Entry requirements and admission to HTX

Admission to HTX is regulated by the same rules that apply to all upper secondary schools in Denmark. The rules are set centrally by the Ministry of Education, and they determine whether you can be admitted directly after 9th or 10th grade, or if you need a detour. It is important to know the requirements early because several of them must be met already in primary school.

The legislation distinguishes between two fundamental routes into a gymnasium education: the statutory entitlement route, where you have the right to admission if certain conditions are met, and the route via an entrance exam and interview if you do not meet the statutory requirement. Which route you take depends on your final grades, your average grade and your educational readiness assessment.

In comprehensive school you are assessed as education-ready in relation to the youth education you wish to pursue. The assessment is based on more than grades: it also looks at your social and personal requirements — whether you attend regularly, can work independently and participate in a professional community. A not-ready assessment is not a final no, but a signal that something needs to be strengthened, and the way in can go through an entrance exam.

What UPV typically looks at

• 01The professional prerequisites measured by grades in the relevant subjects
• 02The personal prerequisites such as motivation independence and attendance stability
• 03The social prerequisites such as the ability to cooperate and be part of a community
• 04The practice-based dimension that also goes into the primary school's assessment

For applicants with a mother tongue other than Danish there may be a requirement for a language test as a prerequisite for admission. Furthermore there are special rules for applicants who have attended a free primary school or been taught at home where the final exams in some cases must be taken in a specific way to establish legal entitlement. If your situation differs from the normal path through elementary school clarify the rules with an advisor in good time.

You apply for admission through the central digital application portal and the deadline is fixed each year in spring. It's critical to apply on time: the entitlement to admission assumes that you applied before the deadline. If you apply after the deadline, you can still be admitted but no longer with entitlement rights and places may be filled.

• 01Check the current application deadline—it is central and the same for everyone.
• 02Prioritize your wishes in the order you prefer
• 03Make sure that your final exams and marks are correctly registered
• 04Save receipt for your application

If you don't meet the legal entitlement, HTX is not necessarily closed. You can be referred to the centrally set entrance exam and a subsequent interview where the school assesses whether you can follow the teaching. For some, a 10th grade programme or a period on a vocational basic course is the way to mature academically and personally and apply again.

“Entry requirements are not a wall, but a door with multiple keys — if you know the rules in time, you'll find the key that fits your situation.”