English-Taught Degrees in Denmark: The Complete Guide

The 9:00 lecture in a DTU master’s programme in wind energy runs entirely in English, because the room in Kongens Lyngby holds students from twenty-odd countries who will spend the next two years designing turbines for a global industry. Ride the S-train fifteen kilometres south into the city, sit in on a University of Copenhagen bachelor’s seminar, and the teaching is in Danish, because the default undergraduate intake is Danish school-leavers studying in their own language. Those two rooms, twenty-five minutes apart on the same line, hold the central fact about studying in English in Denmark: at master’s level the country is one of the most English-friendly destinations in Europe, while at bachelor’s level it largely still teaches in Danish. Knowing which side of that divide your plan sits on changes everything — including which application portal you use and whether you need a TOEFL score at all.

Here is the bottom line. Denmark runs hundreds of English-taught master’s programmes, taught, examined and supervised entirely in English from engineering and the natural sciences to business, design and the social sciences — and for EU, EEA and Swiss students they are free of tuition, exactly like the Danish-taught ones (studyindenmark.dk). The catch is the level: most bachelor’s teaching is in Danish, so the classic international route is a master’s in Denmark after a bachelor’s earned at home. The gate into most of them is one English test — TOEFL iBT 83–88 or IELTS Academic 6.5. And the timing is good: after cutting English-taught places sharply in 2021, Denmark reversed course, and a 2023 agreement is reopening English-taught places from 2024 onward rather than closing them (thelocal.dk). Across the families we advise at College Council, the most common Denmark mistake is assuming an English bachelor’s is as easy to find as an English master’s. It is not.

This is a focused companion to our complete guide to studying in Denmark, zooming in on the one question English-speaking applicants ask first: can I actually do this degree in English, and where? I will map the master’s-versus-bachelor’s reality, explain the cuts-and-comeback story so you know the offer is growing again, name the universities where English teaching is strongest, walk through the language requirement that gates each programme, show you how to find and apply, and give you the honest cost and Danish-language picture. If you are comparing institutions rather than languages, our sibling guide ranks the best universities in Denmark on the same dataset.

English-Taught Degrees in Denmark, Key Numbers

Source: studyindenmark.dk; The Local Denmark / Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science; QS World University Rankings 2026; College Council Atlas. Programme totals are approximate and shift each admission cycle.

The one thing to understand: master’s in English, bachelor’s mostly in Danish

Denmark’s English offer is not evenly spread across the two degree levels, and this is the single most useful thing to grasp before you start. At master’s level (kandidat, two years, 120 ECTS), English is the norm rather than the exception: every major research university runs dozens of English-taught master’s, and the national total runs comfortably into the hundreds of programmes. These are not segregated “international” tracks bolted onto the side — they are mainstream programmes that mix Danish and international students under the same faculty, which keeps the academic level high and the cohorts properly mixed.

At bachelor’s level (three years, 180 ECTS), the picture inverts. The large majority of undergraduate teaching is in Danish, because that is the language the bulk of the intake — Danish 18-year-olds straight out of the gymnasium — actually wants. English bachelor’s degrees exist, but you are choosing from dozens of programmes nationwide, not hundreds, and they cluster in specific places: the IT University of Copenhagen, Aalborg’s engineering and design tracks, Copenhagen Business School, and pockets of fields like global business and engineering where English teaching is the industry standard.

That asymmetry produces the textbook international path: a bachelor’s at home or in another English-language system, then a two-year English-taught master’s in Denmark. It is the route most international students at DTU, Aarhus and Copenhagen actually take, and it sidesteps the Danish-language bottleneck entirely. If your heart is set on doing the bachelor’s in Denmark in English, that is achievable too, but you plan around a much shorter list — covered below. Either way, your study load transfers cleanly across Europe, because Denmark runs the standard Bologna ECTS system and a full year is 60 ECTS. For the full admissions mechanics, costs and visa picture, the main Denmark guide is the parent of this one.

