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1 Education System

Education seems almost to have attained the status of a national religion in this country. The Danes cannot provide enough of it or get enough of it. (NCEE 2006, p. 2)

The Danes are prepared to spend a lot of money on an extensive education system. In 2010, Denmark used 8.8 % of GDP on education – together with Norway the most of all OECD countries (OECD 2013, p. 218). As a result, Denmark has a well-educated population. But another result is that Danish students traditionally enter the labor market at a relatively high age (Undervisningsministeriet 2010, p. 91). The average age of students starting a university bachelor was 24.9 years in 2008, while the average age to finish a bachelor was 29.5 years.Footnote 1 The Danish government wants young people to start their working careers earlier, they achieve this (among other things) by putting more focus on talent development. Focus on this issue has increased greatly in the last decade, although it is not evenly distributed across the educational levels (Box 7.1).

Box 7.1: Denmark – The Basics

  • 5.6 million inhabitants

  • Capital: Copenhagen

  • Constitutional monarchy

  • 5 regions, 98 municipalities

  • Social-democratic coalition in power

The average age of students starting a university bachelor was 24.9 years

The basic structure of the Danish education system is quite simple (see Fig. 7.1). At the age of six, children go to school and start with a compulsory preschool class year.Footnote 2 Afterwards, the integrated primary and lower secondary school (grundskole) lasts 10 years. Nine years are compulsory and the tenth grade is optional (Undervisningsministeriet 2010, p. 6Footnote 3). Most children go to a municipality-run school, known as folkeskole.Footnote 4 There is a national exam at the end of grade nine of grundskole, and another one at the end of grade ten. It is not compulsory to participate in a ‘leaving examination’ as it is locally known, but nearly everyone does because exam results show a successful completion of the compulsory school period (Box 7.2).

Fig. 7.1
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Structure of the Danish education system (Eurydice 2014) see Fig. 3.1b for standardized legend

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Box 7.2: Education in Denmark

  • Free at all levels

  • Ten years compulsory from age six

  • Integrated primary and lower secondary school in grundskole

  • Four types of upper secondary school

  • Four types of higher education institutions

  • Higher education admission based on grades

  • Ministry of Education responsible for primary and secondary education; ministry of Higher Education and Science responsible for higher education

At the end of grundskole, pupils are around 16 years old. Most of them then move on to one of the four types of upper secondary education,Footnote 5 which usually lasts 3 years. At the end of the last year, pupils take examinations in Danish and other subjects studied at the highest level.Footnote 6 Students who pass these exams successfully possess the basic qualifications to go on to higher education.

A secondary education diploma does not guarantee a place in higher education. Admission depends on the number of ‘student seats’ available. For every study program at a higher education institution, a maximum number of students is set. For some studies this number is decided centrally by the ministry,Footnote 7 for others it is set by the institution. Admittance is coordinated nationally through the agency Optagelse.Footnote 8 They process all applications and the students with the best Grade Point Average (GPA) get placed first. A cut-off mark (the minimum GPA needed to get in) is set for each study program in each institution. This can differ greatly, for many studies all applicants find seats or are ‘taken up’ (as it is called locally), while for popular studies the cut-off mark may be close to the maximum possible GPA. Students can get some idea of their competitiveness for a certain study by looking at the published cut-off marks of previous years (Ministeriet for Forskning, Innovation og Videregående Uddannelser [Denmark] 2013).Footnote 9 For some studies additional criteria are also set by the HEIs, such as prerequisite subjects, minimum marks in these subjects, or work experience (Nuffic 2013, p. 8).

Higher education in Denmark is free, although students have to pay for books and teaching materials. Students may apply for government support grants, known as Statens Uddannelsesstøtte (SU). These grants are quite generous, compared to most other countries.Footnote 10 In 2011, around 4.7 % of Denmark’s population was in tertiary education, which is slightly above EU average.Footnote 11

The Danish higher education system has developed rapidly in the last decade. The Bologna Process has been combined with extensive reform of the whole tertiary education sector (Danish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education 2012; Nuffic 2013). The higher education landscape now consists of four types of institutions (Danske Universiteter 2013a, b; see Box 7.3). The Danish research universities generally have a good reputation and feature quite prominently on international rankings.Footnote 12 At the research university level, it is not common to quit studying after receiving a bachelor diploma. Most students continue in a master program.Footnote 13

