Teacher in Primary, Lower and Upper Secondary School, and/or First Language Teacher
If you have a foreign education or professional qualification and wish to practice your profession in Norway, you generally need approval or authorisation. You will find information about documentation requirements, the application process and regulations here. The competent authority will assess whether you meet the requirements to practice the profession and use the professional title in Norway. If you intend to establish in Norway and work permanently in your chosen profession, the rules below apply to you. However, if you wish to work in Norway for shorter periods of time within your chosen profession, the rules for temporary provision of services apply.
Find the form at hkdir.noAbout this form
Applications can only be submitted by the professional/individual.
Please submit the application, with attachments, electronically via hkdir.no
Alternatively you can send the application to the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.
Establishment:
If you wish to establish yourself or work for an extended period in Norway within your profession, you must apply for recognition from the competent recognition authority before you can practice this profession in Norway.
Temporary provision of services:
You can work temporarily in this profession if you are already legally established in an EEA country or Switzerland and can practice the same profession in that country. You do not need to appply for recognition in order to work temporarily in this profession in Norway.
- A valid identity document that contains your full name, date of birth and photography.
- If applicable, proof of name change, such as marriage certificate.
- Your education diploma, transcript and diploma supplement in the original language.
- Relevant work references in the original language.
- Translations of all documents not issued in Norwegian or a Nordic language.
Please note that the Directorate for Higher Education and Skills sometimes needs to request additional documentation.
First Language Teacher
If your qualification is obtained from outside of the EU/EEA or Switzerland, you must also attach the following documents:
Comments:
Work references
You should document all relevant work experience with certificates of employment. This could have a positive effect on the outcome of your application.
Translation
Documents issued in a different language than English or one of the Nordic languages must be translated into Norwegian or English. The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills requires that you send in your documents in both the original language and translations of the documents into Norwegian or English.
The following documents are accepted:
- Translations done by a government authorised translator. You can find authorised translators in Norway through Translatørportalen, website of the Association of Government Authorised Translators in Norway.
- Translations done by other professional translators in Norway or abroad, Tolketjenesten, embassies, etc. You can find translators operating in Norway in The Brønnøysund Register Service.
- Documents issued in English by the university at which you studied or received your degree.
- Are your documents issued in Icelandic and Finnish? If the answer is yes, we recommend that you translate them into Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English. This will ensure faster processing of your application.
The translated documents are not required to have an apostille.
The name of the translator must be apparent on the translation. If the submitted translations are insufficient, new translations may be requested.
Translations done by yourself or other private persons will not be accepted.
Language requirements for teachers
There are no language skills requirements for being recognised as a qualified teacher.
Criteria/conditions for recognition:
To be recognised as a teacher you need to have a professional qualification as a teacher from another country, and/or a foreign education that can be compared to a Norwegian teacher education.
If you are a qualified teacher in another country, but do not fulfill all our requirements for recognition, we will assess whether work experience or life long learning can contribute to fulfill the requirements.
The competent authority require that your teacher qualification is aimed at teaching in primary, lower or upper secondary school and that the education includes:
- Pedagogical competence aimed at children and young people in school age (6-18 years).
- The equivalence of 60 ECTS of higher education within pedagogical subjects, didactics and supervised teaching practice.
- The equivalence of 30 ECTS of higher education in an academic subject.
The requirements for level and scope vary between different types of teacher qualifications.
Case processing deadlines:
The competent authority must acknowledge receipt of your application within one month of receiving it and inform you of any missing or incomplete documentation.
Following the submission of a complete application, the competent authority should complete processing your application within three months.
Fees:
The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills does not charge a fee for processing applications for recognition.
Right of appeal:
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the decision, you may appeal in writing, pursuant to Chapter VI of the Public Administration Act. In your application is processed in accordance with the Professional Qualifications Act, the right of appeal also applies if the recognition authority has exceeded the case processing deadlines (see Case processing deadlines above).
Competent authority
The Directorate for Higher Education and Skills
P.O. Box 1093
5809 Bergen
E-mail: enic-naric@hkdir.no
Phone: (+47) 21 49 56 29
