Regulations on the selection of students to study psychology at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences

NO. 699/2018

APPROVED BY THE UNIVERSITY COUNCIL

With amendments no. 342/2024

Web version last updated 03.03.2025

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Article 1.

The number of students who obtain the right to study in the spring semester of the 1st year of study in psychology is decided by the University Council annually based on the School’s proposals.

When selecting these students, the following rules are applied:

  1. Competitive examinations are conducted in [two]1 They count as follows:
    1. [ISS1710 Foundations of Psychology (10 ECTS) 10/18, or 55,6%]2
    2. [TIS0178 Experimental Psychology (8 ECTS) 8/18, or 44,4%]3
    3. […]4

Students must take [both]5 competitive examinations in the same academic year in which the selection is made. Older exams from the University of Akureyri or other universities are inadmissible. The final grade from [each]6 course shall be calculated in whole and half numbers, from 0–10 in accordance with Regulations on Course Assessment at the University of Akureyri. Those grades are then adjusted to the percentages previously mentioned. The overall grade in the numerus clausus is a weighted average from individual courses and must be given to two decimal places. This grade is used as a basis for ranking students in the psychology study program for further studies. The grades of other courses in the autumn semester of the 1st year do not count towards competitive examinations and are not calculated as part of the numerus clausus. Only the grades of students [who]7 are enrolled in the psychology study program are included in the numerus clausus.

  1. External examiners shall be appointed according to the rules that apply to them (cf. current UNAK regulations on Course Assessment) for all examination subjects of the competitive examinations. The final grade in a course is given in whole and half numbers and is the average of the teacher’s grade and the external examiner’s grade.[1] The grades of teachers and external examiners must be given to one decimal place.
  2. Once grades have been announced, according to section 2, they are not reviewed further by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
  3. A student who does not show up for an examination due to illness must report their absence to the School Office at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences before the examination begins. […]8 If resit examinations due to illness are necessary, they must be held as soon as possible.
  4. The students who pass competitive examinations in all subjects of the autumn semester of the 1st academic year are ranked according to decreasing (grade point average) GPA. A student is not considered to have passed an exam unless they receive a minimum grade of 5. If two or more students are tied for last place, both/all of them shall have the right to attend the spring semester of the 1st academic year.
  5. If the results of examinations indicate that the number of students that the University Council has decided upon does not reach the minimum grade in all courses, the following shall apply: Students who did not achieve the minimum grade in all courses are ranked in descending order of GPA. The student with the highest GPA obtains the first available seat and so forth by descending GPA until the indicated number of students is reached. Once this selection has been completed, regulations on course assessment at the University of Akureyri apply.
  6. If a student who has acquired the right to sit in the spring semester of the 1st academic year vacates their place within two weeks of the start of the spring semester, the place shall be offered to the person with the highest GPA among the previously rejected students.
  7. If it is foreseeable before the beginning of the examination period of competitive examinations that fewer students will take the exams than the number that has been determined to acquire the right to study in the spring semester of the first academic year, these rules automatically expire.
  8. These regulations are revised annually.
  9. The University Council is authorized in special cases to grant exemptions from these rules.

1) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024 5) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024
2) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024 6) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024
3) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024 7) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024
4) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024 8) Amended with Regulations No. 342/2024

 

Article 2.

[These regulations, which were approved by the University Council, are set on the basis of Article 18 of Act No. 85/2008 on Public Higher Education Institutions and Article 40 of Regulations No. 694/2022 for the University of Akureyri, are hereby confirmed and will enter into force upon publication in Section B of the Official Gazette of Iceland (Stjórnartíðindi).]1

1) Amended with Regulations no. 342/2024

The University of Akureyri, 21 June 2018.
Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, Rector.

 

[1] In multiple-choice examinations the external examination takes place beforehand.