Box 7.3: Danish Higher Education Landscape

8 Research universities (5 general and 3 specialized);

8 University Colleges (Professionshøjskole), mainly offering professionally oriented bachelor programs;

13 Specialized universities in arts, music, architecture, etc.;

8 Academies of Professional Higher Education (Erhvervsakademi) – short-cycle higher education that will lead to special diploma not equivalent to bachelor

2 Culture and Policy Towards Excellence

The Danish culture traditionally focuses on equivalence, as shown in the Law of Jante which is relevant to all Nordic countries but is based on a description of a small Danish town.Footnote 14

Specifically for Denmark, the ideas of nineteenth century philosopher NFS Grundtvig are still influential in shaping the line of thinking in basic education and the general pedagogical culture. In his time, education in Denmark was reserved for the elite. Grundtvig opposed this and established a number of folk high schools, focusing on freedom, practical skills and equality. Danes embraced these ideas enthusiastically, and education has remained very important ever since. In twentieth century Denmark, social-democratic values found their way into the education system. The system, based on inclusiveness, did not provide special opportunities for talented students.

In the twenty-first century, the concepts of excellence and talent have become more accepted. Several reasons for this development can be identified. First, Denmark has an ageing population and therefore it is important to get young people to enter the labor market at an earlier age. A second development involves Denmark’s increasing awareness of its global position. In 2006, the government adopted a strategy to ‘make Denmark a leading knowledge society with strong competitiveness and strong cohesion’ (IBE 2012). The basic structure of the education system was not changed and its aim was still inclusiveness, but for the first time the government explicitly stated the system should also ‘foster talent’.

Third, in 2001, a new government came in, without the social-democrats. The new coalition was more open to discussion about talent and in 2005, the ministry of Education officially called talent development a priority (Folketinget 2008). The ministry also hosted TalentCamp05, where 48 participants gathered for 48 h to generate proposals on how talent could be promoted in the educational system in Denmark. Some ideas were immediately put into practice, such as the Academy for Talented Youth and the ScienceTalenter program.Footnote 15 In the aftermath, experts from the Netherlands and Germany were brought to Denmark to discuss ‘good practices’. In 2006, the government established a Globalisation Fund. An amount of around 3.4 million euros was set aside for the development of elite programs and modules for excellent students in the master phase of their education (see Hermann et al. 2011, p. 28).Footnote 16 At that time, the first excellence programs at university level started.

Two years later, the minister of Education established an official working group on talent. This talentarbejdsgruppe prepared an extensive report (Hermann et al. 2011), published in April 2011. Several recommendations were made for talent development at all levels of education. Publication of the report put the subject high on the political agenda. In the same year, the government made honors education an official goal and proposed to make special honors degrees possible (Regeringen 2011, p. 11).Footnote 17 Another proposal had already created talent and elite classes in primary and secondary education (Regeringen 2010) (Box 7.4).Footnote 18

Box 7.4: Key Players in Excellence

The following institutions are the most important players in the field of talent and excellence in education:

  • The ministries of Education and of Higher Education and Science

  • Members of the government’s talentarbejdsgruppe, a working group on talent that produced a landmark 2011 report. The group was disbanded but former members are still considered experts

  • The Nordic Talent Network – Nordic network for improving education for talented students

  • Gifted Children – nationwide organization for (parents of) gifted children

  • ScienceTalenter – nationwide organization to promote excellence in science among young people

  • Academy for Talented Youth – nationwide program for talented 16–19 year-olds

In late 2011, the government changed again. A new center-left minority coalition formed, which put less focus on talent and excellence programs. Still, the agenda of talent development did receive support. According to former head of the talentarbejdsgruppe Stefan Hermann, support continued because ideas were not controversial; ‘most of the recommendations were generally speaking good things to do if you want to improve the quality of education’. However, Hermann remains critical about the distribution of talent development programs. ‘I think the culture has changed and there is much greater stress on these issues, but it is unequally distributed. It is very easy for a wealthy traditionally very strong university to develop such programs, but for a university college where you do not have a long tradition or consensus it is difficult’.Footnote 19

Following the slow change of culture described above, there has also been an increase in provisions for talented or gifted children at primary and secondary school level. There are now special schools for gifted children, called Mentiqa schools.Footnote 20 Other initiatives include individual competitions such as national Olympiads and the Young ScientistsFootnote 21 program.

