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1 Education System

Pupils shall not normally be organized according to level of ability, gender or ethnic affiliation. (Education Act 2010)

In Norway, it is forbidden by law to make a permanent differentiation between students based on their abilities. Equity is a central thought in Norwegian education policy. In fact, ‘Equity in education is a national goal and the overriding principle that applies to all areas of education’ (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2008, p. 3). This also shapes the approach towards excellence in Norway. Little is organized and existing excellence programs typically focus on system, rather than individual student needs (Box 8.1).

Box 8.1: Norway – The Basics

  • 5.0 million inhabitants

  • Capital: Oslo

  • Constitutional monarchy

  • 19 provinces

  • Conservative/liberal coalition in power

Primary and secondary education are founded on the principles of equity and ‘adapted education’ for all pupils, in a school system based on the National Curriculum (See SIU 2013 and Ministry of Education and Research 2007).Footnote 1 Adapted education means that differentiation within the school does take place to some extent.Footnote 2 In practice, schools and teachers ‘accommodate both the physical and social learning conditions as well as the learning content to the pupils’ ability, skills and needs – not the other way around’ (Fasting 2010, p. 182, see also Opheim 2004).Footnote 3 Consequently, a basic feature of the Norwegian education system is the arrangement of extra support and special education as much as possible within the common compulsory school called grunnskole (Fasting 2010, p. 180), which lasts 10 years and ends with a national exam (IBE 2012, p. 12)Footnote 4 (see Fig. 8.1). After this, most pupils move on to upper secondary school (videregående skole). This school provides another 3 years of general training or 4 years of vocational training (see Nuffic 2012, p. 5–6).Footnote 5 Apart from these state schools, alternative education opportunities are rare but they do exist (Ministry of Education and Research 2007, p. 14) (Box 8.2).Footnote 6

Fig. 8.1
figure 1

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

Full size image

Box 8.2: Education in Norway

  • Free at all levels

  • Compulsory for 10 years from age 6

  • Integrated primary school (barneskole) and lower secondary school (ungdomsskole) in 10-year grunnskole

  • Three-year upper secondary education at videregående skole

  • Higher education admission based on exam grades

  • Ministry of Education and Research responsible for all levels of education

Norway has taken part in the PISA assessments of 15-year-olds since the early 2000s. The first results, in 2002, led to a ‘PISA shock’ as Norway scored average results: well below expectations (Haugsbakk 2013).Footnote 7 This led to a massive restructuring of the teacher education system (Hammerness and Klette 2013).Footnote 8 The 2012 results presented another disappointment, the overall score was around average among the OECD countries and performance in mathematics and science dropped (OECD 2013). The new government, dissatisfied with the results, announced action to improve results.

Generally speaking, some provisions exist for talented students in primary and secondary education.Footnote 9 Pupils have the possibility to do their grade ten exam in a certain subject early, or to skip a grade. Talented secondary school students can also study at universities or university colleges in Norway. This is not an official program, but all upper secondary schools are expected to know about it and make appointments with the university or university college in their geographical area.Footnote 10 Talented high school students can apply to take part in a regular university course together with regular university students and take the same exams. These university courses are taken in addition to the regular program in their upper secondary school. If they finish the course successfully, they receive a document and the credits can later transfer as university credits. Some universities advertise these possibilities prominently on their website, notably the universities of Oslo and Agder. They are also working together to prepare national guidelines on this subject.Footnote 11 In 2013/2014, the University of Oslo also offered a special mathematics course at university level for talented high school students (See University of Agder 2013; University of Oslo 2014). Some universities have programs involving university staff teaching at high schools, or high school students can incidentally visit universities.

Admission to Norwegian universities is a complicated process, partly dependent on grades. Students who follow a general training path at the upper secondary school will take exams that lead to general university admission certification, called generell studiekompetanse. This diploma is a requirement to be admitted to universities, but it does not guarantee placement (SIU 2013; Ministry of Education and Research 2007).Footnote 12 Students who want to enter university must apply at the national coordination centre, called Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service or Samordna Opptak in Norwegian. This institute admits students to study programs based on a point scale, with the highest ranking students offered a place until the study program is full. Points are awarded based on average grades from upper secondary school, but additional points can also be awarded for various reasons such as language proficiencies, gender (for a select number of studies) or completed military service. A number of seats are offered without using the point scale. Admission to some programs is highly competitive (Samordna Opptak 2013). In addition, universities or university colleges may set additional requirements for candidates, depending on the particular program (Nuffic 2012, p. 8).

The Norwegian higher education system has developed rapidly in the last decade (Nyborg 2007 Footnote 13). The Bologna Process has been combined with extensive reform and development of the whole tertiary education sector (Bakken 2013 Footnote 14). There are now institutions at three levels: universities, specialized university colleges and ‘general’ university colleges (accredited and non-accredited, see Box 8.3). At the time of writing, there are about 250,000 students in Norwegian higher education, distributed between 75 institutions (Statistics Norway 2013, p. 6; Bakken 2013).

