Admission

We offer Master’s degree programmes in English. Undergraduate programs is only offered in Norwegian language. To apply for our Bachelor’s programmes you must document proficiency in Norwegian. Please see The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service's (NUCAS) website on how to document this.

If you wish to apply for Exchange to HVL please see our Exchange page.

Admission for our international master programs happens once a year, and the programs start in the autumn semester. 

When to apply:

For citizens outside the EU/EEA:  The online application portal opens October 1^st 2024 and the application deadline is December 1st 2024 for the 2025 programs.

For citizens from the EU/EEA: The online application portal opens February 1st 2025. The application deadline is March 1st 2025. For Maritime Operations the application deadline is April 15^th 2025.

You apply through Søknadsweb within the deadline that applies to you. 

The different deadlines are based on citizenship, and applications within the wrong applicant groups will not be considered. 

You must meet all requirements (including the English language requirement) before the application deadline. You upload all supporting documentation at the end of the registration process.

Guidelines for uploading documents:

You must submit all documents before the application deadline, or your application will not be considered.

Applications with out any documents will be rejected immediately after the application deadline, and a letter of rejection will be sent to you shortly after.

Make sure your scans are easy to read

You can upload your documents using a phone camera or a scanner. Please make sure that the documents:

• Include all text on the front and reverse side.
• Are merged or scanned into a single file if the document consists of several pages.
• Appear ‘right-side up’. 

PDF is the preferred format

To make sure we can easily open your documents, please use PDF format. Do not upload ZIP, RAR or other compressed files as these cannot be opened in our document viewer.

Want to check if we have received your documents?

You can see which documents you have uploaded by consulting the ‘My Documents’ folder in your application. If you find your documents here they are also available to us when we process your application.

Delete documents

When we process your application, we lock your documents to prevent them from being deleted. This means that you can delete documents right after uploading them, but it is not possible to delete documents from previous applications.

Have you applied before and want to reuse your documents?

If you have documents stored in the "My documents" folder from previous applications, it is not necessary to upload the same documents again. If you for example upload a new motivation letter or an English test, we will always check the date and consider the newest one.

You must have a relevant Bachelor’s degree. Some of our Master degrees have specific admission requirements, such as grade point average or specialization of subjects.

Please check the admission requirements for the programme you are interested in on our page.

For more information see our pages concerning regulations and forms.

Proof of proficiency in English:

When applying for admission to international master programmes, all applicants outside the Nordic countries must provide evidence of academic achievements and skills in English.

Letters of proficiency from universities are not approved to meet the English requirement. Accepted exemptions are mentioned below.

The document should be named Proof of English.

You need a certificate from one of the following tests:

IELTS:

International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) with at least 6.0 points. The test must be of the type Academic. We do not accept the IELTS Home test. Upload a copy of your official test result with a legible TRF number in the bottom right corner. HVL will verify your test result online.

TOEFL:

Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with at least 550 points for Paper-based test (PBT), or at least 80 points for Internet-based test (IBT).   

We accept the TOEFL iBT Home edition test. We do not accept TOEFL My Best Score to meet our English language requirements. Upload a copy of your official Test Taker Score Report. The TOEFL test result cannot be more than two years old when you apply for admission.

Pearson PTE Academic:

Pearson PTE Academic with an overall score of at least 59. We do not accept the Pearson PTE Home test. Upload a PDF of your score report and HVL will verify your result.

Cambridge English Examinations:

Cambridge ESOL Examinations:

- B2 First – Previously known as First certificate in English with the result B or better, or,

-C1 Advanced - Previously known as Certificate in Advanced English with the result C or better, or

-C2 Proficiency - Previously known as Certificate of Proficiency with the result C or better

Upload your Statement of Results to the application portal and HVL will verify the result.

You normally do not have to document your skills in English if you have:

• Have completed at least one year of your university studies in academic subjects with English as the language of instruction  in Great Britain, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand or Australia. Please note that branch campus, validated and franchised programmes and distance learning students are not exempt from providing an English test.
• Bachelor degree or minimum one year of master studies (60 ECTS) with English as the medium of instruction completed in one of the Nordic countries
• University degree in English language and/or literature (a degree in other disciplines taught in English does not meet this requirement)

Please note that having worked in an English speaking environment or lived in an English speaking country does not satisfy the English language requirement.

