Social Studies Test is something most of people will have to pass if they are going to stay in Norway for a long time.
If you are applying for Norwegian citizenship, and are between 18 and 67 years of age, you are required to have passed the citizenship test or the social studies test in Norwegian – by UDI
In order to be granted a permanent residence permit, you must normally complete training and pass tests in the Norwegian language and social studies – by UDI
What to know about Social Studies Test (samfunnskunnskapsprøve)
The test lasts a maximum of 1 hour (60 minutes). The test should be in a language you understand well. The test is currently available in about 25 languages. You can choose the language on the test day right before starting the test, but you cannot change it during the test. If you want to use the test to apply for Norwegian citizenship, the test must be in Norwegian.
Test in social studies (75-hour program)
There are 38 questions in the test. Most of the questions are multiple choice, where each question has three options, only one of which is correct. You must have at least 26 correct answers to pass the test.
The test result will be informed right after the test session is finished. If you pass the test, you will get the certification sent to your home within two weeks. Some municipality, like Halden, print and give the certificate to you right after the test.
It is recommended that you do the test in Norwegian as you can use it for both permanent residence permit and citizenship and thus you don’t have to do it twice (one when you apply PR and one for citizenship).
Practice for the test
Officially, the material for the test is provided at samfunnskunnskap.no and available in multiple different languages. The material is organized into themes like Education, Family, and Norway history.
The test questions will be all about what written in those themes. So if you can go through all of those and remember well, you’re certain to pass the test.
You can also try sample test from kompetansenorge.no to get familiar to how it would be in real test.
Register for the test and test fee
Registration needed to be done on samfunnskunnskap.no where you select the municipality and the test date. You will receive text message about the candidate number, room number, time and location at about two week ahead of the test.
After registration, you will be provided bank info so that you can transfer the test fee to. It costs around NOK 1000 for the test fee. After paying, it’s good to bookmark the transaction so that you can quickly show to the supervisor on the test date (They will check the payment transaction before you get into the test room). If you haven’t paid before, no worry, it is also ok to pay when they check, but this will create unnecessary anxiety so it’s better to pay in advance.
You can qualify UDI requirement without testing
Instead of having to pass the test you can indeed choose to study social courses from verified institution. For example note.no is providing Social Studies courses at the cost from NOK 4000 to NOK 7000. After finishing a course, you will be given certificate which can be used to submit to UDI. Please make sure to check the conditions to make sure which course you should go for within the list given by the institution.