Box 8.3: Higher Education Landscape

  • 8 universities, which have the right to establish programmes at all levels

  • 9 specialized university colleges, which have the right to establish study programmes at all levels within their majors

  • 36 accredited university colleges, which have the right to establish study programmes at bachelor level

  • 22 non-accredited and mostly very small colleges of higher education

The four traditional and major universities are located in Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø and Trondheim. Oslo University is by far the oldest and largest university, founded in 1811. It is also the Norwegian university featuring most prominently on world rankings.Footnote 15 Since 2003, four specialized institutes and university colleges converted into a full university,Footnote 16 which means Norway has eight universities at the moment. Apart from the universities, there is an extensive network of university colleges. Broadly speaking, the nine specialized university colleges work at the national level, while the 36 accredited ‘general’ university colleges mostly focus on their region.Footnote 17

2 Culture and Policy Towards Excellence

Equal opportunities to complete education are a prerequisite if we are to sustain and further develop the welfare state on the basis of the Norwegian model, with minor social differences between people. (Ministry of Education and Research 2009)

These are the first words of the Education Strategy of the Norwegian government, as approved by parliament in 2009. As said before, equity is a central thought in Norwegian education policy. This can be seen as successful to some extent. Norway scores high on equity in the 2012 PISA report (OECD 2013, p. 1).Footnote 18 It also scores relatively well among European countries on resilience (ibid, p. 4)Footnote 19 and on other social factors (Bakken and Elstad 2012 Footnote 20).

But there are also other consequences. The focus on equity and fear of elitism are problematic for gifted students. University of Stavanger researcher Dr. Ella Cosmovici Idsøe sees this as a major problem: ‘Even though many national and international investigations on Norwegian students show that they are not stimulated and challenged enough in school, this is still a taboo topic. (…) There is no definition or normative identification criteria for gifted learners, there is no focus on the needs of these children in schools or teacher training programs and there is a lack of research on this topic’ (see also Udberg-Helle 2013, p. 4) (Box 8.4).Footnote 21

Box 8.4: Local Terminology

The word ‘honors’ is rarely used in Norway. Local terms used to refer to (programs for) talented and gifted students include:

  • fremragende utdanning (excellent education)

  • evnerike barn (gifted children)

  • vitebegjærlige barn (‘inquisitive children’)

  • skoleflinke barn (academically strong children)

  • høy begaved (highly gifted)

  • eliteprogramm/eliteutdanning (elite education)/elitelinje (elite line)

Traditionally, student recruitment in Norway primarily emphasized universal access rather than excellence and attracting talented students. But this approach slowly changed after the 2002 Quality Reform (Frølich and Stensaker 2010). In the early 2000s, the government concluded that one of the results of the equity approach was a lack of top teaching and top research.

Focus was first on excellent research and then moved to excellent education. As a first step, the Research Council of Norway initiated a program to identify Centers of Excellence in Research (SFF, Senter for Fremragende Forskning). The intention was to bring more Norwegian researchers and research groups up to a high international standard. There have now been three rounds in which Centres were identified and awarded extra money.

Following a successful evaluation of this SFF program, the Ministry of Education and Research started a similar program in education. It established the Centres of Excellence in Higher Education (SFU, Senter for Fremragende Utdanning) program in 2010.

The SFU program, managed by quality assurance agency NOKUT, is a prestige arrangement for educational activities in higher education. The overarching aim of the SFU program involves contributing ‘to the development of excellent quality in higher education and to highlight the fact that education and research are equally important activities for higher education institutions’ (NOKUT 2013) (Box 8.5).

Box 8.5: Key Players in Excellence

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

  • Ministry of Education and Research

  • NOKUT – the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education – an independent government agency that contributes towards quality assurance and enhancement in higher education and tertiary vocational education

  • Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions (Universitets- og Høgskolerådet) – the co-operative body for higher education institutions in Norway

