secondary education at the same level when you return to Norway. Education abroad does not affect the Norwegian right to education. You may also apply to the head teacher at the school you are attending or are going to attend for approval of individual subjects you have passed abroad. 

You may also apply to the county authorities (or general manager of a private school, if relevant) for accreditation of the entire education year abroad as equivalent to a Norwegian education and "skip" the corresponding year in Norway when you return. If you are given accreditation of an entire education year from abroad, you have used your right to a corresponding part of your education in Norway. The following conditions apply for the accreditation of an education year abroad: 

• The education must be an entire school year and be a full-time education.
  
• The contents of the education must be equivalent to or more comprehensive that the corresponding education in Norway, but there are no requirements as to the same distribution of subjects and periods or the same competence objectives as the Norwegian education.
  
• The education must be completed and passed so that you would have moved up to the next level in the foreign school system.

If you receive accreditation for an education year from abroad, you are considered eligible for admission to the next level in Norway, at Vg2 or Vg3. However, you must note that an accredited education year does not mean that all the subjects that are part of the education year in question in Norway are approved. You may therefore have to take subjects from Vg1 or Vg2 as a pupil or external candidate after you return. This applies especially to special common core subjects where there are overall achievement grades at Vg1 and/or Vg2. The requirements regarding the distribution of subjects and periods must be met before a certificate or a trade or journeyman’s certificate can be issued.

If you are a pupil in an education programme for specialization in general studies and have received instruction in a foreign language abroad, this can only be accreditedif it is one of the languages where there is a national examination in Norway. The languages this applies to, can be found in the article . 

If you wish to apply for accreditation of an entire education year as an equivalent to Norwegian education, you must examine the issue carefully beforehand. So contact the , or, if relevant,  the vocational training office in your county or the school counsellor/management of the school you intend to attend when you come back. You should do this well ahead of going abroad.