Two programs are especially focused on linking talented youth to higher education:

  • Academy for Talented Youth (Akademiet for Talentfulde Unge). ATU is a 2-year co-curricular program for talented youth in Danish upper secondary schools. It intends to challenge students by holding workshops, teaching them and inviting them to visit companies.Footnote 22

  • ScienceTalenter program for talented students age 12–20. They have camps and special educational opportunities for science talents.Footnote 23

There are also special talent programs at upper secondary schools themselves (see for example Niels Brock Gymnasium 2014 Footnote 24) and ‘linking’ programs run by the universities (see for example University of Copenhagen 2014 Footnote 25).

3 New Developments

Talent development is now firmly established on the agenda of both the Danish government and the HEIs, although focus is stronger at the universities than at the university colleges. Three developments can influence the near future of talent support and excellence programs in Denmark.

First, the PISA report presented unsatisfactory results for the government, especially the fact that relatively few Danish students perform excellent (OECD 2011, p. 26–27).Footnote 26 Stefan Hermann commented in the media and said that Danish culture had produced this result. Changing it would be a long-term issue, he said: ‘It is about making Danish educational culture far more ambitious – not just for the middle group but also for the most talented’ (Jessen and Gunge 2013, own translation) (Box 7.5).

Box 7.5: Local Terminology

‘Talent’ is the preferred term in Denmark, ‘honors’ is rarely used.

Local terms used to refer to (programs for) talented and gifted students include:

  • talentcenter (talent centre)

  • dygtige elever (skilled, clever pupils)

  • børn med særlige forudsætninger (literally: children with special qualifications/requirements)

  • højtbegave (highly gifted)

  • eliteuddannelse (elite education)

  • eliteforløb (elite programs)

Second, there are important legal developments. In January 2014, the government proposed a number of rule changes, giving talents more legal room (Ministry of Higher Education and Science 2014). The bill includes four initiatives:

  • the introduction of distinction in diplomas, enabling institutions to award honors degrees;

  • recognition of extracurricular (or co-curricular) activities in diplomas;

  • removal of the maximum number of ECTS a student can obtain in a diploma, enabling talented students to take more courses; and

  • more possibilities for ‘early start’. Secondary and vocational students should have the option to take higher education subjects. They should also receive merit for their efforts, and if they already meet the necessary requirements, could later receive admittance to that particular or related program.Footnote 27

The law has been passed in June 2014 (Folketinget 2014) and has come into effect in the academic year 2014–2015.

Finally, the formation of a network is important. The Nordic Talent Network creates a platform for more effective lobbying and might form a discussion partner for government.

While there is no indication that talent support efforts will be nationally coordinated in the near future, existing programs at the different HEIs generally flourish. Development of more programs could therefore spontaneously initiate from the institutional side.

4 Honors Programs per Higher Education Institution

Six HEIs in Denmark offer honors programs. All HEIs with programs are shown on Map 7.1. Most programs are found at research universities and, in particular, at the specialized universities Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). DTU is the only HEI to offer an honors program across all master programs. Other programs are specific to one study program or department.

Map 7.1
figure 2

Danish higher education institutions with honors programs, 2014

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The development of honors programs has been influenced by the policy on ‘Elite Master programs’. From 2006 to 2012, Elite Master programs at research university level were established under a nationwide government-supported program. The policy was aimed at institutions, which could turn an existing master program into an Elite Master by offering extra opportunities to students and providing higher-level teaching. Government subsidy ran until 2012 and was discontinued under the new government. Since then, some universities have continued the Elite Masters, while others stopped.Footnote 28

Some university colleges offer extra opportunities to their students, such as summer schools (in which no regular credits can be obtained),Footnote 29 special English-language programsFootnote 30 or new forms of education that integrate different subjects.Footnote 31 Sometimes university colleges specifically target ‘talents’ in marketing efforts for a certain study program. However, most of these programs do not have special admission criteria to identify the talented and motivated students and are therefore not included in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1 Honors programs at universities and university colleges in Denmark
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One example not fitting our definition of an honors program, but worth mentioning is the new ‘3 + 5 program’ at the University of Copenhagen, which started in September 2014. Participants integrate their MSc and Ph.D. into one five-year scholarship-supported program.Footnote 32

In Table 7.1, findings for all universities and university colleges are summarized.

