1. The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Services (NUCAS)
Oslo, December 12., 2008

2. NUCAS basics
Run by board appointed by The Ministry of Education and Research, with members representing universities and colleges
Established 1994
27 fulltime employees
Main task: to provide service for universities and colleges in the area of application and admission to undergraduate study programs

3. NUCAS by numbers (2007)
Covers admission to most undergraduate study programmes in higher education in Norway
Approximately 1200 study programmes at 7 universities, 5 specialized university institutions, 24 state university colleges, and 10 private university colleges
Annually close to applicants, applications
met the qualification criteria
received an offer
accepted the offer and started studying

4. NUCAS tasks Continually develop and improve the data model
Develop and maintain central database and applications
Coordinate admission procedures
Provide guidelines and advice on case handling
Give specifications for file exchange formats
Handle special groups of applicants, such as those with non- nordic secondary school
Give general information to public on admission procedures

5. The Norwegian education system
Universities and university colleges
Admission based mainly on diplomas from secondary schools
NUCAS
Upper secondary schools

6. Qualification and selection criteria
The Ministry of Education and Research is responsible for the legislation concerning admission to higher education, such as
Qualification criteria:
General requirements common to all NUCAS institutions
Special requirements for some study programs
Selection procedure:
Based mainly on general point average on the leaving certificate plus additional points.

7. NUCAS system overview Registration service at UCAS
Data exchange between NUCAS and universities/colleges
Applicant must send certificate and other credentials to institution
Evaluation of credentials at 1. priority institution
Collection of new leaving certificates from secondary schools
National selection at NUCAS, transmitted to applicant 5 2 2 1 4 6 1 3

8. Division of labour
Division of labour between the UCAS central office and the institutions of higher education, combining decentralized processing of applications with the centralized services of NUCAS
NUCAS central office responsibilities:
Collection of electronic leaving certificates from secondary schools
Registration of applications
Operation of the UCAS central facilities, including the main national selection procedures
Processing applications from special groups, e.g. applicants having foreign education
Responsibilities of the institutions:
Processing of applications, i.e. evaluation of qualifications and calculation of admission points
Individual advice and information to the applicants
Management of selection procedure parameters for their own study programs

9. Special features of the NUCAS system
Main features of system established in 1996
Radical new goals implemented to rationalize admission procedure and reduce work load
One application form per applicant, comprising all study program alternatives in an ordered priority list
One application evaluation and calculation process per applicant. The applicant may elect study program alternatives of different universities, but is evaluated only by 1. priority institution
One offer per applicant, selected according to priority and credential points calculated