Proposed resit fee ‘could deter students from finishing degree’

Norwegian sector leaders have criticised a government proposal to charge fees for exam resits, warning that the plan could discourage students from completing their degrees.

Announcing the proposed state budget for 2025, the Ministry of Education advised a change to university regulations, enabling them to charge students to retake passed exams. The new regulations would be accompanied by a NKr22 million (£1.6 million) cut to higher education institutions, which the ministry said would be covered by the income from fees.  

Charging for resits, the ministry said, would help “achieve better throughput in higher education”, a prediction disputed by Bjørn Stensaker, vice-rector for education at the University of Oslo. “I don’t see how the proposal will lead more students to finalise their degrees,” he told Times Higher Education. “On the contrary, the fee might deter them.”

Noting that higher education in Norway is free for domestic students, Professor Stensaker said the proposal to introduce resit fees “challenges this principle” and “could be interpreted as a step towards introducing tuition also for Norwegian students”.

Last year, Norway introduced tuition fees for students from outside the European Education Area, a move met with dismay across the sector. “One could argue that the current government sees students as a source of income when cuts in the higher education sector are to be implemented,” Professor Stensaker said. “This is a significant shift in Norwegian higher education policy.”

Kaja Ingdal Hovdenak, president of the Norwegian Student Organisation (NSO), called the resit fee “a step in the wrong direction”, echoing Professor Stensaker’s suggestion that it could represent a slow creep towards domestic tuition fees.

Urging the government to focus instead on why students might need to resit exams – for instance, she said, they might need to work to support themselves, leaving insufficient time for study – Ms Hovdenak said the fees would increase pressure on already-struggling students.

“I’m worried that this will have consequences for many, many students, but the people who are from lower-income families or don’t have economic support will be punished the most,” she said. “It should be free higher education and the same opportunities no matter where you come from or who you are.”

Charging students to improve on a previous passing grade, Ms Hovdenak added, could have an unintended consequence: students could deliberately fail exams in order to retake them for free. “If they don’t feel they had enough time to prepare for the exam, and they have to pay to get a better grade, I think many people will fail on purpose,” she said.

Marit Reitan, pro-rector for education at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), said it was too early to determine whether a resit fee would be a “desirable or appropriate measure”, with a “thorough analysis” of the proposal required. The NTNU Welfare Council, which represents students’ interests, “has expressed strong criticism of the proposal”, she said.

“We also believe that such an arrangement will incur significant administrative costs,” Professor Reitan said, noting that between 2,000 and 4,000 students typically retake exams every term. An “important aspect” to consider, she added, “is that the proposal places costs on the students, and in principle, the proposal for an exam fee is not in line with the principle of free education”.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com