IT University of Copenhagen (ITU) for international applicants: bachelor entry in 2027

ITU has four bachelor programmes, but its page says only the programme in Data Science is open to international students; you apply through Optagelse.dk by 15 March at 12.00 noon CET with a foreign school-leaving exam, and non-EU/EEA students pay EUR 8,250 per semester (admitted in 2026).

For a reader abroad the practical question is which of the programmes you can enter. Data Science is taught in English, needs Mathematics at Danish level A with an average mark of at least 6.0 and had a quota 1 admission quotient of 5.9 in the 2026 round. The other three programmes are described further down, with the Danish-language requirements they carry.

The key facts by topic

Rules that catch applicants out

• All applicants with a foreign exam must apply on the quota 2 deadline, even when the exam also qualifies for quota 1.
• Without a MitID you must print, sign and scan a signature page for each programme and send it by email.
• Certificates from non-EU/EEA countries need English test scores, and ITU has no legal basis to grant exemptions from the English test for them.
• From the 2027 admission round Software Development requires a GPA of at least 6.0 in quota 1 and quota 2.

Atrium of the IT University of Copenhagen

Does ITU name the 2027 round?

Only twice. ITU names the 2027 round for the Software Development GPA rule (starting from the 2027 admission round) and gives the date of the open house on Thursday, 4 February 2027. Every other date on the pages carries no year, so this article writes it as the latest published date and tells you where a date comes from.

ITU reports 2945 students in 2025, of them 1120 bachelor students, and 23,4% of its students are international.

The numbers below come from ITU's own key-figures page, the 2025 edition. ITU's international students page adds that students come from more than 70 nationalities and that most programmes are taught in English; read that sentence together with the rule that only Data Science is open to international applicants at bachelor level.

Key figures

Profile

ITU was set up as an IT university for Denmark: its own history page says it is Denmark's youngest university, celebrating its 20th anniversary, and it received its first 150 students at the end of August 1999. The campus is centrally located on Amager in Copenhagen in a building designed by the architect Henning Larsen.

ITU offers four bachelor programmes: Data Science and Global Business Informatics are taught in English, Software Development is taught in Danish and Digital Design and Interactive Technologies is primarily taught in Danish.

This split decides who can use the page. ITU states that only the programme in Data Science is open to international students, so the English-taught Data Science bachelor is the route the rest of this article follows for foreign applicants, and the other programmes appear where their rules differ.

Programmes at a glance

A bachelor degree is a Bachelor of Science: Bachelor of Science (BSc) for Data Science. Workload is counted in ECTS credits, where one ECTS is about 27.5 hours. After a bachelor, ITU gives you three years of legal right to admission to its master programmes for graduates after 1 January 2019.

Data Science for foreign applicants

Data Science asks for no programming background when you apply: you do not need any experience with programming. ITU lists exchange partners for it, for example University of Technology Sydney, City University of Hong Kong, Technical University of Munich and Maastricht University.

ITU says that its graduates quickly find employment, usually in good and well-paid jobs.

Many students start working while they study: many begin their career with a student job. ITU runs a job fair, IT Match Making, held twice a year, for student jobs, internships and company projects.

Data Science graduates

For Data Science, ITU describes demand as high across a wide variety of industries and in both the private and the public sector. Staying on for a master is the other path: direct access to an ITU MSc for three years after graduation. Questions about the career side go to studentadvisors@itu.dk.

For the 2026 round, quota 1 admitted applicants with a quotient of 5.9 in Data Science, 4.3 in Software Development, 7.2 in Digital Design and 7.3 in Global Business Informatics.

ITU itself warns that the GPA changes from year to year. Treat the figures as a picture of one round, not as a bar to clear. The quotient is a Danish 7-point scale average; your own grades are converted onto it (see the qualifying exams chapter).

Quotients, applicants and admitted, 2026

Data Science drew the most applicants: 595 applicants for 100 admitted.

Quota split and international share

In Data Science 80% of admitted students came through quota 1 and 20% through quota 2, and 73% were international. The other programmes were far less international: 10% in Digital Design, 8% in Global Business Informatics and 11% in Software Development. ITU adds that for Data Science no spots were left and it keeps no standby places.

If your GPA is not high enough for admission in quota 1, you can apply through quota 2 and be assessed on other criteria; with a foreign exam, you apply on the quota 2 deadline and ITU recommends a cover letter.

In quota 1 the assessment rests solely on your GPA, while in quota 2 it rests on your motivational cover letter and your grades in Mathematics and English. A European applicant is assessed in quota 1, quota 2 or both, depending on which quota the exam qualifies for. For non-European applicants the page says ITU assesses the cover letter and grades in Mathematics and English.

