In English

What happens if you fail the Norwegian citizenship test

Failing is not the end. Here is what applies, what does not, and the difference between failing and cheating.

The short answer

You can take the test again. We went through HK-dir's pages on results, complaints, the test day and registration, and UDI's page on the test requirement. We found no waiting period and no limit on the number of attempts after an ordinary fail (checked 29 September 2026).

What you must do is register for a new test and pay the test fee again.

What we found, and what we did not

The table says what the official pages answer, and what they do not. Other sources may exist. We only report what we checked ourselves, and when.

How to take the test again

1. Contact your test centre. They know when the next test is scheduled. There is no national calendar, because the municipality decides the dates.
2. Register for a new test in the registration portal, or let the test centre register you if you are in a course.
3. Pay the fee again. The municipality sets the price. HK-dir gives a range of 300 to 1800 kroner for the citizenship test and 500 to 1300 for the social studies test.
4. Remember that registration is binding. HK-dir writes: «Påmelding er bindende. Det betyr at du må betale for prøven hvis du har meldt deg på, selv om du ikke tar prøven.» If you register and do not turn up, you pay anyway. (If you have a sick note, you can take the test another time.)

If you have the right and obligation to social studies tuition, you can take the social studies test free once. If you used that free attempt and failed, the next one costs money.

Do not confuse failing with cheating

This is the most important distinction on the page.

Cheating, or an attempt to cheat, can get you sent out of the room, cost you the certificate, mean you have to wait one year, and make you pay for the next attempt. HK-dir lists examples: false identification, phones, smart watches and smart glasses, dictionaries or notes you bring in, and communicating with anyone other than the staff during the test. You can appeal a cheating decision.

An ordinary fail has none of this. You did not get enough correct answers. You register again.

You cannot appeal the result

HK-dir is clear: «Du kan ikke klage på resultatet du har fått på prøven.»

What you can appeal is a formal error, such as a technical problem on the day that you think may have affected your result. The deadline is three weeks from the day you took the test, and the appeal goes to your test centre.

Believing you deserved a higher score is not grounds for an appeal. The scoring is automatic: it is the number of correct answers.

When and how you get the result

For the citizenship test, HK-dir says you can see your result the day after. It arrives by email, and you can also log in to My Page. If you pass, the certificate arrives by post two to four weeks after the test. Keep it safe. If you lose it, contact the test centre for a copy.

The social studies test works differently: the result comes two to four weeks after the test.

What to do differently next time

A fail is data. Use it.

Did you run out of time? Then the problem is reading speed, not knowledge. The fix is volume: practise on Norwegian questions until the words stop slowing you down. More memorising will not help.

Did you finish, but miss questions across the board? Then you lack coverage of the syllabus. Go through the topics in order instead of practising at random.

Did you miss questions mostly in a few areas? This is the best case. Find those topics and work on nothing else. In our app you can see which areas you fail most, and practise only the questions you got wrong.

Did you register too early? This is the most common reason. Set a measurable rule this time: take a full mock exam under time pressure, and register only when you are clearly above the pass mark several times in a row. The pass mark is 24 correct of 36 on the citizenship test, and at least 26 of 38 on the social studies test. Our study plan is built around exactly that.

If you failed the social studies test

The next step depends on the language you took it in. For permanent residence, passing in any language you understand is enough. For citizenship it has to be in Norwegian, and the citizenship test is the gentler of the two at level A2. The differences are explained here.

Our pass guarantee

If you buy full access from us for 199 kroner, complete at least 3 mock exams in the app before the test, and still fail, you get the 199 kroner back. Write to [email protected] within 30 days of the test from the email address on your account, and attach a picture of your result from HK-dir or My Page.

Two things to say plainly. It is the money you paid us that comes back. The test fee goes to your municipality and we have nothing to do with it. And we do not promise that you will pass: the test is HK-dir's, not ours. The guarantee does not apply to seats unlocked with a class code, because those cost 0 kroner.

What we could not confirm

• How soon you can retake the test in practice. It depends entirely on when your test centre has its next date, and that varies between municipalities.
• Whether HK-dir has a limit on attempts that it does not publish. We found none, but absence of evidence is not evidence that none exists.