Cuts and comeback: why the offer is growing again

There is a piece of recent history you should know, because it shapes what you can apply to in 2026. In 2021 the Danish government, worried about graduate retention and the cost of educating internationals who then left, decided to cut English-taught places sharply — closing or shrinking a swathe of English programmes, especially at the business academies and some university courses. For a couple of admission cycles the English offer really did contract, and the headlines made Denmark look like it was pulling up the drawbridge.

Then it reversed. Faced with a real labour shortage and employers who could not find skilled graduates, the government struck a 2023 political agreement to reopen English-taught study places (thelocal.dk). The agreement adds a large block of new English-taught places (seats, not whole new programmes) — reported at around 1,100 a year from 2024 through 2028, rising to about 2,500 a year from 2029 — concentrated at master’s level, prioritised toward fields with the sharpest graduate shortages, and deliberately spread across all eight universities, including campuses outside the biggest cities (thelocal.dk). In 2025 the ministry approved a further 800 English-taught STEM places on top (universityworldnews.com).

The practical upshot for you: the English-taught offer in Denmark is expanding, not shrinking, and the new capacity is weighted exactly where international demand is highest — engineering, IT, the sciences and business at master’s level. If an older guide or forum thread told you “Denmark cut its English programmes, don’t bother,” that advice is out of date.

Where English teaching is strongest — the universities

Below are the eight Danish research universities where the English-taught offer is deepest, each linked to our dedicated guide where one exists or to its full profile in the College Council Atlas, where you can see programmes, location and admission data. The QS rank, where shown, describes overall reputation, not the English offer specifically — what each is known for matters more, and several of the best Danish institutions are specialists that overall rankings undersell. We describe the English offer at the institutional level rather than quoting a fixed programme count, because catalogues and languages of instruction change every admission cycle; confirm a specific programme’s language on its own page.

The University of Copenhagen (QS #101), the country’s oldest and broadest university and a LERU member, runs English-taught master’s across the life sciences, medicine-adjacent fields, the natural sciences, law and the humanities. The Technical University of Denmark (QS #107) in Kongens Lyngby is the powerhouse: the leading Nordic school of engineering teaches its MSc portfolio almost entirely in English, with global strength in wind energy, bioengineering and mechanical engineering, and deep ties to Novo Nordisk, Maersk and Vestas. Aarhus University (QS #131), the comprehensive research university of Jutland’s capital, offers broad English master’s across business, the sciences, health and the arts.

Aalborg University (QS ≈#306) is the home of the “Aalborg Model” of problem-based learning, where roughly half of every semester is a real-world group project, often with an industry partner — its engineering, energy and design master’s are taught in English and it is one of Denmark’s most international, hands-on institutions. The University of Southern Denmark (QS #303), centred on Odense, runs English master’s in health sciences, sport science, robotics and business, with living costs well below Copenhagen’s. Copenhagen Business School, one of Europe’s largest and most respected business schools, delivers a wide English-taught offer in economics, finance and international business and is the natural home for management.

Two specialists round out the picture, and both are strong English bets. Roskilde University, half an hour west of Copenhagen, is the interdisciplinary, project-based university for students who want to combine social sciences, humanities and the natural sciences, with English master’s built around that model. The IT University of Copenhagen is a young, focused institution doing nothing but computer science, software, digital design and IT — much of its teaching is in English at both bachelor’s and master’s level, making it one of the most accessible English-taught options for technologists in the country. Beyond the eight, smaller specialist schools such as Design School Kolding run their own individual English-taught design programmes.

The language gate — TOEFL, IELTS and the bachelor’s exception

Every English-taught programme in Denmark is gated by an English requirement, and clearing it cleanly is the most controllable part of your application. For master’s degrees, the requirement is conventional and consistent: most programmes accept TOEFL iBT 83–88 or IELTS Academic 6.5, with Cambridge C1 Advanced also accepted at most universities. A handful of selective programmes — the more competitive engineering and business tracks — pitch a point or half-band higher, but the TOEFL 83–88 / IELTS 6.5 band covers the great majority.

