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It has become more difficult to get into several AU degree programmes

A total of 6.763 applicants have been offered a place at Aarhus University this year. That’s 9 per cent fewer than last year. The reduction in the number of places available means that 36 of AU’s degree programmes now require a higher average grade for admission than they did last year.

Soon, the University Park will be filled with new students again. A total of 6.763 applicants have been offered admission to one of Aarhus University’s degree programmes. Photo: Martin Kousholt/Omnibus

Top 10 AU degree programmes that require the highest average grade

  1. Computer Science, 11,4
  2. Data Science, 11,2
  3. Psychology, 11,0
  4. Odontology, 10,7 (standby 10,6)
  5. Cognitive Science, 10,7 (standby 10,5)
  6. Medicine, 10,2
  7. IT Product Development, 10,1
  8. Anthropology, 10,0 (standby 9,5)
  9. Social Sciences, 10,0 (standby 9,2)
  10. Mechanical Engineering (MScEng), 10,0 (standby 7,9)

Source: Coordinated Admission, quota distribution for admission offers 2026, calculated 24 July 2026

The 10 most sought-after degree programmes at AU (First-choice)

  1. Psychology, 1.090
  2. Economics and Business Administration, 892
  3. Medicine, 738
  4. Economics and Business Administration (offered in English), 705
  5. Law, 676
  6. Political Science, 482
  7. Odontology, 480
  8. Cognitive Science, 391
  9. Computer Science, 348
  10. Veterinary Medicine, 249

The 10 degree programmes with the largest increase in the number of applications (First-choice) compared to last year

  1. Classical philology +129 per cent (from 7 to 16)
  2. French +75 per cent (from 4 to 7)
  3. Clinical Dental Technology +74 per cent (from 34 to 59)
  4. Educational Science Copenhagen, +61 per cent (from 33 to 53)
  5. Classical archaeology +44 per cent (from 9 to 13)
  6. China Studies +42 per cent (from 12 to 17)
  7. Educational Science Aarhus, +41 per cent (from 122 to 172)
  8. German +36 per cent (from 14 to 19)
  9. Electronics (summer admission) +33 per cent (from 36 to 48)
  10. Public Health Science +31 per cent (from 55 to 72)

The 10 degree programmes with the largest decrease in the number of applications (First-choice) compared to last year

  1. Software Technology (winter intake) -48 per cent (from 33 to 17)
  2. Arabic and Islamic Studies -44 per cent (from 16 to 9)
  3. Scandinavian Studies -36 per cent (from 69 to 44)
  4. Architectural Engineering (winter intake) -33 per cent (from 24 to 16)
  5. Business Development (Herning) -33 per cent (from 36 to 24)
  6. Software Technology (summer admission) -31 per cent (from 135 to 93)
  7. Linguistics -26 per cent (from 38 to 28)
  8. Medicine -25 per cent (from 986 to 738)
  9. The Study of Religion -24 per cent (from 29 to 22)
  10. Chemistry (Bachelor of Engineering) -23 per cent (from 43 to 33)

Source: Coordinated Admission applications 2026, calculated 8 July 2026

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the suspense came to an end for the thousands of applicants hoping to secure a place at Aarhus University. The university has received a total of 30.651 applications, of which 11.287 have had a degree programme at AU as their first priority. 

This year, Aarhus University is admitting 6.763 students. That is 9 per cent fewer than last year, when 7.441 applicants were offered a place at AU. The decrease in the number of applicants who are offered admission to an AU degree programme is partly due to the fact that the university is offering fewer student places this year as a result of the so-called sector resizing. The resizing requires that Denmark’s universities reduce the number of places they offer by 2030. As a result, AU must cut its student intake by 10 per cent. At the same time, AU, like the country’s other universities, has also had to reduce the number of English-taught places. 

Breaks the streak: Decrease in first-choice applications to AU

Fewer places offered

Among the AU degree programmes that offer significantly fewer places than last year are the new English-taught degree programmes at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, namely Computer Science, Data Science and IT-Product Development, which opened for admission in 2025. Admissions to the three programmes have fallen by 61, 45 and 53 per cent respectively compared to last year. The English-taught Cognitive Science programme at the Faculty of Arts is also admitting 30 per cent fewer students this year than last year.  

This development disappoints Pro-rector at Aarhus University, Berit Eika:

“Aarhus University is a popular choice among international applicants, but unfortunately we have to disappoint many of them. And this year, even more than usual. This is really a shame, because we know that international graduates are a great asset to Danish society – and that more and more of them are deciding to put their education to work in Denmark after graduation,” she says in a news release from AU. 

Nationwide, admissions to English-taught higher education degree programmes have fallen by 10 per cent compared to last year. The composition of the admitted international students has also changed. The number of students from third countries is 13 per cent lower than last year, with particularly sharp declines in admissions from Nepal and Bangladesh. 12 per cent fewer than last year come from EU/EEA countries, while the number of students from the Nordic countries has increased, according to the Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Digital Affairs (In Danish, ed.). 

More difficult to get in

When the number of places available falls without a corresponding decline in applications, admission cut-off grades (the average grade required for admission to a degree programme, ed.) are affected across several degree programmes. AU informs that the admission cut-off grade has increased for 36 of the university's degree programmes compared to last year. This year, admission to the Computer Science programme through quota 1 required a grade average of 11,4. Last year, the same degree programme required an average of 9,9. As a result, Computer Science, together with the Design programme at the Kolding School of Design, is the degree programme in Denmark that requires the highest grade average for admission.

At IT-Product Development, last year it required an average of 8,6 to be admitted via quota 1. This year, it requires an average of 10,1.

This development worries Pro-rector Berit Eika:

“That admission cut-off grades increase when available study places decrease is not surprising. But it is problematic that the cut-off grades are reaching such high levels in areas where society is crying out for labour – and where we also have to reject so many qualified applicants,” she says.

Although it has become more difficult to get into several programmes, there are still vacant places on more than 30 degree programmes. So if your application has been rejected, there may be opportunities within other degree programmes.

Nationwide

Nationwide, 84.036 have applied for admission to higher education degree programmes. A total of 58.673 applicants have been admitted to a degree programme, 79 per cent of whom were admitted to their first-choice programme. The programme with the highest intake nationwide is the social educator degree programme, where 3.590 have been offered a place this year. 

There has been a 4 per cent decrease in admissions to the country's bachelor's degree programmes. Admissions to bachelor's degree programmes within the humanities have fallen by 8 per cent nationwide compared to last year. At the Faculty of Arts, the decline has been 14 per cent. There has also been a decrease at the other AU faculties. Aarhus BSS has 9 per cent fewer admissions than last year. The Faculty of Health Sciences has 2 per cent fewer admissions than last year. Natural Sciences has 7 per cent fewer admissions than last year, while Technical Sciences has 9 per cent fewer than last year.   

This text is machine translated and post-edited by Mie Skov Jeppesen.