How to apply for courses

When will a course list be available?

Generally, spring semester courses are announced no later than early September, whereas autumn semester courses are announced in March. Until then you may be inspired by the course offerings from the previous corresponding spring or autumn semester. There are always a few changes in our course offerings from one year to the next, but the majority of the courses are usually repeated. Please do note that as of autumn 2025, the exams of Q2 courses will take place in January - so if you choose a Q2 course with an on-campus exam (written sit-in exam or oral exam), you will need to stay in Denmark over Christmas and New Years - or come back for your exam. Please see Period of attendance - what to expect.

See course offer: courses for undergraduate students / courses for graduate students

How do I register for a course?

All course registrations for exchange students must go through the CBS International Office. Unless in case of additional application steps, which will be stated in the course description, do not contact any programme office, professor, or the Electives Secretariat directly. Contact us via our via the Inbound Helpdesk (or inboundexchange@cbs.dk if you still do not have a CBS login) for any inquiries relating to course registration.

Be aware of what courses you can take

• CEMS and double degree students should follow any special CEMS or double degree requirements or restrictions as instructed in the email you will receive to your CBS mail - look out for one entitled 'CBS course application is now open'.
• MBA courses at CBS are not available to graduate exchange students. This is due to the lock-step structure of the MBA programmes at CBS. If you're an MBA student coming to CBS on exchange, you have access to graduate level courses.
• CBS has a number of specialised exchange programmes between specific CBS degree programmes and partner universities around the world. Such exchange students take specific CBS courses and - in some cases - also one or more electives. Students will receive detailed information by email, to their CBS email, about course registration/application in the specific programme they are part of.

Can I study an elective in Danish?

Some elective courses are offered in Danish. Exchange students who understand Danish may choose these courses. Students may do the exam in these courses in Swedish or Norwegian. You will not find these courses on the course lists for exchange students, but in the list of all electives. If you would like to apply for an elective course taught in Danish, please contact us via the Inbound Helpdesk (or inboundexchange@cbs.dk if you still do not have a CBS login).

At CBS, the workload for a full-time student is 30 ECTS per semester

Your student visa and/or residence permit is granted upon your status as a full-time student. Thus, you are required to register for 30 ECTS.

If you do not intent to meet this requirement, you should reconsider your participation in the exchange programme at CBS.

The ECTS credits for each course can be found together with the course descriptions in our course lists. Credits are based on the student workload and not the number of lecture hours. CBS counts both in-class participation (lectures etc.) and out-of-class preparation, and the credits are given for the total workload required from a student. See details in the individual course descriptions. The workload is calculated at 27.5 student work hours per ECTS credit. 
 
The number of lectures/classes for a course varies greatly. It is CBS policy that generally a 7.5 ECTS course at undergraduate level has minimum 38 lessons (each 45 minutes). For graduate courses, the minimum for a 7.5 ECTS course is 30 lessons. For the partners universities that transfer credits based on the number of contact hours, please note that we cannot issue or sign any official document certifying the number of contact hours for you. The exact number of contact hours for the individual course is stated in the course description ('Student workload'); see for lectures, classes, exercises etc.

3. Balancing your workload

At CBS, we have full semester courses and quarter courses.

The right-hand information box in the course description shows which quarter the course is offered or if it is a semester course. Quarter courses are typically twice as intensive as semester courses, as the same amount of teaching and learning takes place in about half as much time. Students are therefore advised against taking more than two quarter courses in the same quarter, i.e. max. two Q1 courses and max. two Q2 courses (autumn semesters) / max. two Q3 courses and max. two Q4 courses (spring semesters). Combining quarter courses with semester courses is fine.

See more information here: Dates and deadlines > Teaching and exam periods

Apply for pre-approval of credit transfer for more courses than you need

Courses might be oversubscribed due to too many applicants or not be established due to too few applicants. Course schedules might also overlap, or you might simply find that a course is not as relevant to your academic focus as you thought.

Having to obtain pre-approval for a new course choice could seriously delay your course application process

Therefore, you should apply for pre-approval for at least all your primary and all alternative course choices. Contact your home university for information on how to apply for pre-approval.

A normal semester workload is 30 ECTS

Course overloading is only permitted if required by your university, but please be aware that we cannot guarantee that it will be possible. We cannot allow more than 37.5 ECTS. You must upload along with your course application a letter from your university explaining why it is necessary for you to take more than 30 ECTS.

If you wish to take BINBV1106U Danish - Integrated Skills as an extra course, you do not need to upload a letter from your university in your course application form about the need to exceed 30 ECTS.

If you’re required to take a specific course to fulfil a requirement at your home university, or if a course is very important to your academic focus, ask your home university to write or sign a letter of priority worded by yourself. A letter of priority can only be accepted for academic reasons such as graduation delay or not being able to get into a specific master’s programme. Unfortunately, CBS cannot approve reasons such as “academic goals”, “professional aspirations” and requests of a specific profile, due to course availability.

Students who upload a letter of priority to the online registration system along with the course application will be prioritised for courses which might otherwise be oversubscribed.

The letter must state

• the full code
• the title of the course(s) in question
• why it is vital to you

Note that a letter of priority only carries weight when uploaded to the registration system during initial registration to CBS. After initial registration, seats are predistributed and letters of priority can no longer be accommodated.

Course schedules are unavailable at the time of the first course application period

The various study programmes need to know the number of applicants to decide whether a course can or cannot be established. Once decided, the established courses are then scheduled.

Course schedules are usually published in late June (autumn semester) and in mid-to-late December (spring semester). When published, you will be able to see them in calendar.cbs.dk.

Learn more about the teaching and exam periods.

After the first course application, there will be a chance to change courses

You will receive specific information before add/drop periods. See Dates and deadlines < Course registration deadlines for exact dates.

As undergraduate students have not yet obtained their bachelor’s degree, you do not automatically fulfil that prerequisite for a graduate level course.

However, we understand that sometimes you cannot fulfil your course requirements to your home university with only the courses we offer on undergraduate level. In this case, we may allow undergraduate students to enrol in one graduate level elective course. Specific information about what to do and when will be included in the detailed information about course application you will receive after having sent us your formal application for exchange.

Exam plans are announced on 1 September for the autumn semester and 1 February for the spring semester.

There is a an add/drop period after the announcement of exam dates. See Dates and deadlines for more information > Teaching and exam periods.