Which exams reach which quota

Exams from non-EU/EEA countries qualify for quota 2 only. IB, the European Baccalaureate and most EU/EEA school-leaving exams listed on the ITU page qualify for quota 1 and 2. Some exams have a condition: a German GDR exam qualifies for quota 2 only.

How quota 2 is weighted

The weighting is 50% your grades in English and Mathematics and 50% the cover letter. The Danish-language page adds that your Danish grade also counts in quota 2, except for Data Science and Global Business Informatics. A quota 2 application is automatically assessed in quota 1 as well, and you still must meet the specific admission requirements.

ITU requires a passed qualifying examination, and its list of foreign exams puts IB and most EU/EEA school-leaving exams in quota 1 and 2, while exams from non-EU/EEA countries go to quota 2 only.

The ITU list is not exhaustive. The table covers the credentials ITU names for several countries, plus the IB and the European Baccalaureate. Grade numbers are ITU's conversion onto the Danish 7-point scale; ITU warns that the conversion scale might change every third year around 1 March.

Credentials and grade conversion

IB Diploma

With the IB, the deadline is 15 March at 12:00 noon CET regardless of quota. If you finish the IB in the year you apply, your IB coordinator must register you in IBIS, and you must give that permission by 1 May, using ITU's institution code 003934. For Mathematics A the page accepts Mathematics HL, Analysis and approaches HL and Applications and interpretation HL; the standard-level versions count as Mathematics B. English can come from English A1, A2 or B, at HL or SL.

Other EU/EEA exams

For these exams ITU asks for teaching hours: at least 210 hours of 60 minutes for English B and 375 hours of 60 minutes for Mathematics A over the last three years, with a verification form. Applicants with an IB, EB or GCSE A-level are exempt from the verification form.

Exams from non-EU/EEA countries

For almost every such exam you must add one year of higher education or two supplementary courses. The page asks for an English test for English B and 375 hours of Mathematics A, and your grade level is assessed individually when you apply. A UK, US, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand certificate is on the list that does not need the English test (see the English chapter).

Data Science needs English B with 6.0 and Mathematics A with 6.0 and no Danish (Intet dansk-krav); Global Business Informatics, Digital Design and Software Development all add Danish A, passed.

In the Danish system level A is the highest level obtainable. Grades are on the Danish 7-point scale, and ITU calculates your subject average from all your grades in that subject.

Requirements per programme

On top of the subjects there is an overall GPA minimum: at least 2,0 for all bachelor programmes in the 2026 round, and from the 2027 round at least 6.0 in both quotas for Software Development.

How foreign levels are converted

ITU converts the level and grade of your Mathematics and English into Danish levels and asks for a verification form when the 60-minute teaching hours are not stated. University mathematics can count only if you apply for an exemption by the 15 March deadline.

Danish A without Danish school

You meet Danish A with an upper secondary certificate from Denmark, Sweden or Norway, or with the IB if you passed Danish, Swedish or Norwegian A1 or A Literature, or Danish B at higher level; Danish B at standard level and Danish ab initio do not count. Another route is Studieprøven i Dansk with at least 02 in each of the three parts. For Global Business Informatics only, the Danish final exam from primary school or a Danes World Wide certificate also counts.

Applicants with an upper secondary certificate from a non-EU/EEA country must submit an English test, except those from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or the United Kingdom.

ITU has no legal basis to grant exemptions from the English test for non-EU/EEA certificates, whatever the nationality and even if English was the language of instruction. Separately, an approved English test can also meet the specific English requirement.

Accepted tests and minimum scores

What ITU does not accept, and validity

ITU does not accept TOEFL MyBest Scores or IELTS One Skill Retake. Results more than two years old on 5 July are not considered; the limit does not apply to CPE and CAE. ITU's TOEFL code is 9015, department code 99.

EU/EEA certificates and the programme language

With an EU/EEA exam, English B is checked through 210 teaching hours of 60 minutes over the last three years. Data Science asks for English B with an average of at least 6.0, or English A passed, and Global Business Informatics adds that you must be proficient in oral and written English because the programme is taught in English.

You apply on Optagelse.dk, the Danish national application system; ITU keeps separate step-by-step guides for European and non-European applicants.

The steps below follow the non-European guide, which is the longer one. A European applicant skips the fee and the English test (unless the certificate is non-EU/EEA).

