Fródskaparsetur Føroya is the University of the Faroe Islands. Here you can apply with a Danish upper secondary education. There are also two navigation schools where you can, among other things, take a master’s degree. If you go to a vocational education, you can get an internship in the Faroe Islands.
The Faroe Islands are located almost halfway between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. The archipelago consists of 18 islands separated by narrow straits. All the islands except one are inhabited.
Tradition has it that in the 8th century Irish monks discovered and settled in the Faroe Islands with their sheep. From around the year 800, Norwegians colonized the Faroe Islands, and from 1380, the Faroe Islands and Norway were united with Denmark. In 1816, the Faroe Islands gained status as a county in the Kingdom of Denmark.
The Home Rule Act came into force in 1948, after the Faroe Islands had been occupied by the English during World War II. This meant that the Faroe Islands became an autonomous community in Denmark with the opportunity to take over decision-making authority and financial responsibility for a number of areas. The Faroe Islands are today neither a member of the EU nor the EEA.
The main occupation is fishing, and almost 100 percent of the export revenue comes from fish and fish products. Of this, fish farming with salmon and trout accounts for 25 percent.
The Faroese education system consists of nine years of compulsory schooling in the primary school, five different types of upper secondary education that all correspond to the Danish level, vocational school education that can be taken after the primary school and education at the upper secondary level.
On the Nordic website you can read more about the different levels.
Faroese is spoken in the Faroe Islands, but Danish is taught from the first grade and most Faroese understand and speak Danish well.
Worth knowing
Vocational training in the Faroe Islands
In the Faroe Islands, you can take a vocational education in crafts, trade and office as an apprenticeship. In order to receive a vocational education, an apprenticeship contract must be entered into between the apprentice and the apprenticeship. An apprenticeship takes an average of 4 years and is an alternate education between on-the-job training and schooling. Further information on apprenticeships is available from Yrkisdepilin
There are also basic educations within the social and health area. This is a training for social and health assistants that takes 1 year and 3 months, and a supplementary training for social and health assistants that takes 1 year 10 months.
Denmark has entered into a co-operation agreement with the other Nordic countries on vocational education. The agreement means that with a Danish primary and lower secondary school diploma, you are free to apply for admission to a vocational education in another country in the Nordic region, including the Faroe Islands.
If you are already in the process of a vocational education, and you want to continue your education in the Faroe Islands, you have the opportunity to have your exams and internships transferred to your new place of education.
Internship
If you are thinking of taking all or part of your own internship abroad, read the section on internships abroad for vocational education under the section Primary school and upper secondary education.
Work in the Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands have for many years been able to boast of Europe’s lowest unemployment, as unemployment was approx. 1-2 percent. In 2012, however, unemployment was slightly higher – at 4.6%.
The working week is 40 hours. The minimum wage is approx. DKK 90 per hour for unskilled workers.
In 1992, an unemployment insurance system, ALS (Faroese), was set up to provide employment services.
It is possible to transfer earned periods of unemployment between Denmark’s and the Faroe Islands’ unemployment systems.
Job search
In the Faroese labor market, job search takes place mostly through newspaper advertisements, but you can also contact the employment service ALS.
You can get information about work in the Faroe Islands from the EURES Advisers at the Job Centers.
Nordjobb
If you are between 18 and 26 years old, you have the opportunity to get a summer job in Finland through Nordjobb. Nordjobb is a Nordic youth exchange program that offers summer jobs, housing and leisure programs in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Åland as well as in the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.
When you apply for a job through Nordjobb, you cannot apply for a specific job. In your application for Nordjobb, you must write a little about yourself, e.g. education and work experience, as well as which industries you want to work in. Based on your application, you will then be offered a job. Typical jobs can be a nurse, agricultural assistant or gardener.
The exchanges take place in the period approx. May 15 to September 15, and the job lasts from 1 to 4 months. The salary is by agreement, and you have to pay for housing, travel and food yourself.
You can apply per. letter or via the Internet. The application deadline is around May 31 each year, but it is a good idea to apply as early in the year as possible. You can apply from 1 December the year before.
Work and residence permit
As the Faroe Islands are part of Denmark, all Danish citizens are free to work and reside in the Faroe Islands.
