Dagpenge as a recent graduate

Example.

• On June 13, you will receive the final grade on your final assignment, or you are up for your last exam in your program.
• The following day, June 14, you register as unemployed on jobnet.dk and apply for unemployment benefits. 
• You change your status to graduate no later than 14 days after your last exam. Since your last exam was on June 13, June 27 is your deadline to change your status from student to graduate via My A-kasse's self-service.
• You get an unemployment benefit entitlement of 1,924 hours as a full-time insured and 1,560 hours if you are part-time insured, within 2 years, at a fixed rate.
• On the last working day of the month, June 30, we pay your first unemployment benefit to your account.

Example.

• On June 13, you will receive the final grade on your final assignment, or you are up for your last exam in your program.
• 14 days after your last exam, June 27, is your deadline to change your status from student to graduate via My unemployment fund's self-service.
• Because you have not been a member for at least 1 year, there is a waiting period of one month.
• 1 month and 1 day after your last exam, on July 14, you register as unemployed on jobnet.dk and apply for unemployment benefits.
• On the last working day of the month, i.e. July 31, we pay your first unemployment benefit to your account.

Example.

• The first thing you need to do is join the unemployment fund.
• On June 13, you will receive the final grade on your final assignment, or you are up for your last exam in your program.
• 14 days after your last exam, June 27, is your deadline to join My unemployment fund and change your status from student to graduate via My unemployment fund self-service.
• Because you have not been a member for at least 1 year, there is a waiting period of one month.
• 1 month and 1 day after your last exam, on July 14, you register as unemployed on jobnet.dk and apply for unemployment benefits.
• On the last working day of the month, i.e. July 31, we pay your first unemployment benefit to your account.

Follow these steps to get unemployment benefits as a recent graduate:

1. When you are a member of Min A-kasse, you need to change your status to newly qualified in order to secure your right to unemployment benefits. If you have joined the unemployment fund as a recent graduate, you can skip this step.
   Go to Self-service and submit the form Entitlement to unemployment benefits - as a recent graduate (AK044) no later than 14 days after your last exam. We will process your application within 5 business days. See also the other requirements you need to fulfill to receive unemployment benefits under "Requirements for recent graduates".

2. Register as unemployed on jobnet.dkon your first day of unemployment. You can receive unemployment benefits from the day you register as unemployed on jobnet.dk at the earliest.
3. Send us a declaration of unemployment. This is your application for unemployment benefits. You can find it in Self Service.

Read more about what you need to do as unemployed.

If you have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for at least one year before you graduate, you can receive unemployment benefits from your first day of unemployment. 

If you have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for less than a year, you can receive unemployment benefits one month after you have completed your education.

If you are not already a member of an unemployment insurance fund, you can receive unemployment benefits one month after completing your education if you register as a recent graduate within 14 days of your last exam.

Your education is completed on the day you get your last grade or have your last exam.

If you join Min A-kasse as a recent graduate, you get Denmark's lowest price for the first three months if you join before May 31, 2025. The reduced price means that as a full-time insured, you only pay DKK 396 per month for the first three months, regardless of whether you have a job or not. If you are still unemployed after three months, your reduced membership fee will continue as long as you are unemployed. Sign up here.

To get a reduced membership fee in Min A-kasse, you must meet one requirement: You must be able to receive unemployment benefits based on your education.

Read more about how to meet the conditions for receiving unemployment benefits as a recent graduate.

As a recent graduate, you must fulfill a number of requirements in order to receive unemployment benefits:

• You must have passed and completed a vocational training program or a program that is SU-eligible under the voucher scheme and is scheduled to last at least 18 months. Keep in mind that even if in practice you graduate after 17 months or less, according to the unemployment benefit rules, your education is only completed after the 18 months.

If you are not a member, you must have submitted a registration form as a recent graduate within 14 days of completing your education. If you are a member, you must have submitted Entitlement to unemployment benefits - as a recent graduate (AK044) within 14 days of completing your education.

The language requirement

To receive unemployment benefits based on education, you must meet the language requirement.

You must have passed Prøve i Dansk 2, cf. section 9(1) of the Danish Language Training for Adult Foreigners Act or equivalent Danish test or higher level.

You can also fulfill the language requirement by having completed the 6th grade of primary school, including an equivalent Danish independent school or Danish private primary school, or by having taken a Danish course in another EEA country that corresponds to at least Prøve i Dansk 2.

You do not need to document your Danish language skills, but simply state this on your declaration of unemployment. When you state the language requirement on your word of honor, it means that you vouch that it is true that you have completed courses that correspond to at least Prøve i Dansk 2.

