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65,165 accepted to higher education programmes

August 07, 2017
More young applicants have been admitted to programmes in fields where there is a demand for workers. This year's admittance figures show that both students and educational institutions are making responsible choices, according to the Minister for Higher Education and Science.

IT is going to have even more of an impact on the labour market in the future and this is clearly evident at the IT University of Copenhagen which has seen a 24 per cent increase in admittance compared to last year. The general trend in 2017 sees more students being admitted to education programmes with promising employment opportunities for graduates. For example, the brand new programme in Data Science at the ITU admitted 70 students.

A total of 65,165 applicants have been admitted to an education programme, which is a slight drop of 1,275 compared to 2016. However, the development varies greatly depending on the programme, and as an example, even more have been admitted to engineering programmes.

- It is good for both Denmark and young people's future prospects that more students have been accepted to IT and engineering programmes where there will be a demand for workers in the coming years. I would like to underline, that no one programme is better than another, but that it benefits us all – especially the young people – if there are job opportunities after graduation. We therefore encouraged young people to bear that in mind and this year's admittance figures show that they listened. I am very pleased, says Minister for Higher Education and Science Søren Pind.

The number of those admitted to higher education has fallen by about 2 per cent, but remains on a similar level to figures from 2015 (65,301 admitted).

The maritime and artistic educational institutions, as well as the academies of professional higher education have seen a drop in students admitted this year. For example, International Business Academy Kolding has admitted 26 per cent fewer students than last year. Part of the explanation for fewer applicants admitted to academies of professional higher education, is the agreement between the institutions and the Minister for Higher Education and Science to reduce admittance to English-language programmes at the academies and business colleges by approximately 25 per cent in 2017 compared to 2015 levels.

Minister for Higher Education and Science Søren Pind says that there is no cause for alarm at the slight drop in admittance figures for higher education.

- For many years we have focused on getting more people to choose higher education. But now it is time to look at the quality of the education programmes instead, so I am not concerned to see a slight drop in numbers. I would like to congratulate all incoming students and would encourage them to be diligent and critical students who take responsibility for their own learning and are engaged in the development of society and democracy.

For students whose applications have been rejected, remaining available places will be advertised from 28 July at: ufm.dk/optag/ledige-pladser

Admittance to higher education

28 July: All applicants receive a response to their application. The Ministry of Higher Education and Science releases the key figures from KOT at: ufm.dk/optag

28 July: Remaining available places:

01 September: Most programmes start (a number of programmes also have a start date of 01 February).
October: Results of the second round of applications and thereby the final admittance figures are released. Between the first and second round, some applicants will reject an offered place, while others will apply for remaining available places.

Application and admittance in 2017

The overall number of applicants was 91,539. By 28 July, 65,165 applicants were offered a place on a higher education programme.

Application and admittance in 2016

The overall number of applicants was 94,744. By 30 July, 66,439 applicants were offered a place on a higher education programme. By 01 October, 64,469 applicants had begun their higher education programme.


For further information please contact:

Press Officer Jakob Sejr Teichert, tel. +45 7231 9503, e-mail: jte@ufm.dk
Head of Division Jens Storm,  Statistics and Analysis, tel. +45 7231 7982, e-mail: jst@ufm.dk

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