Studieprøven Written Exam: Reading in 90 Minutes, a 400-Word Essay

The written part of Studieprøven is taken on a single day and gives you two grades: reading comprehension and written production. SIRI fixes one written day per test per term, and Studieprøven has the first of the four: in winter 2026 it is Monday 9 November 2026, followed by PD3 on 10 November, PD2 on 11 November and PD1 on 12 November [official: SIRI dates page]. The written tests start at 09:00 (SIRI practical guide).

SIRI’s practical guide for providers sets out the Studieprøven day in order: reading 1, collected after 25 minutes; a break of about 10 minutes; reading 2, collected after 65 minutes; a break of about 15 minutes; written production, collected after 3 hours. It gives the total as “4 ½ time (ekskl. pause)” — four and a half hours excluding breaks [official].

Official: BEK 1687/2025 bilag 1 pt 4.9, 4.20 and 4.22; SIRI practical guide, edition of 11 May 2026.

Reading has three delprøver, and delprøve 2 has two tasks, A and B (bilag 1 pt 4.8–4.16). No aids are allowed in reading, and no dictionaries [official: SIRI]. The regulation says the texts for all three delprøver total 30–35 standard pages (pt 4.17). SIRI’s candidate page describes each task:

Our arithmetic: 25 + 2.5 + 2.5 + 2 = 32 standard pages, inside the regulation’s 30–35. Delprøve 1 is the odd one out: it is the only task with written answers, and the only one where reading everything is a mistake. SIRI’s advice is explicit — find the places where the requested information stands; you should not read the whole collection, and you should not add information the question did not ask for [official].

SIRI turns total points into a grade with a table it adjusts after each sitting and does not publish [official: SIRI complaints guide], so the points above cannot tell you what a 02 needs. Our arithmetic: across the four samples that is 15 + 10 + 10 + 20 = 55 points, but a sample’s scoring is not a promise about every sitting. What they do show is where the weight sits in the sample: a delprøve 3 gap is worth twice a delprøve 1 answer. Timing matters more than any single item. Delprøve 1 is collected after 25 minutes whatever you have done, and the remaining three tasks share 65 minutes, so decide in advance how you split them.

You get a booklet with three tasks and answer one (bilag 1 pt 4.21). Each task starts from factual information in a chart or table plus a very short text introducing the topic. The topics are always society-related; SIRI’s examples from earlier papers are social inequality, corruption in different countries and climate change [official: SIRI]. They can be answered from general knowledge of society — SIRI says the censors do not grade how much you know about the topic.

The regulation’s minimum is 400 words (pt 4.22). SIRI’s sample task “Opgave 3 Forbrug” — private consumption 1966–2015, with a comparison of 1955 and 2015 — adds one more line under the last point: “Besvarelsen af dette punkt skal udgøre mindst 25 % af den samlede besvarelse” (this point must make up at least 25% of the whole answer) [official: sample]. That rule is printed in the sample, not in the regulation. Our arithmetic: 25% of 400 words is 100 words, so a 400-word answer that follows the sample gives at least 100 words to the position you take.

SIRI is blunt about staying on topic: an answer must address all four points, and text about something the task did not ask for “tæller ikke med” — does not count — so the censors can find that the task, or part of it, was not answered [official]. They grade how precisely and with how much nuance you answer the four points, how easy the text is to read, and whether errors get in the way of meaning. The regulation’s version (pt 4.23) adds analysing and conveying factual information briefly, reasoning, putting in perspective, assessing, giving examples and arguing for a stated view.

The provider must have Danish-Danish dictionaries and Danish spelling dictionaries in the room (bilag 2 pt 3.2), but you are responsible for bringing your own aids and pens. If you are unsure whether your dictionary is allowed, SIRI asks you to check with the provider well before the day. On a computer you save your own work as you go (bilag 3 pt 4.3).

Special conditions — extra time, IT aids for dyslexia and others — are applied for with the provider at least 8 weeks before the term. For an impairment that is not obvious you need documentation from a doctor, psychologist, vision consultant or other expert, normally no more than 2 years old; for a permanent one, such as dyslexia, it does not expire [official: SIRI special-conditions page]. Registration and fees are in the self-study and registration guide.

Both written grades must be 02 or above in the same term (§48 stk.3). If one of them misses, you sit the written part again — reading and writing — even if the other grade was good; the reasoning is in the pass rule guide. That makes the written day the part to plan most carefully. The oral comes three to five weeks later; see the oral exam guide. If you are deciding between this test and PD3, whose written day is half an hour shorter and asks for 200 words in its second task, see the PD3 written exam guide.