For most courses of study, places will be divided among differing quotas for different groups of applicants. The point of this is to make the competition for placement fairer - like if you come directly from upper secondary school you should have a reasonable chance to begin immediately with further studies and not be edged out in competition with older applicants who have repeated many subjects and improved their grade point average.

Below there are examples of such quotas. Please bear in mind that the regulations governing quotas may change from year to year.

Primary certificate quota

50 % of the study places are offered to applicants under the primary certificate quota. This is a separate quota for those of you who

• are not more than 21 years old in the admission year and have received your primary certificate after three years of upper secondary education or training (normal time).
• are not more than 21 in the admission year and have achieved general university admission certification based on a certificate from vocational programmes completed and passed in the normal time, plus the subject requirements of the supplementary programme for university admission.

You may also receive a primary certificate if you have

• had your grade(s) changed as the result of a complaint
• have the right to a new examination if your complaint about expulsion has been sustained
  
• have the right to a new examination because the ordinary examination was annulled
  
• have passed a special examination as soon as it was possible to do so (because you failed in the overall achievement grade)
  
• have passed a postponed examination as soon as it was possible to do so (because you were ill or had another weighty reason not to attend the regular examination)
• have improved your grade(s) during the ordinary three-year education period
  
• have taken subjects from upper secondary education while in the primary or lower secondary school  

You do not have the right to receive a primary certificate even if you pass a new examination as soon as it was possible to do so (because you failed the subject at the examination).

The requirement concerning the completion time can be expanded from three to five years if you have

• carried out an international exchange which has led to loss of educational time, folk high school, compulsory military or civilian service or care work for at least six months.
• made a new choice at Vg1 or Vg2.
• been absent due to long illness.
• had a decision giving you the right to an extended education.
• been accepted for upper secondary education over four years in a combination with doing sports.  
  

Primary certificates may only be issued once. If you are competing within the primary certificate quota, it is only your grade points and your bonus points for science, foreign languages and underrepresented genders that count.

Special quotas

• Some institutions have quotas for special groups of applicants and are exempted from the primary certificate quota.
• Some courses of study have primary certificate quotas within a special quota.
• When calculating grade points in special quota grade improvements are to replace earlier grade(s) in the same subject.
• Deviations from the ranking rules can be determined for special quotas, for example for awarding bonus points.
• If you do not make it under the special quota, you will be transferred to the primary certificate quota and thence to the ordinary quota.

Ordinary quota

• If you do not make it under the primary certificate quota, you will be transferred to the ordinary quota where any bonus points you may have will be taken into account.
• If you do not make it under the special quota, and cannot be transferred to the primary certificate quota, you will be transferred to the ordinary quota where any bonus points you may have will be taken into account.
• When calculating grade points in the ordinary quota improvements in grades are to replace earlier grade(s) in the same subject.

You can keep up-to-date on quotas and other admission regulations by visiting the website www.samordnaopptak.no