If you do not meet the language requirement, you may still be entitled to unemployment benefits based on your education if you meet the affiliation requirement.

The affiliation requirement

If you do not meet the language requirement, you can instead meet a so-called affiliation requirement based on paid hours reported to SKAT. At least 600 paid hours (400 for part-time insured) must have been reported to SKAT over 12 months within a 24-month period from the day you apply for unemployment benefits.

The work does not need to have been performed for 12 consecutive months, and there is no requirement that you must have been a member of an unemployment insurance fund for the paid hours to be used. However, paid hours must be reported in each of the 12 months.

You can also use paid hours from another EEA country, Switzerland or the UK to meet the affiliation requirement, as long as the last paid hour was earned in Denmark and at least 150 of the 600 paid hours (100 of the 400 paid hours if you are part-time insured) were worked in Denmark.

If you meet the conditions, you can receive unemployment benefits. Your rate as a recent graduate depends on whether you are a dependent and whether you are at least 30 years old.

When you complete your education and change your status to newly graduated, you must pay membership fees to Min A-kasse from the day after your education is completed. You will receive your bill in e-Boks if you are not registered for Betalingsservice.

If you are about to start a new education or postgraduate program, you can apply for a new student membership in Min A-kasse. The only requirement is that you continue to meet the conditions for being exempt from paying membership fees.

You can apply for a new student membership by filling out the form Application for student membership (AK038). You can find it on Self-service under the Students tab.

If you haven't finished your current program, you can apply to extend your student membership. You apply by filling out the form Extension of student membership (AK040). You can find it in Self-service under the Students tab.

For both forms, the extension can only take effect when we receive your application and at the earliest from the start of your studies. It is therefore important that you apply as soon as possible, otherwise you will receive a membership fee invoice from us. 

You can be exempt from membership fees for a maximum of 5 years.

Even if you already have a job that you start after graduation, it's important to remember to change your status from student to graduate within 14 days of your last exam, so you don't lose your right to unemployment benefits on favorable graduate terms at a later date.

Note! Are you considering not changing status because you want unemployment benefits on ordinary terms instead of graduate terms? Read more here.

Maybe you're planning to take a much-needed vacation when you finish your education. In that case, you should not register as unemployed on jobnet.dk until you have finished your vacation and are ready to apply for a job.

When you register as unemployed, you must be available to the labor market and attend meetings with us - and you can't do that when you're on holiday. Please note that you can't receive unemployment benefits during your vacation, so it's at your own expense. 

There are some situations where you can consider not changing your status to graduate.

This applies, for example, if you have had a job during your education or you expect to get a job right after you graduate and you have been a member of the unemployment fund for at least a year. In this case, you should consider whether you want unemployment benefits on ordinary terms instead of graduate terms.

The rules in this area can be a bit complicated, so we always recommend that you contact us so we can advise you and you can make the choice that best suits your situation.

By choosing unemployment benefits on ordinary terms instead of graduate terms, you may be able to get a higher unemployment benefit rate and receive unemployment benefits for 2 years instead of 1 year. It is very important that you notify us of your choice within 14 days of completing your education, otherwise you will automatically only be able to receive unemployment benefits as a recent graduate.

To receive unemployment benefits on general terms, you must have been a member of an unemployment fund for at least one year and meet an income requirement if you are not already entitled to unemployment benefits.

Example of unemployment benefits on general conditions:

• On June 13, you will receive the final grade on your final assignment, or you are up for your last exam in your program.
• While you have been in education and a member of the unemployment fund, your income has been good enough to meet the income requirement and qualify for a higher unemployment benefit rate. Therefore, you do not change your status from student to graduate.
• The following day, June 14, you register as unemployed on jobnet.dk and apply for unemployment benefits. 
• You get an unemployment benefit entitlement of 3,848 hours as a full-time insured and 3,120 as a part-time insured, within 3 years at a rate calculated on the best 12 months within the last 24 months.
• On the last working day of the month, June 30, we pay your first unemployment benefit to your account.

If you have been a member for less than a year, you cannot meet the general conditions for unemployment benefits until you have had a job after graduation, so you can meet the income requirement. The earliest you can fulfill the income requirement is one year after you joined the unemployment fund.

If you do not change your status to recent graduate within 14 days of your last exam, you must meet the general conditions to be entitled to unemployment benefits. This means, among other things, that you must have been a member for at least one year and meet an income requirement to be entitled to unemployment benefits.

Read more about the general conditions for unemployment benefit entitlement and how the individual unemployment benefit rate is calculated.