Norway needs more nurses. Therefore, the government wants empty study places on nursing education to be filled with applicants who do not meet the current requirement of 3 in the subjects mathematics and Norwegian, already from this autumn.
This is evident from proposals for changes in the admissions regulations, which were sent for consultation on Tuesday 23 April.
The prerequisite is that the Storting decides to remove the grade requirement, or the level requirement as it is also called, when the case is to be heard there before the summer.
Facts
This is what the government proposes in the admission notice
- Discontinue additional points for language subjects in upper secondary school (today you can get a total of 4)
- Discontinue additional points for age (you can currently get a maximum of 8 points, 2 points each year from the year you turn 20).
- Discontinue additional points for folk high school, completed studies at university and college or vocational school (Today: maximum 2 points in total for these + military service/civil service)
- Discontinue gender points (currently a maximum of two points). To be replaced with gender quotas.
- Keep points for science subjects in upper secondary school (but go from a maximum of 4 to a maximum of 2)
- Keep points military first service/civilian service (but go from 2 to 1 point)
- Keep the first-time certificate quota, but make it bigger
- Do not introduce an entrance exam
- It should still be possible to prepare grades from upper secondary school and take up new subjects
- Abolish special grade requirements for nursing education (grade 3 in Norwegian and mathematics)
- Retain special requirements for teacher education (either 35 credits and a minimum grade of 4 in the joint subject mathematics and 3 in Norwegian or 40 credits and a minimum of 3 in the joint subject mathematics and 3 in Norwegian.)
Source: Admission notice
Due to application deadlines and changes in the admissions systems, it is not possible to completely remove the grade requirement already from the autumn.
Instead, the government proposes a transitional arrangement which means that universities and colleges that wish to do so can fill up empty places after coordinated admissions are over. From and including 20 July, they will be able to admit applicants who do not meet the current grade requirements through local admission.
The consultation deadline for the regulatory changes is 7 June.
admission and profession
Gets the most criticism for removing grade requirements
— Very good news
Vice-rector for education at Høgskulen på Vestlandet (HVL), Anne-Grethe Naustdal, is very happy with the wording in the consultation note from the government. HVL was among those who last autumn applied for an exemption from the grade requirements for, among other things, nursing and were refused.
“This is very good news for us, and we are very happy about this,” says Naustdal. She points out that this is of course dependent on the proposals going through in the Storting.
There, SV has informed Khrono that they support the government in this case.
– We have to assume that the situation regarding the number of applicants and admissions is roughly the same as in the summer as it was last year. Then we will benefit greatly from being able to admit students locally after main admissions have been completed, and we have to assume that we have places for some of them, says Naustdal.
Debate ● Oddmund Hoel
The Minister responds to criticism: More routes into teacher education
— Important for teacher admissions as well
She adds that the college must handle doing local admissions without level requirements after 20 July, which is the date of the main admissions.
– It is perhaps especially on our part-time courses that we have had many vacant places. This is not just about grades, but that our good, qualified applicants with formal qualifications have not had enough Norwegian lessons to get in. Now we’ll sort this out. It’s good for us and it’s good for society, says Naustdal.
She adds that what is missing now is also to achieve the same in the teacher training courses.
“You struggle far more with recruitment there,” says Naustdal.
the professional notice
Oddmund Hoel: — A clear shift in line with previous years’ professional policy
Will open to more teacher applicants as well
The proposal also includes opportunities for the teacher education programs to admit applicants who do not meet the grade requirements in the autumn of 2024, if they have empty places and the education programs have applied for and been granted exemption from the grade requirements.
The background is that the government wants to do everything it can to train more teachers, the consultation note states. After admission to primary school teacher training in 2023, only 65 per cent of the places were filled.
The government does not want to remove the requirement for grades and school credits to enter the teacher training courses, but rather wants an application-based exemption scheme, where the courses can be exempted from some or all of these requirements. This was clear from the admission notification and the professional notification submitted on 5 April.
According to the amendment to the regulations which is currently under consultation, the education programs can apply for a dispensation while the proposal is under consultation, with a deadline of 29 May.
Debate ● Hans Ole Rian, Kari Aslaug Hasle and Karen Brænne
Teacher without a master’s degree: — Very good, and very reasonable
More changes later
The changes that are being proposed now come as a first follow-up to the admission notice and the profession notice.
At the same time, the government also proposes to legislate changes to admission to practical pedagogical education (PPU), where an exception scheme until 2030 will make it possible to enter PPU without a master’s degree. Furthermore, a compressed PPU master’s will be developed, where you can get both PPU and master’s in two years.
These changes take effect from the next recording. There were also a number of other proposals for changes to the admission notice.
Nothing has yet been said about when these changes, if they are adopted, will come into force.
teacher training