Step by step

• Pay the application fee: EUR 150, with the receipt attached; nothing is assessed until the Admissions Office receives the payment.
• Write the cover letter: in English, at most one A4 page; Data Science uses a specific template, also in English.
• Gather the documents: the certificate with diploma and transcripts, translated into English by a certified translator unless they are in English, Norwegian or Swedish; a passport scan and a verification form signed and stamped by your school.
• Apply on Optagelse.dk. Without a MitID, sign a signature page per programme and email it to admission@itu.dk by 15 March at 12:00 noon CET; ITU cannot process the application before it arrives.
• Receive the result: by 10 June for non-European applicants.

IT University of Copenhagen building

Extra documents and what not to send

A non-EU/EEA applicant may also need an English test and documentation for a residence permit in Denmark. ITU does not want plane tickets, extracurricular certificates or references. If something is missing, ITU contacts you by email before 5 July; questions go to admission@itu.dk.

Pre-assessment

The English page states that ITU does not currently conduct pre-assessments of qualifications, while the Danish page describes pre-assessments of foreign exams from 1 October to 30 November, with a reply that may take until 31 January. Since the two pages differ, ask admission@itu.dk before relying on either.

If you apply to several programmes

Conditional admission has a price: any programme you ranked lower in your application then lapses.

For a foreign exam the decisive date is 15 March at 12:00 noon CET, with the portal opening on 1 February; ITU names no year on these dates, so check Optagelse.dk for the exact 2027 calendar.

Dates below are the latest published calendar. ITU also says that it only has a summer intake, meaning one start a year, with introduction days in week 34 and the semester starting in week 35.

Other dates

The international-applicant deadline also covers exemption requests, re-enrolment and documentation for fee-paying applicants. An extended documentation deadline runs to 7 July at 12:00 noon CET; tell ITU before 5 July if documents will be late. Applying with a Danish exam and only for quota 1? The Danish page asks you to submit at the earliest on 16 March.

Visit before you apply

ITU's open house for the bachelor programmes is on Thursday, 4 February 2027; study advisors present quota 2 and motivated applications there.

Quota 2 weighs your grades in English and Mathematics at 50% and your cover letter at 50% to judge your possibility of completing the programme with a satisfactory result.

The pages describe the selection as grades plus a cover letter. They describe no separate admission test and no interview, so what you control is the cover letter and the grades in the two subjects.

What the cover letter must contain

ITU wants your personal motivation: why this bachelor, why you are eligible, and what you might work with in the future. It should be specific rather than general and related to the field of study, and ITU recommends one for every application so you can be assessed in both quotas. It is mandatory for quota 2 applicants.

Language and length

In English, at most one A4 page; Data Science uses its own template. The Danish page lists the languages by programme: Danish, Norwegian or Swedish for Software Development and Digital Design, English for Global Business Informatics.

If you miss a subject level or grade, ITU lets you supplement in either quota and apply for recognition, but recognition must be requested before 15 March at 12:00 noon CET, even for quota 1.

Supplementary courses in Denmark are given by VUC, and the teaching language is typically Danish. For Mathematics there are English options: Niels Brock sometimes offers Mathematics B in English, Solrød Gymnasium offers Cambridge AS and A level exams in November and two online mathematics courses from the University of Amsterdam are accepted.

Level naming and grades

Mind the names: the UvA course Mathematics B corresponds to Danish level A, and Mathematics A to Danish level B, and for 6.0 you need at least 8 on the Dutch scale. International AS and A levels work too: an A level in Mathematics equals Danish A and an AS level equals Danish B, with at least a C for 6.0.

Conditional admission

Summer courses are only for applicants exempt from paying tuition. With a supplementary course or an English test taken in the summer you can be admitted conditionally if you show enrolment by 5 July at 12:00 noon CET and the pass by 1 September.

Recognition and exemptions

Recognition needs both elements of a requirement: your qualifications must fulfil level and grade; work experience is not considered. A low GPA can be adjusted for documented special circumstances such as illness. With a completed master you are admitted only if places are vacant; an exemption form must be sent by 15 March at 12:00 noon CET.

Applicants with citizenship outside the EU and the EEA pay application and tuition fees: EUR 8,250 per semester for applicants admitted in 2026, EUR 49,500 for the three-year bachelor.

The tuition figure is the latest published, for applicants admitted in 2026; ITU names no 2027 rate. EU/EEA citizens, Swiss citizens, bilateral exchange students and US students with a Fulbright scholarship pay no tuition.

Application fee

The fee is EUR 150 for one or more bachelor programmes in the same round. It is deducted from your first tuition payment if you are admitted, and non-refundable if unsuccessful or if you decline.

Paying tuition

Payment dates: 5 January and 5 August, with no instalments; currency DKK or EUR. You pay full tuition regardless of how many courses you take, and you may extend by two semesters without extra tuition. If you leave, tuition is reimbursed if you withdraw before the end of week 34 in the autumn term.

