Student assessment

In vocational education and training (VET) programmes, tests are carried out both continuously throughout the programme and at the end of the programme. Students are assessed according to the 7-point grading scale or a pass/fail assessment.

The individual educational institution determines regulations regarding the examinations, including among others:

• Prerequisites for taking the examination;

• Examination forms;

• Assessment criteria;

• Objectives and requirements that are central for the examination;

• The use of support equipment.

The VET programmes consist of a basic programme followed by a main programme. Most of the VET programmes include a number of tests in different subjects during the basic programme and the main programme.

Tests during the basic programme

The basic programme is divided into two parts. In the first part, the students have to pass a test in one of the basic subjects. In the second part, the students have to pass a test in one basic subject and a test in the subject specific to the student’s VET programme. The basic programme is completed with a final basic programme examination, which the student must pass in order to progress to the main programme.

Tests during the main programme

The main programme includes different kinds of tests depending on the specific VET programme. Presently, there are more than 100 main programmes. The number of tests in basic subjects depends on the duration of the programme. In addition, there can be tests in subjects specific to the VET programme and special subjects.

Most main programmes include practical training in an approved company or organisation. At the end of each practical training period, the approved company or organisation issues a declaration to the student and the educational institution. The declaration must include information on the following:

• The work areas and functions the student has worked with;

• Whether or not the student has fulfilled the objectives for the practical training period;

• The company’s/organisation’s assessment of the student’s potential special needs with regard to the subsequent school instruction and practical training.

VET programmes are always completed by a journeyman’s test in which the students’ competences are tested in a realistic context. Typically, it is organised as a combination of theoretical and practical work. The purpose of the journeyman’s test is to illustrate that the student has obtained the competences determined for the VET programme in question.

Progression of students

For students to progress from the basic programme to the main programme, they must pass the final basic programme examination at the end of the basic programme.

Certification

The educational institution issues a diploma upon the students’ completion of their vocational education programme. The diploma must contain the following information:

• The name of the journeyman and his or her civil registration number;

• The name of the issuing institution;

• The name of the vocational education programme and its legal basis;

• The VET programme’s individual education elements;

• The education elements in which the journeyman has been examined with an indication of the achieved assessments;

• The journeyman’s final general proficiency marks;

• Education elements documented in other ways;

• Education elements and examinations the journeyman has obtained credit for;

• The examination language if the examination has been conducted in a foreign language other than Norwegian and Swedish;

• The title the journeyman is entitled to use in Danish and English;

• The placement of the education programme in the Danish Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning;

• Examinations, if any, taken as part of an education trial;

• Dispensation for exemption from a mandatory examination.

References

Bibliography

Ministry of Children and Education (Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet), 2023: About tests and examination in vocational education programmes (Om prøver og eksamen på erhvervsuddannelser). [Accessed 2 October 2024]

Legislation and official policy documents

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2014: Ministerial Order on tests and examination in vocational education programmes (Bekendtgørelse om prøver og eksamen i grundlæggende erhvervsrettede uddannelser), BEK no. 41 of 16/01/2014. [Accessed 2 October 2024]

Legal Information (Retsinformation), 2023: Ministerial Order on vocational upper secondary education programmes (Bekendtgørelse om erhvervsuddannelser), BEK no. 953 of 22/06/2023. [Accessed 2 October 2024]