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Begin your Master's courses while completing your Bachelor's degree

As a Bachelor's student from SDU you may apply for permission to follow Master's courses while completing your Bachelor's degree. This could be relevant, e.g. if you are delayed in your Bachelor's degree studies. 

You can apply for the permission if you are enrolled in a full time Bachelor's programme and wish to enroll in a full time Master's programme. 

You faculty will assess your qualifications

You will be granted the permission if your Faculty estimates that you are academically qualified to follow Master's courses while completing your Bachelor's degree.

In addition, you must be able to achieve a place in the Master's programme in accordance with the general admission procedures. 

Please note that you will not be enrolled in the Master's programme before your Bachelor's degree is completed. This means that you: 

  • can follow a maximum of 30 ECTS of Master's level courses - please note that SDU is not allowed to dispense from this limit!
  • can only receive SU in relation to your enrollment in the Bachelor's programme
  • must meet requirements regarding study activity etc. related to your Bachelor's programme

How to apply for permission

# 1 - Check if you have the qualifications

Consult the lists below to see the qualifications which you - as a rule, but not necessarily - should have obtained to be able to follow Master's courses.

See qualifications for Master's programmes within: 

If you do not have the listed qualifications, you may still apply for the permission. In this case you must state in your application why you believe you have the academic qualifications necessary for you to complete your Bachelor's programme while taking courses on a Master's level.  

#2 - Apply for admission to the Master's programme

You must apply for admission to the Master's programme in which you wish to follow courses. It is important that you apply within the deadlines listed for admission to SDU's Master's programmes.

Your application will not result in full enrollment in the programme. But if you are granted a place in the programme with the permission to follow Master’ degree courses, you will be fully enrolled as soon as you complete your Bachelor's degree. Please note that this full enrollment will also mean that you have used your legal claim for admission.

#3 - Submit a separate application for permission

You must submit a separate application for the permission to follow Master's level courses without a complete Bachelor's degree. 

You should only submit the application once you know for sure that there are courses in your Bachelor's degree which you will not have passed by September 25 (if your programme commences in September), or February 25 (if your programme commences in February).

You may submit this application as late as September 15 if your programme commences in September - and as late as February 15 for programmes commencing in February.  

#4 - Find the answer in the Application portal

You will receive the decision as an answer to your application for admission. The answer will be available under 'Messages' in the Application Portal. To see the answer, please use the same login method as when you submitted the application. 

Even though you are given permission to register for Master’s level courses, you will still be registered as a Bachelor’s student. That means that you can only use the SU-portions for your Bachelor’s degree. You cannot apply for the SU-portions related to your Master’s degree until you have completed your entire Bachelor’s degree.

The Admissions office handles the initial processing of your application. If you do not meet the academic qualifications to be granted the permission, the Study Board of your programme will be asked to make an individual assessment to determine if it is academically prudent for you to be given a permission.

If you are a student at the Faculty of Engineering, your application will always be sent to the Study Board for individual assessment. 

If you need guidance about the permission, please contact the Admissions Office.

You do not need to take a full 30 ECTS – it is only the maximum amount!

You can spread the 30 ECTS out over several semesters if it will take you more than a semester to complete your Bachelor’s degree. You can also choose to take less than the 30 ECTS before completing the Bachelor's.

Your course registration is binding

It is your choice how many Master's courses you register for, but once you have registered for them you are bound by the registration. That means that your registration can only be cancelled during the semester if unusual circumstances prevent you from continuing.

If you've already registered for Master's courses

Perhaps you have already registered for Master's courses only to find that you will not be completing your Bachelor’s degree in time. If you want to change your course registrations for the Master's, you must contact Registration and Legality through SPOC as soon as possible after you are given the permission to follow Master's coruses.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take more than 30 ECTS until you have completed your Bachelor’s degree – even if an entire academic year passes before you can complete your degree.

That is why it is very important that you consider how many - and which - Master’s level courses you want to take. It is a good idea to talk to a student counsellor about an individual plan of study.

Once you have completed your Bachelor’s degree, you simply have to contact Registration and Legality to be fully enrolled in the Master’s programme.

So, you do not have to apply for admission to the Master’s programme again.

Master Admission University of Southern Denmark

  • Campusvej 55
  • Odense M - DK-5230
  • Phone: +45 6550 1052

Last Updated 01.02.2024