If you moved to Denmark to live with your Danish spouse or partner, your residence permit came with two small language tests and two deadlines: a Danish test at level A1 within six months, and one at level A2 within nine. They are short, oral and very learnable. Here is what is in them, what happens if you pass on time, and how to practise.
In short
- Official names: Danskprøve på A1-niveau and Danskprøve på A2-niveau, often just “the A1 test” and “the A2 test”.
- Who: people with a residence permit through family reunification with a spouse or partner. The letter with your permit says whether the requirement applies to you.
- Deadlines: normally A1 within 6 months of being granted the permit, A2 within 9 months.
- Format: oral. You listen and answer; you do not write anything. Thirty questions.
- Where: at the two designated test centres, in Glostrup near Copenhagen and in Vejle. There is a fee.
- Instead of the tests: a passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or Studieprøven counts. A module test from the language school does not.
Why the tests matter
Two reasons. The first is money: when your partner applied for your reunification, they had to put up a financial guarantee (økonomisk sikkerhed). When you pass the A1 test on time, part of that guarantee is released, and when you pass A2 on time, more is released. The second is that passing on time is part of keeping the permit’s conditions. Missing a deadline is not automatic disaster, and extensions exist for illness and parental leave, but you have to apply for them. So book the test early.
What is in the A1 test
A1 is the level where you can talk about yourself in simple sentences. The test is a conversation with a set of thirty questions, played or asked, and you answer out loud. The questions are about your own life:
- Hvad hedder du?What is your name?
- Hvor kommer du fra?Where are you from?
- Hvor bor du?Where do you live?
- Har du børn?Do you have children?
- Hvad laver du i weekenden?What do you do at the weekend?
- Hvornår står du op?When do you get up?
Some questions come with a picture: what is this, what colour is it, what is the man doing. Some are practical: what time is it, how much does it cost, what day is it today. You answer in short sentences, and you are allowed to ask for a question to be repeated.
What is in the A2 test
A2 is the next step: you can talk about the past and the future, give a simple reason, and manage everyday situations. Same format, thirty questions, but they go further:
- Hvad lavede du i går?What did you do yesterday?
- Hvorfor flyttede du til Danmark?Why did you move to Denmark?
- Hvad skal du lave i sommerferien?What are you going to do in the summer holiday?
- Kan du lide at bo i Danmark? Hvorfor?Do you like living in Denmark? Why?
- Hvad gør du, hvis du bliver syg?What do you do if you get ill?
The authorities publish an information package for each test with example questions and audio, and the examples are the real kind. Listen to them until you know the sound of the questions; on the day, understanding the question is half the battle.
How to pass them, in practice
- Prepare your own presentation first. Name, country, city, family, job or studies, a hobby, a typical day. Most of the thirty A1 questions are answered by these ten sentences. Say them out loud every day.
- Learn the question words with their sound. Hvad, hvor, hvornår, hvem, hvorfor, hvordan, hvor mange. In speech, the hv is just a v, and that surprises people the first time.
- Learn the numbers, the days, the months and the clock. They come up as questions and as answers. The numbers guide is the place to start.
- For A2, add the past tense of twenty verbs and a “because” to everything: Jeg flyttede til Danmark, fordi min mand er dansk.
- Practise with a real person, out loud. Your partner, a friend, a teacher. Reading the questions is not the same as hearing them.
The free course is built for exactly this. Introduce yourself turns your profile into your own presentation, read aloud in Danish, and a conversation simulator asks you the kind of questions the test asks, with your own answers built in, so you hear how they should sound. Danish numbers has the prices, times and dates.
Signing up
You sign up directly with one of the two test centres, and you need a CPR number to do it. Tests are held regularly through the year, but places fill up before the deadlines, so sign up as soon as you have your permit, not in month five. The fee, the dates and the information packages are on nyidanmark.dk and danskogproever.dk.
Questions people ask
Can I take the A2 test without the A1 test?
The requirement is for both, with separate deadlines. If you pass A2 early, ask the authorities whether it covers A1; do not assume it.
I go to a language school. Does the module test count?
No. The module tests are internal to the education. Prøve i Dansk 3 and Studieprøven count instead of the A1 and A2 tests; the lower state exams and the module tests do not.
What if I fail?
You can take it again, and you pay the fee again. If the deadline is close, apply for an extension at the same time.
Is the test hard?
No, if you have practised speaking. It is hard if you have only studied from apps and never said the sentences out loud, because the test is entirely about saying them out loud.
Updated 13 September 2026