Studying in Denmark

Denmark invests large sums in education. Public expenditure on education amounts to 8% of our GDP, making Denmark the number one public education spender in the world, and that has created high standards in education – also by international standards.

Some of the characteristics of Danish higher education are: high academic standards, active study environments, interdisciplinary studies, and project- based activities.

In 2009 an OECD report declared Denmark the happiest country in the world. The report said that 9 out of 10 Danes were very satisfied with their lives. This satisfaction is usually accredited to soft values such as family life, culture, social stability and recreation, rather than money and material wealth. Denmark is a rich welfare society in which, among other things, the state provides free health care.

Free health care is also offered to international students who come to Denmark to study. Denmark is a very safe country with one of the lowest crime rates in the world. Children can walk or ride their bikes to school on their own, and parents can leave their babies sleeping in prams outside cafés.

Denmark is a green country surrounded by the sea. You are never more than 50 km from the coast. The climate is mild with four distinct seasons. The winters are sometimes cold and snowy, sometimes less cold and rainy, with average temperatures around 1-2° C. Summers can be either hot and sunny or cool and rainy, with temperatures around 18-25° C.

Denmark consists of 407 islands and the peninsula of Jutland, which gives it the world’s second longest coast line in proportion to area (7,314 km to 43,000 sq. km). This formed the basis for the Danish shipping industry and extensive travelling.

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy and the head of state is Queen Margrethe II. The Danish parliament is called the Folketing and has 179 members. General elections take place at least every four years. The government is headed by the Prime Minister (Statsminister in Danish). Denmark is a modern, knowledge- based society with an extensive welfare system, and international students living in Denmark also benefit from this welfare system.

Danish people are generally well-educated and well-informed with a strong focus on their personal freedom, and life in Denmark has a distinctive lack of formality. The welfare society has virtually abolished social classes; the differences between rich and poor are small. Danes love music, from huge open-air festivals to small venues with all kinds of music: jazz, blues, folk, salsa, pop and rock. Danes also spend a lot of time in their homes, with their families or with friends, or in their gardens, visiting museums or going to sports clubs or associations, etc. If you want to meet Danes, join a football club, go to a concert, or join a club that caters for your interests. Come to Denmark and discover our free-spirited, relaxed and tolerant attitude to life.

The approximately 5.4 million inhabitants of Denmark speak Danish, a Germanic language related to both English and German. We use the same alphabet as English but with three additional letters: Æ, Ø and Å. English is our second language, and some 80% of the population speak it well enough for you to get by with English when you go shopping, use public transportation or visit public offices, etc. In Denmark films are shown in their original language with subtitles in Danish both on TV and in cinemas.