Bachelor’s degrees are where Denmark surprises people, and it is the single most-missed rule in Danish admissions. Several universities — the University of Southern Denmark prominently among them — do not accept TOEFL or IELTS at all for the English-language requirement at bachelor’s level. Instead they require advanced-level English from your school-leaving qualification, equivalent to the Danish upper-secondary level “English B”, or a Cambridge C1 Advanced certificate. In practice that means a strong English component on your IB, A-levels or national diploma can be the proof, and a TOEFL score you paid for may not count. The rule genuinely varies by university and by level, so you check the named programme page before you book any test.

The practical move for a master’s applicant is to book IELTS or TOEFL for the autumn so your score is in hand well before the typical 15 January master’s deadline, with time to retake if a section falls short. If you are deciding which test to sit, our TOEFL versus IELTS guide lays out the differences for European admissions. Full timed practice with feedback is what closes the gap on the writing and speaking sections: you can run complete TOEFL iBT mock tests with AI-graded speaking and writing in our TOEFL app.

English Language Requirements at a Glance

Source: studyindenmark.dk and university programme pages, 2025/2026; University of Southern Denmark English-requirements guidance. Confirm the exact rule on your specific programme.

How to find and apply to English-taught programmes

Finding English-taught programmes in Denmark starts at the official portal, studyindenmark.dk, run by the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science, which lets you filter programmes by language of instruction and links straight through to each university’s course pages. The commercial Studyportals catalogue covers the same programmes with more editorial detail and student reviews, which is useful for shortlisting. But the portal you apply through depends on your level, and this is where Denmark differs from Sweden’s single-portal system.

For a bachelor’s degree, you apply through the national portal optagelse.dk, where you rank up to eight programme choices across all Danish universities in order of preference; the hard deadline is 15 March at 12:00 noon for the September intake, and offers are released on 28 July. The system places you on the highest-ranked programme whose grade threshold you clear, so put your dream programme first. Bachelor’s admission is largely number-driven — your school-leaving qualification is converted onto the Danish 7-point scale and tested against each programme’s published grade threshold, with no interview or personal essay for most courses.

For a master’s degree, you apply directly to each university’s own portal, not optagelse.dk, with your CV, bachelor’s transcript and diploma supplement (sworn translation where required), a short motivation letter and your proof of English. Deadlines are typically 15 January for the main international round or 1 March, well before the bachelor’s cycle. Programmes look for a relevant bachelor’s of at least 180 ECTS with the right prerequisite subjects — for an engineering master’s at DTU, for example, a minimum amount of mathematics is non-negotiable, so check the prerequisites before you fall in love with a programme. The SAT is needed for none of this; it matters only if you are running a parallel US application, in which case our SAT scores for European universities guide sets out where it helps and you can prepare the digital SAT in our SAT app.

What an English-taught degree costs

The cost of an English-taught degree in Denmark is identical to a Danish-taught one — there is no English-language premium — and it forks entirely by citizenship. For an EU, EEA or Swiss student, tuition is 0 DKK, on an English master’s just as on a Danish bachelor’s, at every public university. The whole cost is then living, and Denmark is not cheap: roughly DKK 10,000–12,000 a month in Copenhagen and DKK 6,000–9,000 in Odense or Aalborg, driven mostly by rent. Eligible EU students who hold worker status (generally by working about 10–12 hours a week) can also draw the SU state grant of about DKK 7,426 a month, which can offset much of that. Over a two-year English master’s in a regional city, that is a free degree from a serious research university with living costs an EU student can largely fund through SU and part-time work.

