Studieprøven: the Danish exam for university

Studieprøven is the highest Danish exam for adults who learn Danish as a second language. It is at level C1, it is taken after module 6 on Danskuddannelse 3, and it is the exam you need to study at a Danish university in Danish. It has three parts, reading, writing and an oral exam, and you must get at least 02 in each.

What is Studieprøven?

The name means “the study test”, and that is what it is for: it shows that your Danish is good enough to study in Danish. In Danish it is often called Studieprøven i dansk, or just SP. It is the last exam on Danskuddannelse 3, the Danish education for adults with a medium-length or long education, who learn relatively fast.

The ladder on Danskuddannelse 3 looks like this: modules 1 to 4 end with a module test, module 5 ends with Prøve i Dansk 3, and module 6 ends with Studieprøven. There is no module test in module 6; Studieprøven is the test. The page about module 6 explains what the module itself teaches.

Who needs Studieprøven?

Most people who learn Danish never take it, and that is fine. You need it if you want to apply to a bachelor’s or master’s programme taught in Danish and do not have a Danish upper secondary exam. Universities use it as the documentation that your Danish is good enough.

You do not need it for permanent residence or for citizenship. Those ask for Prøve i Dansk 2 and Prøve i Dansk 3. For family reunification with a spouse, a passed Prøve i Dansk 3 or Studieprøven can replace the Danish tests A1 and A2. The guide to Danish tests for residence and citizenship has the details.

If your programme is taught in English, you probably do not need Studieprøven at all. Ask the admissions office before you spend months on C1.

What does Dansk A equal?

Dansk A is Danish at the highest level in the Danish upper secondary school, the gymnasium. Many university programmes require it. If you have a foreign exam, Studieprøven is the usual way to meet the Danish requirement: universities such as the University of Copenhagen accept it as your Danish qualification, with at least 02 in each part. Some programmes ask for a higher grade, so always read the rules of the programme you apply to.

The format: three parts

Reading

The reading part has about 30 to 35 pages of text and four tasks.

• Part 1, scanning: 15 short answers from about 25 pages of texts, in 25 minutes. You do not read everything; you find the facts.
• Part 2A: a text where five paragraphs are missing. You get seven, and two do not fit.
• Part 2B: five multiple choice questions with three answers each.
• Part 3: a cloze text with ten gaps and four choices per gap.

The texts are newspaper features, popular science and reports. Compared to Prøve i Dansk 3, the difference is mostly length and density: more pages, longer sentences, more abstract words.

Writing (3 hours)

You choose one of three tasks. Each task comes with a short fact text with graphs, and four focus points: describe what the data shows, explain the causes, put it into perspective, and take a position. You must write at least 400 words.

The language you need is academic Danish: how to present a graph, how to explain a cause, how to argue and conclude. These phrases from the course are the kind you will use:

• Grafen viser udviklingen fra 2019 til 2025.The graph shows the development from 2019 to 2025.
• Andelen steg kraftigt i 2020 og toppede i 2021.The share rose sharply in 2020 and peaked in 2021.
• Siden er den faldet gradvist.Since then it has fallen gradually.
• Det skyldes, at …It is due to the fact that …
• Man kan indvende, at forslaget er for dyrt.One could object that the proposal is too expensive.
• Det kan konkluderes, at …It can be concluded that …

Three hours is plenty of time. The risk is not running out of time but writing loosely. Make a plan with the four focus points before you write a single sentence.

Oral (about 30 minutes)

Five working days before the exam you get three topics. On the day, one of them is drawn. You give a presentation of about five minutes and are then interviewed for about fifteen. You may bring one A4 page of notes.

The questions in the interview ask you to clarify, elaborate, justify and put things into perspective. A good presentation has a clear start and a clear end:

• Jeg har valgt at tale om …, fordi …I have chosen to talk about … because …
• Først …, dernæst …, til sidst …First …, next …, finally …
• Alt i alt …All in all …
• Det tyder på, at …It suggests that …

Fifteen minutes of questions is long. That is where the examiners find out whether you understand your topic or have learned a text by heart.

What are the requirements to pass Studieprøven?

You must pass each part with at least 02 on the Danish 7-point scale, and reading and writing must be passed in the same exam period. If you are not sure what 02 means, the guide to the Danish grading system explains the scale.

Passing is one thing; many programmes ask for more than a pass. Look up the grade your programme needs before you sign up, so you know what you are aiming for.

Studieprøven examples

The official site danskogproever.dk describes the content and level of the exam and has full examples with answers. Use them: doing one complete example under exam conditions tells you more than any description. Real exam papers are confidential, so the examples there are the closest you will get.

How to prepare for Studieprøven

1. Read long texts every day. A feature article or a popular science text, timed. Scanning 25 pages in 25 minutes is a skill you train.
2. Describe a graph in five sentences. What it shows, the highest, the lowest, the trend, the surprise. Then the causes, then the perspective.
3. Build a skeleton for any presentation. A question, three points with examples, a conclusion. Five minutes is a lot of talking.
4. Practise being interviewed. Ask a friend or a teacher to ask “why?” and “how does that fit with …?” for fifteen minutes. Almost nobody practises this.
5. Learn the academic connectors. derfor, til gengæld, alt i alt. They make your Danish sound like C1.

In the free course, module 6 has presentations with A4 notes and nine examiner questions per topic, reading sets with scanning, gap texts and cloze, three writing tasks with a fact text and a graph, and word lists with the academic phrases.

Questions people ask

What is module 6 in Danish?

Module 6 is the last module on Danskuddannelse 3, at level C1. It prepares you for higher education in Danish and ends with Studieprøven. You need a passed Prøve i Dansk 3 to start it.

Is Studieprøven harder than Prøve i Dansk 3?

Yes. Prøve i Dansk 3 is at level B2, and Studieprøven at C1. The texts are longer, the writing task is at least 400 words, and the oral exam includes a five-minute presentation and a long interview.

Can I use a dictionary in Studieprøven?

The rules for aids are set for each part, and they can change. Check them on danskogproever.dk or ask your language school before the exam, so you know exactly what you may bring.

Do I need Studieprøven for Danish citizenship?

No. Citizenship asks for Prøve i Dansk 3 and the citizenship test. Studieprøven is for higher education.