Upper secondary education

Scan and upload your official certificate/diploma and transcripts documenting that you have completed your upper secondary education. If you completed Norwegian upper secondary school, and have an electronic diploma you do not need to upload this.

The document should be named Secondary School.

Higher education from your country

Final certificate/Diploma from relevant Bachelor degree:

You must upload your final University degree certificate or diploma with a grading scale. We do not accept provisional certificates. The document should be named Degree diploma.

Complete transcript of records from relevant Bachelor degree:

You must also upload your complete transcript of records (an official statement listing courses/subjects completed at university). The document should be named Transcript of records University.

You must also submit separate transcripts for courses/modules from other institutions included in your degree, such as exempted or transfer credits or in cases of admission to a bachelor’s programme due to advanced standing.

If the original language of your documents is not English or a Scandinavian language, officially certified copies of a translation to one of these languages must accompany certified copies of your documents in the original language.

Please note that we reserve the right to verify your educational documents with the issuing institution at any time during the admission process.

Your CV including educational background. The document should be named CV.

Passport or ID card

Upload a copy of your passport or ID card, including full name, date of birth and gender. Only the ID-page must be scanned and uploaded. 

Name the pdf file passport or idcard.

Only citizens from countries outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland need to document funding.

Finacial ability to study in Norway:

You must document your ability to finance your stay in Norway in order to be granted a residence permit for study purposes.

Students for Climate Change Management: must show financial ability to cover living expences for one year, which is NOK 151 690.  This is the current amount required by The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration in order to get a study permit for 1 year.

Students for Maritime Operations: must show financial ability to cover living expences for half a year, which is NOK 68 950. This is the current amount required by The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration in order to get a study permit for half a year.

Students for Healthy Ageing and Rehabilitation and other online programs do not need to show financial ability as they do not need a study permit to Norway. 

You must document that you have said amount within the application deadline.

Tuition fees for international students:

In addition, students with citizenship from countries outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland must pay tuition fees to Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL).

Please see the information and prices here

Documentation of financing

Financing should be documented with one of the following documents:

• A recent official bank statement or bank transcript in your own name. The bank statement or bank transcript can show any currency, as long as it is clear from the statement/transcript which currency is being used.
• A letter confirming that you are eligible for a scholarship or student loan from your home country.
• A sponsor guarantee letter and a sponsor’s recent official bank statement/transcript. 

Documentation of financing should not be older than three months at the time of the application, and must be uploaded to the application portal within the application deadline. All documents must be in English or a Scandinavian language.

Name the PDF file financing.

Official translations must accompany any document in which the original language is not English or a Scandinavian language.

For applicants to Maritime Operations:

• Letter of motivation, written in English. Name the file MotivationLetter

• APS Certificate or receipt that shows that you have applied for the APS-certificate:

Applicants from China, Vietnam and India must document a APS-certificate from the German Embassy in your home country. This is required in order to be enrolled at University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer in Germany for the secod semester of the master.

Therefore applicants from the mentioned countries must start the process of applying for the APS-certificate as soon as possible after delivering their application for admission at HVL. 

What is an APS-Certificate? 

This certificate confirms that the documents you hand in are original ones. 

Where can I get it? 

Please find all necessary information here:  

https://aps-india.de/ 

https://www.aps.org.cn/ 

https://vietnam.diplo.de/vn-vi 

Questions related to the APS certificate can be directed to Program Coordinator at University of Applied Sciences Emden/Leer, Wenke Meyer at wenke.meyer@hs-emden-leer.de 

Name the file APS certificate

For applicants outside the EU/EEA: It is unfortunately not possible to be considered for admission if you are completing your degree in the spring semester 2025. Your degree and final degree documents must be uploaded within the application deadline December 1st.

For applicants from the EU/EEA and Norway: It is possible to be considered for admission if you finnish your degree during the spring 2025. It is possible to receive a conditioned admission if all other documents (including your current trancript of records) are uploaded within the application deadline.