Who is exempt

Residence permits that remove the fee include a permanent permit or a permanent permit in another Nordic country and the special act permit for displaced persons from Ukraine; citizens of EU/EEA/Switzerland do not pay.

Living costs

ITU's own estimate is 6.500 DKK a month, about 870 euros, at the exchange rate of November 2019, so treat it as dated.

ITU states that it does not offer scholarships to bachelor students.

The same sentence appears on the non-European applicant page: no scholarships for bachelor students. The fee exemptions that exist are tied to status, not to merit: bilateral exchange students and US students with a Fulbright scholarship pay no tuition.

Proof of funds and Danish grants

For the residence permit the Danish Immigration Service asks tuition-paying students to demonstrate funds. The Danish SU student grant is a separate scheme: you can only apply for SU from August.

ITU offers dorm rooms to some international full degree students in their first or second semester, first come, first served, and enrolment at ITU is a precondition for renting.

There are 33 single rooms and 4 rooms for couples, all fully furnished. You cannot get an offer early: ITU cannot offer housing until the admission results are known.

Rent

Signalhuset costs 4141 to 4425 DKK a month plus 250 DKK service fee; Øresundskollegiet single rooms cost 3923 to 3973 DKK plus 250 DKK service fee. Rents are the figures on a dated page.

Periods and deadlines

The autumn period runs 15 July to 31 January, and first-semester full degree students can rent two semesters. Full degree students apply by 1 June for the autumn semester (the page's own dated entry is for Autumn 2026).

Everything happens on one campus: teaching, group work and student life all take place under one roof, with the DR Byen metro station about 500 metres away.

The campus has labs for 3D printing, virtual reality, robotics, game development and data processing, and the Friday bar ScrollBar is run by student volunteers. New students start with introduction days in week 34.

Residence permit and insurance

Non-EU students need a residence permit for stays over three months, with a processing time of up to 2 months; ITU starts part 1 of the application. EU/EEA students can get their permit after arrival. Health cover comes automatically through the CPR number after three months, but not during the first six weeks for non-EU students.

Community

The student body spans more than 70 nationalities, and the political voice of students is the Student Council, run by students.

ITU suits an applicant who wants an English-taught IT degree in Copenhagen through Data Science, the programme open to international students, with Mathematics at Danish level A and a 6.0 average.

The bar is set by grades and the cover letter, the cost for a non-EU/EEA student is high, and there is no bachelor scholarship. The latest quotient for Data Science was 5.9, and 73% of the admitted were international.

What to remember

ITU decides alone, and the rules of the 2027 round can change: the one change already announced is the GPA of 6.0 for Software Development.

Official pages of IT University of Copenhagen, UCAS, gov.uk and the ranking publishers. Applicant reports, where shown, are self-reported and labelled.

Bachelor’s programmes at the IT University of Copenhagen | Take your IT degree at ITU · Applying for a bachelor’s programme at the IT University of Copenhagen · Non-European applicant · Specific admission requirements · English language requirements and supplementary courses · Application and tuition fees · https://en.itu.dk/Programmes/Open-House/BSc · Bachelor’s degree in Data Science | Take your IT degree at ITU · Bachelor’s degree in Software Development | Take your IT degree at ITU · Key Figures · International students at ITU · The story of ITU · Campus | IT University of Copenhagen · Bachelor’s degree in Digital Design and Interactive Technologies | Take your IT degree at ITU · Bachelor’s degree in Global Business Informatics | Take your IT degree at ITU · Career with an IT degree from ITU · Practical information · European Applicant (EU/EEA/Swiss) · General admission requirements · Kvote 2 · Student med udenlandsk studentereksamen · https://itu.dk/Uddannelser/Bacheloruddannelser/Saadan-soeger-du-ind-BSc/Adgangskrav · Bachelor i Data Science | Tag din it-uddannelse på ITU · Bachelor i Global Business Informatics | Tag din it-uddannelse på ITU · Bachelor i Digital Design og Interaktive Teknologier | Tag din it-uddannelse på ITU · Bachelor i Softwareudvikling | Tag din it-uddannelse på ITU · Application deadlines and important dates · https://itu.dk/Uddannelser/Bacheloruddannelser/Saadan-soeger-du-ind-BSc/Kvote-1 · Recognition and exemptions · Special Educational Support · Study start at ITU · Student organisations at ITU

Photos: The IT University of Copenhagen on Amager, with the Ørestad canal: photo Christian Rasmussen from Copenhagen S, Denmark, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons · Atrium of the IT University of Copenhagen: photo Marie-Louise Valsted, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons · IT University of Copenhagen building: photo Uploaded on October 1, 2005; by La Petite Claudine, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons