Preparatory Education for Adults

You have the right to complete primary education. This may mean that you are missing one or more subjects or only parts of a subject. It may also mean that you lack basic skills in reading, writing, arithmetic, or digital competence.

Preparatory education builds on the skills you already have and considers what you believe you need. This is determined through a prior learning assessment (real competence assessment), which helps establish what training you require to participate in the workforce.

Adults over 18 years old.

You must either be a Norwegian citizen or have a residence permit in Norway to be eligible for preparatory education for adults.

Those waiting for a decision on their residence permit application have the right to education until the end of the school year that starts the year they turn 18.

Preparatory education for adults is free of charge.

Rett til realkompetansevurdering (Udir)
Regelverk for nyankomne elever og voksne (Udir)
Rett til yrkesfaglig rekvalifisering (udir)
Voksne deltakeres rett til forberedende opplæring i grunnleggende ferdigheter (Udir)
Kan jeg få videregående opplæring?
Inntak og formidling for voksne (Udir)
Alt om voksenopplæring (Udir)
Rett til videregående opplæring (udir)

This is a legally mandated service. See in particular opplæringslova § 18-2.

See opplæringslova kapittel 19 og 20 for details on how the education is organized, content, assessments, grades and exams.

Opplæringslova
Opplæringsforskrifta

You must apply for primary education yourself. Contact your municipality for information on how to apply.

Before the municipality makes a decision, you will be notified that your case is being processed and will have the opportunity to provide input. The municipality must gather all necessary information to make a decision, and you have the right to access the documents related to your case.

The decision will include the municipality’s reasoning, how the decision was reached, and who was involved in the process. The decision will be sent to you in writing.

The municipality must process the case as soon as possible. If a decision cannot be made within one month, you will receive a written explanation of the delay and an estimated timeframe for when the decision will be made.

If you are dissatisfied with the decision, you can appeal within three weeks of receiving it. Explain what you disagree with and why you believe the decision should be changed. If you need guidance, you can contact the municipality.

If the municipality upholds its decision, the case will be forwarded to the County Governor, who will determine whether the appeal should be upheld.