Ben Hamilton
July 1st, 2021

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“Keep on smiling … when they check out your social media, they’ll have you down as a straight A student” (photo: Knord-kommunikation)

Between 2015 and 2020, 333 cases of forgery in connection with higher education applications were reported to the authorities, according to the Education and Research Ministry. 

The cases revolved around 82 people, so most made multiple applications.

An unwelcome criminal record
In most cases, the guilty prospective higher education students were given a fine or suspended prison sentence, often with community service thrown in, and a criminal record of two or three years respectively. 

Furthermore, their chances of finding a place at university, business academy or vocational college were greatly diminished. 

Fudging the digits
“Most cases involve cheating with diplomas, where the average is directed to a much higher average,” explained Pernille Kindtler, who is head of bachelor admissions at the University of Copenhagen, to DR. 

“Typically, the applicant wants to secure the opportunity to be admitted to quota 1.”

Deadline in four days
The deadline for higher education submissions this year is July 5. 

Last year, there were 94,604 applications – up from 88,754 in 2019.

Cheap goods from the likes of China now carry a sting in the tail
From today, people in Denmark face far higher costs when they purchase goods from outside the EU. For many years, it has been easy to access cheap goods from webshops in countries such as China, but from today shoppers can expect a bill of up to three times larger than advertised. Before today, shoppers were exempt from paying VAT of 25 percent on goods with a value of less than 600 kroner, but the EU has abolished this. Furthermore, on goods with a value in excess of 1,150 kroner, customs duties are payable. And finally, extra transport costs will probably be payable to Danish couriers – for too long, overseas companies in prosperous countries in China have been taking advantage of cheap postage rules agreed early last century when they were very much developing countries, and postal companies in the likes of Denmark have been carrying the cost. 

Vaccination should comfortably last for a year, concludes health authority
The Sundhedsstyrelsen health authority concludes that a COVID-19 vaccination will last for 12 months. “The new studies indicate that the protective immunity after vaccination is even better than after the disease has passed. Our new assessment is therefore that the effect of vaccination is 12 months,” claimed Sundhedsstyrelsen unit manager Bolette Søborg. “We are closely following what is happening in the development of the epidemic home and abroad, and especially whether there are signs that the immunity to COVID-19 will be reduced. Based on current studies, we are very optimistic about the time of revaccination.” 

MPS agree on new rules for storing CO2 in the Danish subsoil
A broad majority in Parliament has agreed on new rules governing how CO2 can be stored underground – a vital component in reducing emissions by 70 percent by 2030. There is room for an estimated 12-22 billion tonnes of CO2 in the Danish subsoil, according to GEUS, which is around 500 times more than the country’s annual emission rate. The parliamentary approval is expected to yield projects that will start in 2025. “In the future, we must remove CO2 from the smoke and put it back in the subsoil,” explained  the climate minister, Dan Jørgensen. “With the agreement, we take the first step and lay a good foundation to be able to get started with the capture and storage of CO2. It makes really good sense, because it allows us to remove some of the emissions that are almost impossible to get rid of in other ways, and we can create so-called negative emissions. At the same time, it creates thousands of good green jobs in Denmark.”

No appointments necessary for PCR, which now yield four-day corona passes
From today, July 1, a PCR test makes more sense than a quick test for two reasons. Firstly, it now gives you a corona pass of 96 hours, up from 72 hours. Secondly, you no longer need an appointment. Both Testcenter Danmark and Styrelsen for Forsyningssikkerhed recommend the PCR option, which yields a result within 24 hours, over quick tests (within an hour), as they are far more reliable.