Language requirement for graduates

The right to unemployment benefit according to the graduate rule is conditional on the member meeting a language requirement.

The language requirement is met when the member has passed Test in Dansk 2, cf. § 9, subsection 1, in the Act on Danish education for adult foreigners (in danish: "lov om danskuddannelse til voksne udlændinge m.fl.") with a grade of at least 02 according to the 7-step scale or a Danish test at a similar or higher level.

The language requirement is also met if the member has completed the 6th grade in primary school, including in a corresponding Danish independent school or Danish private primary school. A primary school course outside Denmark cannot form the basis for fulfilling the language requirement, cf. below though.

The following educations are equated with a passed Test in Dansk 2:

• Completed primary school courses in Danish in the Faroe Islands and Greenland and at the Danish schools in South Schleswig, as well as similar courses for children in expatriate families.
• Completed dyslexia education for adults.
• Passed Exam in Dansk 3 with a grade average of at least 6 (according to the 13-scale) or 02 (according to the 7-step scale) or the Study Test (in danish: "Studieprøven") passed with at least a grade of 6 (according to the 13-scale) or 02 (according to the 7-step scale) in each of the four disciplines.
• Folkeskolen's final exams 9th or 10th grade passed with a grade average of at least 6 (according to the 13-scale) or 02 (according to the 7-step scale) in the Danish disciplines except for order.
• Proof of Higher General Examination Programme (stx), Higher Preparatory Examination programme (hf), Higher Commercial Examination Programme (hhx) or Higher Technical Examination Programme (htx) as well as for the exam giving student competence in connection with vocational training (eux).
• Proof of the general preparatory examination (avu).
• Proof of passing a single subject (in danish: "enkeltfag") in Danish or Danish as a second language with a grade average of at least 6 (according to the 13-scale) or 02 (according to the 7-step scale) at one of the levels G-A from one of the following programmes: stx, hf, hhx, htx , eux, eud or avu.
• Passed FVU reading steps 2-4.
• Certificate of International Baccalaureate (IB) with Danish at A or B level.
• Passed Danish test 3 (in danish: "Danskprøve 3") from Studieskolen in Copenhagen.
• Proof of higher education, e.g. at universities, vocational schools, business schools, nursing schools, seminars, etc., unless it is a foreign language course of study.
• Passed test in Danish from another EEA country, Switzerland or Great Britain at the same or higher level as Test in Dansk 2, passed with a grade corresponding to at least 6 (according to the 13-scale) or 02 (according to the 7-step scale).

Fulfill affiliation requirement instead of the language requirement

If you cannot meet the language requirement, you may still be entitled to unemployment benefit as a graduate if you meet an affiliation requirement.

The affiliation requirement says that during 12 months within a 24 month period prior to the unemployment there must have been reported at least 600 wage hours to the income-register (SKAT).

Only employment that follows a collective agreement (“Overenskomst”) or is otherwise carried out on ordinary pay and working conditions can be included. This means, for example, that your salary must not be too low. If your hourly wage is below DKK 136,82 in 2024, you must expect that the A-kasse will take a closer look at it.

There must be no public subsidy for the salary.

The work does not need to have been carried out for 12 consecutive months, and there is no requirement that you must have been a member of an A-kasse in order for the wage hours to be used. But wage hours must be reported in each of the 12 months.

You can also use wage hours from another EEA country, Switzerland or the UK to fulfill the affiliation requirement, as long as the last wage hour is earned in Denmark and at least 150 of the 600 wage hours have been completed in Denmark.

The requirement must first be met when applying for Unemployment benefits

The language requirement (alternatively the affiliation requirement) must be met when applying for Unemployment benefits ("dagpenge"). A recent graduate can therefore be admitted as a graduate/change status to a graduate without meeting the language requirement, if he or she does not at the same time request unemployment benefit. A decision is therefore only made as to whether the language requirement is met when the member requests unemployment benefit.

Do you not meet the requirements?

If you do not meet the conditions (language or affiliate requirement), you may be entitled to unemployment benefit if you have had work after you have completed your education, by a combination of paid hours and your education (aggregation rule). Read more here about the aggregation rule (in danish: "sammenlægningsreglen").