4.1 Aarhus University

At Aarhus University, talent development is an official priority, although implementation occurs primarily at the Ph.D. level. The university has two Elite Master programs and participates in a number of international joint degree programs, including the Erasmus Mundus program. A pilot honors project is organized for undergraduate students in Physics and Astronomy. The program only started in 2013, and is still under development. The program’s goal involves making sure that ‘challenges exist also for the most talented students and that they have a good chance to further develop their skills, competences, and qualifications’. All students follow all the regular courses and the ‘talentforløb’ is a 20 % supplement, consisting of individual modules in different forms. While regular courses are taught in Danish, this program is in English (Table 7.2).

Table 7.2 Aarhus University – Talentforløb Physics and Astronomy
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4.2 University of Southern Denmark

At the time of writing, the University of Southern Denmark was planning to offer a new talent program in the near future, but was waiting for the government plans to create more room for talent development to be put into law.Footnote 33 In the planned program, students will be able to choose some higher level courses from the second year up. There will also be a possibility for students to have an oral defense of their bachelor thesis, and to act as opponents on other students’ bachelor theses. In total, this will amount to an extra 30 ECTS (Christensen 2013). Students are supposed to do the extra work on top of their regular program and not take more time for their studies. The exact details are not yet known.Footnote 34

The university already offers an elite module in International Business Communication. Explicit goals are to provide students work experience at selected companies, and give them insight in research at a university in order to for example continue doing research towards a Ph.D. (Syddansk Universitet 2014, own translation) (Table 7.3).

Table 7.3 University of Southern Denmark – research in corporate communication
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4.3 Roskilde University

Since 2012, Roskilde University offers ‘languages profiles’ to talented students in bachelor programs in humanities or social sciences. Students entering this program follow co-curricular or extracurricular activities supporting their competences in and use of relevant literature in a third language (apart from Danish and English). At the time of writing, French, Spanish and German language profiles are offered. The program occurs in the first three semesters of the bachelor phase. The profiles are seen as ‘an innovative way of combining language and culture learning with the general undergraduate study. And they are a central part of Roskilde University’s internationalization strategy’ (Table 7.4).

Table 7.4 Roskilde University – language profile
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4.4 Copenhagen Business School

The Copenhagen Business School (CBS or Handelshøjskolen in Danish) runs some highly prestigious and selective study programs that are still considered regular education, but it also has a number of programs that can be defined as honors education (See Sirius Programma 2012, p. 8–9Footnote 35). Selection for some study programs is very tough. The maximum GPA in Denmark is 12. In 2013, cut-off GPA for CBS’ most prestigious bachelor program, the BSc in International Business, was 11.9 (CBS 2014a). Master degree programs at CBS are usually also very selective and some are advertised as ‘elite’ programs, such as the Elite Advanced Economics & Finance Master’s degree program (CBS 2014b Footnote 36).

Groups of selected students (undergraduate and graduate) can also enter international case competitions. The exact form varies, but in general teams compete against international schools to analyze and solve a business case.Footnote 37 CBS itself organizes the CBS Case Competition, which is well-known internationally. In 2013, it was won by a team from the National University of Singapore.Footnote 38

Within the already highly selective BSc program in International Business, two honors programs stand out: the GLOBE program and the EngAGE program. The GLOBE program focuses on international education (CBS 2014c), while the EngAGE (Engaged Applied Global Education) program aims to ‘equip selected students with the necessary skills to enter the workforce in a high quality job after 3 years of university education’ (CBS 2014d). This program is developed with partner companies in line with government policy to have Danes start their working career at an earlier age. The goal of EngAGE involves having a maximum of 10 % of students following a master program after completion of the program; instead, they are supposed to start their working career. Alternatively, they can follow a master program later in their career, sponsored by the company they then work for (Sirius Programma 2012, p. 9). In September 2014, the EngAGE program was under review and its continuation was uncertain (Tables 7.5 and 7.6).

Table 7.5 Copenhagen Business School – GLOBE program
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Table 7.6 Copenhagen Business School – EngAGE program
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4.5 Technical University of Denmark

4.5.1 General

The Danske Tekniske Universitet (DTU) has an extensive offer in honors education, focused on the master phase, to the extent that honors programs exist in every MSc program. Here, ‘elite students have access to a particularly challenging course of studies. It is estimated that only 10 % of the MSc students will be qualified for Honors Programmes’ (DTU 2013). Participating students get a personal tutor, make an individual study plan and travel abroad. To gain admission, candidates must have completed their BSc at excellent level. They must then write a personal essay and are assessed in an interview. Students who are admitted, are evaluated at the end of each term. To remain in the program, they must keep on scoring at excellent level and complete their individual plan.