For a non-EU student, tuition applies and is set per programme: roughly DKK 45,000–120,000 a year (about EUR 6,000–16,000), the same figure whether the teaching is in English or Danish (studyindenmark.dk). Add the same DKK 6,000–12,000 a month in living costs depending on the city, a study residence permit (fee around DKK 3,060) and a 90-hour monthly work cap, and budget assuming you pay full tuition — the Danish Government Scholarships and Erasmus Mundus awards are competitive and partial. Even so, a non-EU English master’s at a top-110 Danish university typically lands below the UK or US equivalent, and the three-year Establishment Card afterward gives you time to convert the degree into a Danish job.

English-Taught Degree, What It Costs Per Year

Tuition + living, 2025/26. EU/EEA/Swiss pay no tuition; non-EU figures add on top. There is no extra cost for studying in English.

Source: studyindenmark.dk for non-EU tuition; su.dk for the SU rate; living-cost estimates for Copenhagen vs regional cities. EUR figures approximate at DKK 7.46/EUR. Non-EU tuition is set per programme and rises most years — confirm on the programme page.

The Danish-language question — for the degree versus for the job

Here is the part the programme brochures underplay. You do not need Danish to earn an English-taught degree, and you do not need it for daily life: Denmark ranks near the top of the world on the EF English Proficiency Index, and lectures, exams, supervision, banking and admin all run in English without friction. For the two years of an English master’s, you can live entirely in English, and most international students largely do.

Danish matters for exactly one thing, and it matters a lot: the job afterwards. In Copenhagen’s larger employers — Novo Nordisk, Maersk, Ørsted, the tech and fintech scene — you can build a career in English, and many graduates do, especially in engineering, life sciences and IT. Step outside those, into the wider Danish economy or the public sector, and employers expect Danish; even inside the international firms it widens your options sharply and helps the social side, because the social world still runs in Danish even though everyone speaks English. Universities offer free or subsidised Danish courses, and the single most useful thing I tell families is to treat that course as part of the career plan, not an optional extra. The students who start Danish in week one of an English master’s, rather than waiting until they begin job-hunting, graduate into a noticeably wider market — and, for non-EU graduates, a stronger position on the Establishment Card. The degree is in English; the career is easier in Danish.

How College Council helps

We built College Council to take the two things that most often derail an international application — weak test preparation and a chaotic, last-minute process — off your plate. For an English-taught degree in Denmark, the gate is usually the language score, and it is the most controllable variable you have. Our TOEFL app delivers full TOEFL iBT practice tests with AI-graded speaking and writing feedback, so you clear the TOEFL 83–88 / IELTS 6.5 hurdle with room to spare. If your plan also spans the US, our SAT app runs the full digital SAT with adaptive practice — useful precisely because Denmark does not need the SAT, so you only invest in it if a parallel US application makes it worthwhile.

Beyond the apps, the judgement calls are where families get stuck: whether a given programme is genuinely English-taught end to end, whether a bachelor’s programme needs a TOEFL or “English B” from your school-leaving qualification, whether your background fits a selective master’s, and how to sequence the master’s portal, the residence permit and the proof-of-funds account without missing a deadline. Those are the questions we work through on data — College Council holds every university, its admission requirements and how to get in. Create a free account and check your fit at app.college-council.com/register, or run your profile against real programmes at our chances tool.

Explore every Danish university in our Atlas. The eight above are the deepest English-taught options, but they are not the whole map: the College Council Atlas holds the full set of Danish institutions with programmes, language of instruction, location and admission data — the same dataset behind this guide. Filter for English-taught programmes before you lock in your shortlist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary — is an English-taught degree in Denmark right for you?

If you want a master’s in English, Denmark is among the strongest choices in Europe: hundreds of English-taught programmes taught by world-class faculty, free of tuition for EU students and fairly priced for everyone else, with the supply of English places actively growing again after the 2021 cuts. The cohorts pull from across the world, the teaching is fully in English, the group-project culture that Aalborg made famous teaches you to work the way Danish employers actually work, and the degree opens onto one of Europe’s highest-paying, most international job markets — pharma, wind energy, shipping, fintech. The only real friction is housing in Copenhagen, which you tackle the day you are admitted.

