The Bergenstest, ( ) also known as Test i norsk - høyere nivå, was a test for proficiency in the

Norwegian language Norwegian ( ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken mainly in Norway, where it is an official language. Along with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a dialect continuum of more or less mutually intelli ...

, with variants available for both

bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...

and

nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

. It was discontinued in October 2022 and replaced by the Norwegian test. The test was nationally approved and was a pre-requisite for non-native speakers who wish to study at a tertiary education institute (college or universities) in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Citizens who have Swedish or Danish as their native language were not required to undertake this test as proof of Norwegian language competence. It was a pass/fail test with written and oral sections which were intended to be passed by someone with an advanced grasp of the language, equivalent to a B2/C1 reference level under the

Common European Framework of Reference for Languages The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, abbreviated in English as CEFR, CEF, or CEFRL, is a guideline used to describe achievements of learners of foreign languages across Europe and, increasingl ...

. The test could be taken several times a year at various educational institutes around the country, and also twice a year abroad in April and October. Those who passed the test can apply to study at a Norwegian university or college for courses taught in Norwegian.

References

{{Language tests Norwegian language tests education-stub