4.5.2 Specific Programs

At undergraduate level, the department of systems biology focuses on talent development. It has created the Eduforce program and founded/established Biotech Academy. Through Eduforce, talented university students are hired to teach talented secondary school students. It is not directly linked to the students’ academic major study program, but draws on the leadership skills, teaching abilities, and peer mentoring qualities of upper-level students. University students get paid and employment commitments exist on a mouth-to-mouth basis. It is not an honors program according to our definition, but it provides clear advantages for talented students (on their CV) and for the department (having great ambassadors).

Biotech Academy is a program in which talented students develop teaching materials. This highly prestigious program is run completely by students themselves, with the department serving as facilitator. More information is in Box 7.6 (Table 7.7).

Table 7.7 Technical University of Denmark – Biotech Academy
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Box 7.6: ‘It Has to Be Student-Driven’

Interview Lene Krøl Andersen, Head of talent development, DTU Systems Biology

  • What do you do in Biotech Academy?

‘The idea is that students make teaching materials for high schools within the area that they are interested in. For this, they attract their own funding from companies. It is all student-driven. We at the institute offer support.’

  • I can imagine the students are really good ambassadors for you.

‘Yes, they are. And they are also good ambassadors for themselves. The companies love them. Because they know they are trained in negotiations, in expressing themselves, selling their ideas. They really go the top. One student developed a sort of virtual laboratory. The government supported it and it is now freely available to all high school students in Denmark.’

  • How does it work if you want to get in?

‘You have to be spotted by the people in Biotech Academy. They talk to professors and ask them who are the best students and then they follow them and ask them for interviews. Individuals are also asked mouth-to-mouth. But it depends on how the chairman wants to do it. It develops all the time, because the new people in the group all have new ideas.’

  • Is it important that the program is student-driven?

‘We have to have it student-driven. I think talent development is all about making it on your own. In the old days we pointed at the students and they got it all served. I believe that was completely wrong. They have to create their own careers and fight for it. We see that all the people that have been in Biotech Academy, really all, have good positions now. It is really through their engagement and their hard work, that their mindset is developed. Of course it also needs to be prioritized by the institute. Because a student-driven program has to have a back-up at all times. They are ambitious, but they are also very fragile sometimes. That is where we come in, checking and making sure everything is ok.’

4.6 University College Lillebaelt

After a conference arranged by the Ministry of Education in 2008, Lillebaelt decided to start a talent program, called the Talent Palette. Students sign on to outside assignments as an individual or as a small group. The extent of the projects offered is normally about 30–40 h extra workload per semester. The number of projects available differs from year to year. A cooperation contract between student and the outside provider is signed and students then report their progress in a logbook, which is regularly evaluated with their teacher. Successful participants receive a description of the assignment and the outcome attached to their diploma at the end of their study (Table 7.8).Footnote 39

Table 7.8 University College Lillebaelt – Physiotherapy Talent Palette
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5 Programs Outside Formal Higher Education System

Apart from the programs described above, we came across three programs outside the formal higher education system, but worth mentioning. These are:

Centres of Excellence

Sponsored by Danish industry, Centres of Excellence programs address pupils in vocational short-cycle higher education (erhversakademi), where pupils can receive a basic vocational qualification after 1.5–2.5 years of studies. Currently, two academically based centers exist. These centers support talented students from across the country in selected vocational education programs. Students receive training at the highest level and with industry-relevant equipment.Footnote 40

KaosPilot Arhus

KaosPilot is an international private design and business school in Aarhus, held in high regard. Admission involves a tough selection process, however KaosPilot is not part of the official education system and does not issue a widely accepted diploma.Footnote 41

Future Entrepreneurs of Denmark

Future Entrepreneurs of Denmark, open to students of all Danish universities, supports students with a passion for entrepreneurship. Around 30 students can be admitted each semester, based on a personal essay and grades. Accepted students receive five workshops per semester, dealing with various topics related to entrepreneurship. In groups, they work together to prepare for these workshops. The program is a joint initiative of student organizations at numerous Danish universities and is supported by a number of companies.Footnote 42

Talent development in Denmark seems to be firmly established. Legal changes that have taken effect late 2014 can facilitate the development of more honors programs. After Denmark, we focus on Norway, where development towards stimulating excellence in higher education is less apparent.