The SFU program started in 2010 as a pilot project with one centre. In an evaluation, researchers concluded that Centres of Excellence are ‘welcome (…) in a field receiving comparably few prestigious national measures to ensure a systematic foundation of high quality practices’ (Carlsten and Aamodt 2013, p. 9). In 2013 a new round of applications was held. NOKUT received 24 bids, and finally three new Centres of Excellence were identified. Each centre receives a top funding of NOK three million (about 350,000 euros) annually for a 5-year period, which can be extended for another 5 years upon successful evaluation. One of the programs receiving SFU status is the BioCEED program at Bergen University. This program provides students experience with theoretical knowledge, practical skills, and socially relevant tasks throughout their studies. There is room to experiment with new educational forms. Program Director Vigdis Vandvik thinks the most important implication of the new status rests in the extra leverage. ‘The status gives us better credibility in the university and we collaborate more with the other biology institutes. It’s easier to make things happen and to experiment’.Footnote 22 SFU Program Director Helen Bråten adds that a main aim involves stimulating the best to develop further and innovate. At the same time dissemination remains important in the program, as does showcasing best practices and having others adopt and assess outcomes to help prove program success in attaining goals. ‘We want the Centres to disseminate both internally, within their organization, but also regionally, nationally and internationally, hence enhancing quality in education across the sector. The new Centres are progressing quite fast, I think, so that is promising’.Footnote 23

It should be noted that the Centre of Excellence programs are aimed at the institute level and not at the level of individuals. For example, there are no additional admission requirements for students that are taught in Centres of Excellence in Higher Education, thus upholding the equity principle. According to Education ministry Deputy Director General Grethe Sofie Bratlie, until now ‘research is the way of taking care of talented students’. The universities try to guide them into research and to pick them up as Ph.D. students. The government has financed quite a few Ph.D. programs for talents.Footnote 24

3 New Developments

Three recent developments might lead to a change in the approach towards excellence.

Firstly, a new government took office in October 2013. The centre-left government has been replaced with a centre-right government, led by Erna Solberg of the Høyre party. This party is not opposed to using the word ‘elite’, as in fact it has a tradition of an ‘elite program’ for its most-promising young members (Unge Høyre 2013). Within 2 weeks of taking office, the new Education minister Torbjørn Røe Isaksen commented about gifted children in an interview for state television news NRK, ‘We must learn that gifted children can have big challenges and may need help (….) We are very busy with this problem and will handle it. The first thing we shall start with is to make the specific problem known’ (Engen and Osterud 2013, own translationFootnote 25).

In January 2014, the new government announced its plans for higher education (Ministry of Education and Research 2014). Focus is placed on quality. Financing and structure will be reviewed and more focus will be placed on teacher education. A long-term plan for higher education and research is announced for late 2014. This can be seen as a significant shift.Footnote 26

Second, a sense of disappointment exists with the overall 2012 PISA results. The minister commented that ‘we must have higher ambitions than to be in the middle among the OECD countries (…) We must be better at helping those who perform weakly, and at the same time we must lift up more students to the highest levels’ (Kunnskapsdepartementet 2013, own translation). The Oslo City Council also recognized the problem of few high-performing Norwegian students and adopted a talent strategy in 2013.Footnote 27

Third, the further development of the SFU program might lead to more innovation in higher education in general and experimenting with new forms of education for talented students in particular.

Along with these developments, the newly-established Nordic Talent Network (2013) might form a platform for more effective lobbying towards the government.

4 Honors Programs per Higher Education Institution

We found no honors programs at Norwegian higher education institutions fitting our definition. However, there are some other provisions for talented students worth mentioning.

Students in Norway can apply for one-time allowances or scholarships, for example, to study abroad. Private institutes providing scholarships often do have a tough selection process.Footnote 28 Some Norwegian HEIs participate in international programs, such as Erasmus Mundus and the Nordic Master program. The Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) takes part in a number of international programs (Double degree and CEMS-MIM), which were described in part I.

In addition, for some institutes admission is highly competitive, especially art schools and universities. For example, at Bergen Academy of Art and Design ‘we could have several hundred applicants to forty-five seats in a program. As an average we have five to six times the number of applicants compared with the number of openings’.Footnote 29 The same goes for Oslo’s School of Architecture and Design. ‘Admission to AHO is highly exclusive, e.g. for Master of Architecture there are 2,000 applicants for less than 100 seats. You obviously need to be both talented and motivated to get in, but it is still a “regular study program”’.Footnote 30 At the Norwegian Academy of Music, ‘almost all our students are talented and the whole institution is oriented towards educating talented students. We have very strict admission procedures and up to forty-fifty applicants for each seat for some of our programs’.Footnote 31 Finally, the Oslo National Academy of the Arts offers ‘a small number of highly competitive programs, each in specialized fields of the arts. We receive many more qualified applicants than our yearly admission quotas permit us to accept. We put all applicants through rigorous tests and we interview a large portion of the applicants each year. The result is a limited number of highly motivated and gifted students who are offered programs that are all very challenging and demanding’.Footnote 32

Table 8.1 presents an overview of universities and specialized university colleges in Norway, ordered by size (measured in student numbers).

Table 8.1 Universities and specialized university colleges in Norway
Full size table

No honors programs have been developed in Norway yet, but the SFU program and the new government’s intentions are incentives to develop further in this respect.

In the next chapter we will see if development is also occurring in neighboring Sweden.