NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

Within the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences there is also the degree magister artium (mag.art.). This degree is only
offered in a few subjects. It represents a total period of study of seven to eight years, and is normally more research-oriented
and specialised than the other graduate degrees.
Professional degrees awarded at the universities normally require six or seven years of consecutive study:
theology (candidatus/candidata theologiae; cand.theol.);
law (candidatus/candidata juris; cand.jur.);
medicine (candidatus/candidata medicinae; cand.med.);
pharmacy (candidatus/candidata pharmaciae; cand.pharm.);
dentistry (candidatus/candidata odontologiae; cand.odont.);
psychology (candidatus/candidata psychologiae; cand.psychol.);
education (candidatus/candidata paedagogiae; cand.paed.); and
sociology (candidatus/candidata sociologiae; cand. sociol.).
Degrees in economics (candidatus/candidata oeconomiae; cand.oecon.) and engineering (sivilingeniør; siv.ing.) are usually
awarded after approximately five years of study.
The university colleges offer the following professional degrees:
agriculture (candidatus/candidata agriculturae; cand.agric.);
veterinary medicine (candidatus/candidata medicinae veterinariae; cand.med.vet.);
engineering (sivilingeniør; siv.ing.);
architecture (sivilarkitekt; siv.ark.);
economics and business administration (siviløkonom; siv.øk.).
The Free Faculty of Theology and the Missionary College (both private institutions) also offer the cand.theol. degree. These
studies usually take six to six and a half years.
Access to certain professions is protected by law. Thus, in addition to educational requirements, an authorisation is necessary
to be able to practise the profession. Authorisation is granted by the appropriate
ministry, directorate or institution. In order to obtain authorisation in
certain professions, further training is required in the form of practical work outside the universities.
Grades are awarded according to a numerical system normally ranging from 1.0 (highest) to 6.0 (lowest), with 4.0 as the
minimum pass grade. Some programmes/institutions have other numerical grading scales. In addition, a pass/fail (bestått/ikke
bestått) mark is given for some examinations. It should be noted that the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Social Sciences
only give grades better than 2.0 to a very limited number of students.
Some universities and university colleges have recently introduced Masters’ programmes, modelled on the British education
system, with further internationalisation in mind. The majority of these Masters’ programmes last for two years and include a
thesis. The language of instruction and examination is English. Foreign students with a minimum of three years of previous
education (a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent) from a recognised foreign university, or Norwegian students with a cand.mag.
degree may apply. More programmes in English are being developed.
II.3.1. Postgraduate degrees