If you want a bachelor’s in English, calibrate your expectations: the offer is real but small, concentrated at the IT University of Copenhagen, Aalborg, Copenhagen Business School and a few others, and the English-language proof is the trap — many bachelor’s programmes (the University of Southern Denmark included) want advanced English from your school-leaving qualification rather than a TOEFL score, so check each programme individually. For a wider English bachelor’s menu, the Netherlands still has more on offer. Start from the master’s-versus-bachelor’s split, filter studyindenmark.dk by language, and build the rest of your plan — costs, the SU grant, the residence permit — from the complete Denmark guide. The master’s cycle for an autumn start often closes by 15 January, so the work begins now.

Next Steps

1. Decide your level — English master’s (deep choice, growing supply) or English bachelor’s (short list, check the language-proof rule); the whole plan follows from this.
2. Filter the portal — open studyindenmark.dk, set language of instruction to English, and shortlist programmes by field and university.
3. Confirm the English rule before you book a test — master’s want TOEFL iBT 83–88 or IELTS 6.5; some bachelor’s accept advanced-level “English B” from your school-leaving qualification instead. Prepare in our TOEFL app and sit the test in the autumn.
4. Check the prerequisites — confirm your prior subjects or bachelor’s degree meet each programme’s specific entry rules (DTU master’s, for instance, demand a minimum of mathematics), and write the motivation letter for the named programme.
5. Run your profile — create a free account at College Council and test your chances at our chances tool; browse the full set in the Atlas.

Read Also

• Study in Denmark: complete guide for international students — the parent guide: costs, the SU grant, permits, scholarships and the full system
• Best universities in Denmark (2026 rankings) — the same universities ranked by QS, with what each is known for
• English-taught degrees in the Netherlands — the other big English-taught EU destination, with a deeper bachelor’s offer
• Study in Scandinavia: free tuition and top universities — Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway compared
• TOEFL 2026 versus IELTS for European universities — which English test to sit for the language gate

Sources and Methodology

This guide focuses on the language of instruction at Danish universities. University strengths and rankings are drawn from the QS World University Rankings 2026 and cross-checked against College Council’s Atlas dataset of Danish higher-education institutions. The English offer is described at the institutional level (where English teaching is concentrated) rather than asserting a fixed count of programmes per university, because programme catalogues and languages of instruction change every admission cycle — always confirm a specific programme’s language and English requirement on its own page. The policy timeline (the 2021 cuts and the 2023 reversal reopening English-taught places) and high-stakes current-cycle figures (tuition, deadlines, language thresholds) were verified against Danish government, ministry and university sources, and reputable higher-education reporting, in 2026.

1. Study in Denmark — Official guide for international students (EU/EEA tuition-free; non-EU tuition DKK 45,000–120,000; programme language filter; portals)
2. optagelse.dk — National bachelor’s admissions portal (up to 8 ranked choices, 15 March noon deadline, 28 July offers)
3. The Local Denmark / Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science — Denmark to boost English-language university places and which universities offer the new international places (≈1,100 new places/year 2024–28, ≈2,500/year from 2029, concentrated at master’s level)
4. University World News — Ministry approves 800 new English-taught STEM study places (2025 round, on top of the 2023 agreement)
5. University of Southern Denmark — Admission and English requirements (TOEFL/IELTS not accepted at bachelor’s level; advanced-level “English B” or Cambridge C1 required)
6. Technical University of Denmark — DTU international master’s admissions (English-taught MSc portfolio; engineering prerequisites)
7. QS / TopUniversities — QS World University Rankings 2026 (Copenhagen #101, DTU #107, Aarhus #131, SDU #303, Aalborg ≈#306)
8. EF Education First — EF English Proficiency Index (Denmark consistently among the world’s top English-proficiency countries)
9. College Council — Atlas higher-education dataset (Danish HEI location, programme and admission data) and internal advising experience with international applicant families