Guide · Denmark
How to write a motivation letter for a Danish university
For a Master's in Denmark, you apply to the university directly — at the University of Copenhagen, through its own application portal — and each programme decides which documents it wants. Many programmes focus on one question: does your Bachelor's actually qualify you for this programme?
That is why the University of Copenhagen often asks for a description or “Letter of Academic Relevance” — how your degree and experience prepare you — rather than a classic motivation letter. In some programmes, that letter counts for 30% of the ranking.
Checked against official sources: October 2026
- 15 Jan
- Copenhagen deadline outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland
- 30%
- of the ranking: Letter of Academic Relevance, IT and Cognition
- 02
- lowest pass on the Danish 7-point scale
Your first letter is free — no credit card needed.
At a glance
- What they want to know
Why you qualify
The University of Copenhagen asks applicants without a legal right of admission for a description of how their Bachelor's qualifies them: the qualifications and experience you gained, and how they make you eligible.
- How much it counts
Up to 30%
For the MSc in IT and Cognition, the Letter of Academic Relevance is compulsory and makes up 30% of the ranking, next to your education and experience (40%) and grades in relevant courses (30%).
- What to include
Courses, projects, plans
Copenhagen suggests covering your academic interests and why you apply, the courses or projects from your Bachelor's that are relevant, and how the programme fits your plans and career goals.
- Deadline
15 January
For applicants from outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, the University of Copenhagen's portal opens on 15 November; the deadline for a September start is 15 January at 23:59 (CET).
- Grades
12 to −3, pass from 02
Denmark uses a 7-point scale: 12, 10, 7, 4, 02, 00 and −3. A grade of at least 02 is needed to pass. Give your own grade on its original scale — the university assesses it itself.
- File format
PDF, not Word
The University of Copenhagen accepts uploads as PDF, JPEG, JPG, PNG or XLSX — Word documents are not accepted. Save your letter as a PDF.
How to structure it
Relevant courses and thesis
Name the document and the programme at the top. Then group the courses from your Bachelor's that prepare you for this programme, and add your thesis or a project with a concrete result. This is the core of a Danish letter.
Experience and motivation
Work or other experience that connects to the programme, and the question it left you with.
Why this programme
What this programme lets you study that your degree didn't — name specifics from the programme page.
Your goal
How the programme fits your plans and career, in one or two realistic sentences.
Example: Letter of Academic Relevance for the University of Copenhagen
Excerpt from a sample letter for a fictional applicant with a Computer Science degree. It leads with the qualifying courses, as Copenhagen's instructions ask. The numbers in the margin match the steps above.
Letter of Academic Relevance — MSc in IT and Cognition
My Bachelor's in Computer Science, completed with a GPA of 3.6 out of 4.0, prepared me for the MSc in IT and Cognition through three groups of courses: programming and algorithms, databases, and statistics. In my thesis, I predicted delivery delays from 50,000 shipment records with gradient boosting — a project that combined data processing, modelling and the evaluation of results.
During my internship as a data analyst at a logistics company, I built Python dashboards that cut the weekly reporting time from six hours to one. The project also showed me the limit of my training: the dispatchers used only half of the charts, and I had no method to find out why. That question — how people read and act on information from a system — is what I want to study in this programme.
[…]
Alex Weber
Common mistakes
Passion instead of qualifications
“I have always been fascinated by technology and people.”
“Three groups of courses prepared me: programming, databases and statistics.”
A Danish committee first checks whether your degree fits. A letter about your dreams that never names a course misses the point.
Listing courses without explaining them
“I took Algorithms, Databases, Statistics I, Statistics II, …”
“My thesis combined data processing, modelling and evaluation.”
Naming ten courses proves nothing. Group the relevant ones and say what they let you do.
Uploading a Word file
Letter.docx
Letter.pdf
The University of Copenhagen doesn't accept Word documents. Export the letter to PDF before you upload it.
Converting your grades yourself
“My GPA of 3.6 corresponds to 10 on the Danish scale.”
“I completed my Bachelor's with a GPA of 3.6 out of 4.0.”
Give your grade on its original scale. The university assesses it itself, and your own conversion may contradict your transcripts.
One letter for every programme
The same letter for three programmes
One letter per programme, matched to its requirements
Each programme has its own requirements. A letter written for Copenhagen's IT and Cognition won't show why you qualify for another programme.
Missing the January deadline
Starting the application in February
Letter ready when the portal opens on 15 November
Outside the EU/EEA and Switzerland, Copenhagen's deadline for a September start is 15 January — months before the summer.
Questions
How long should a motivation letter for Denmark be?
Your programme decides. The University of Copenhagen's instructions for the description of academic relevance don't set a length — about one page is usually enough to cover your courses, projects and plans.
What is a Letter of Academic Relevance?
A letter that explains how your Bachelor's degree qualifies you for the programme: the relevant courses, projects and experience. At the University of Copenhagen, some programmes require it and give it a fixed weight in the ranking.
Do I need a classic motivation letter?
Only if your programme asks for one. Check the list of documents on the programme page — Danish programmes decide this individually.
Is it OK to use AI for a motivation letter?
Rules differ between universities. Use an AI draft as a starting point: check every fact, change anything that doesn't sound like you, and follow your university's rules.
Sources
Documents checklist
Documents you need to study in Denmark