PD3 Pass Rule: Oral Counts Double, 2.0 Is Not Rounded (Calculator)

Prøve i Dansk 3 (PD3) gives you three separate grades: reading comprehension (læseforståelse), written production (skriftlig fremstilling) and oral communication (mundtlig kommunikation), which includes listening comprehension. You pass if the average is at least 2.0, with the oral grade counted twice. That is the rule in BEK nr 1687/2025 §48 stk.2 and bilag 1 pt 3.7, and it is how SIRI’s own PD3 page explains it [official].

The grading regulation adds the line that decides the close cases. BEK nr 1759/2024 §12 stk.2 says: “Kravet om et gennemsnit på mindst 2,0 kan ikke opfyldes ved afrunding” — the 2.0 requirement cannot be met by rounding [official]. An average just under 2.0 is a fail, however it is printed.

Official: BEK 1687/2025 §48 stk.2; BEK 1759/2024 §12 stk.2. The writing grade has an internal floor of its own — see below.

Written out, the average is (reading + writing + 2 × oral) ÷ 4. SIRI’s worked example is reading 4, writing 7 and oral 10, which it gives as 7.8 [official: SIRI PD3 page]. Our arithmetic: 4 + 7 + 20 = 31, and 31 ÷ 4 = 7.75. The regulation says averages are given to one decimal (BEK 1759 §13 stk.2), and 7.75 to one decimal is 7.8.

Our arithmetic from the official rule: every PD3 grade is a whole number and the oral is doubled, so the weighted total is always a whole number, and dividing by 4 means the average can only move in steps of a quarter — …, 1.5, 1.75, 2.0, 2.25, … The nearest possible miss is therefore 1.75. Written to one decimal with ordinary rounding it would read 1.8, yet it fails, because the 2.0 cannot be reached by rounding.

Many explanations of Danish grade averages use 1.95 as their example of a near miss. For PD3 that number cannot occur. We have not seen a real PD3 certificate for a 1.75 case, so we cannot say how SIRI prints it; what matters is that the regulation decides on the exact average, not the printed one.

The striking row is the third. An oral grade of 7 passes PD3 on its own: even with -3 in both reading and writing, (-3 - 3 + 14) ÷ 4 = 2.0. That is our arithmetic, but it follows directly from the official formula, and it is why oral preparation pays twice. The mirror image holds too: a candidate with -3 in the oral needs 7 and 7 on paper just to reach the line.

The pass rule sets no minimum per part, but the writing grade itself does. Writing has two tasks and one grade, and bilag 1 pt 3.23 says the second task (the longer text, at least 200 words) is decisive: if only the first task is answered, or the second is not passed, the writing grade cannot be 02 or higher [official]. So skipping the 200-word task caps writing at 00 at best, and it may be -3; the oral then has to make up the difference. The calculator’s tick box shows both cases. The written day is covered in detail in the PD3 written exam guide.

Each part is graded by an examiner and a censor together. If they cannot agree, each gives a grade and the result is the average of the two, rounded to the nearest grade on the scale; an exact midpoint goes up only if the censor gave the higher grade, otherwise down (BEK 1759 §11 stk.2) [official]. Note the difference: rounding is used to settle a single grade between two assessors, but never to lift the overall average to 2.0.

SIRI’s complaints guidance says that after each sitting it runs statistical analyses of a large number of selected answers and then adjusts the table that converts points to grades (“omregningstabellen fra point til karakter”) [official: SIRI complaints guide]. The guidance does not say which parts are scored in points; the official reading answer keys do award points per answer [official: SIRI sample keys], while the writing and oral grades are set by an examiner and a censor (BEK 1687 §33) [official]. SIRI’s practical guide for providers adds that, straight after the written test, SIRI checks a sample of answers (the “forcensur”) and sends the result together with a conversion table to the appointed censors and the providers, and that the result is confidential [official: SIRI practical guide]. So the table exists for each sitting but is not published to candidates: you cannot know in advance how many reading points give 02, and a fixed cutoff quoted elsewhere is not an official figure. Work from grades, as the calculator does.

The written and the oral part belong to the same term. The exception is documented illness: a part you miss because you were ill may be taken in a later term, at half the fee (BEK 1687 §10 stk.2 and §12 stk.5) [official]. If you simply fail, there is no carrying over: you register again for a new term, pay a new fee and sit all three parts again [official: SIRI registration page]. We found no limit on the number of attempts.

SIRI’s PD3 page warns that in some contexts more than 02 is required, overall or in single parts [official]. The clearest case is healthcare authorisation: the Danish Patient Safety Authority (STPS) says that, as a rule (“som udgangspunkt”), doctors, nurses and dentists trained outside the EU/EEA must pass PD3 with oral 10, reading 7 and writing 7, lists exemptions, and lets those grades come from different sittings [official: STPS]. That is covered in the self-study, fee and pass-rate guide.

For citizenship the general rule is a passed PD3 (circular 9461 §24, UIM). For permanent residence, PD2 is the basic language condition and a passed PD3 is one of the four supplementary conditions (Udlændingeloven §11, nyidanmark.dk) [official]. Where these texts refer to PD3 they ask for a pass and name no grade, so our reading is that a bare 2.0 counts there. Which of those routes needs PD3 at all is in PD2 or PD3 for permanent residence and citizenship.