Education Document Translation for Denmark

Preparing documents in a system where the official translator title has been abolished

Denmark is an exception in Northern Europe: the title of state-authorised translator was abolished years ago, and no central authorisation was put in its place. This does not mean translation has been left to itself; responsibility has passed instead to the statement showing where the translation came from and, where required, to notarisation or consular legalisation. In the assessment of education documents the body you deal with is the Uddannelses- og Forskningsstyrelsen, which states what foreign qualifications correspond to within the Danish system. The decision to admit, on the other hand, belongs to the higher education institution itself.

With the authorisation gone, what institutions expect now differs from one to another. One university may find the agency’s statement of accuracy sufficient, while another asks for notarisation. The first step to take in Denmark is therefore to ask the receiving institution in writing in what form it accepts a translation; going ahead on an assumption proves expensive.

What the documents prove

The diploma shows the degree; the transcript, with its courses and credit load, is what allows the equivalent to be worked out. Because the Danish assessment takes the length of the programme and the study load as its basis, the total credits and the duration shown on the transcript are decisive. Undergraduate applications call for secondary education documents and the entrance examination result. A language certificate is a threshold of its own on programmes taught in Danish; on English-medium programmes an English certificate is what is sought.

Form of approval	When it is needed
Agency statement of accuracy and seal	The starting level in most academic applications
Notarisation	Where the institution asks for it in addition
Consular legalisation	In certain official formalities

The problem met with most often

The most widespread hitch in Denmark is that nobody asks at the outset what level of approval the institution expects. The candidate has the translation made with the agency’s statement of accuracy, the institution asks for notarisation, and the process begins again. The second frequent problem is that the marking scale on the transcript has not been translated; since the scale used in Denmark is a different one, no comparison can be made. The third is that secondary education documents are sent incomplete in undergraduate applications – with no way of showing the entitlement to enter, the file waits.

Where translation sits in the process

The sequence: find out what approval the receiving institution expects, gather the original documents and their annexes, complete the certification step in Türkiye, and translate last of all, adding the approval that is required. Finding out the expectation at the outset matters more here than in other countries, because there is no single national rule. You can see the levels of approval document by document on our document page, and the differences between countries in our country guide.

How to ask an institution what it expects

Since there is no national translation authorisation in Denmark, asking the right question is the most critical step in the process. A general “do you want a translation?” gets you nowhere; the question has to be a detailed one. Which language the translation should be in, whether there is any expectation as to the qualifications of the translator, whether notarisation or consular legalisation is sought for the translation, and whether the translation is to be submitted together with the source document should each be asked separately. Having the answer in writing heads off any argument that might arise later.

A second matter is the standing of English-language documents. Many programmes in Denmark are taught in English, and on those programmes an English document may be accepted as it stands. English transcripts issued by Turkish universities make things easier at this point, though the document has to bear the institutional seal and signature. Danish translation comes up mainly in official recognition and in administrative formalities.

• Ask in writing about the target language and the form of approval.
• List your official English-language documents separately.
• Include the explanation of the marking scale in the translation.
• Prepare your secondary education documents in full.

Another practical point in Denmark is that the recognition assessment runs independently of the admission decision. A university may admit you to a programme; that does not mean your degree is recognised across the country. If you are thinking of working after graduation or of moving to another programme, obtaining the official assessment statement while you are still studying is easier than dealing with it afterwards. Since the documents are already in your hands, no further translation cost usually arises.

On the side of grade equivalence, Denmark uses a scale of its own, so the explanation of the scale on the Turkish transcript must appear in the translation. Without that explanation the assessor cannot interpret the marks and reads the file on the most cautious assumption. Information about how credits are calculated likewise bears on the conversion; if it sits on a separate page, it has to be brought into the translation.

If your documents were issued in English, keep a separate list of them; it makes it easier to see which documents need a Danish translation.

One further practical point in Denmark is that application portals apply rules of their own to the way documents are uploaded. The file formats accepted and the size limits are announced in advance; the scan should not be needlessly large, yet the seals must stay legible. The source document is expected to be submitted alongside the translation as well, and uploading the translation on its own counts as incomplete. Since you may be asked to show the originals at the enrolment stage, it is useful to keep the documents with you. For candidates close to graduation a provisional graduation letter is often accepted and allows the application to be opened; the diploma follows later and the timetable is preserved.

We can settle together which approval will be needed. You can look at our pricing page, and you can upload your documents to request a quotation.

The information here is general in nature; a destination country’s admission requirements and chain of certification may change from time to time. We recommend following the practice currently in force through official announcements.