Students are responsible for registering for courses and changing their registration if needed. Registering for courses also registers you for exams, so your registration must always be correct.
Changing Course Registration
When teaching starts in autumn and spring, you can register for and drop courses in your Ugla. A banner will appear on the Ugla homepage when registration opens and disappears when the registration period ends. Please remember to save your selection and check My Ugla - My Courses to make sure that the registration was successful.
More information about registration periods can be found in the University's academic calendar.
Annual Registration
Every spring, from the beginning of March to mid-April, you must register for courses for the next academic year if you intend to continue your current studies.
- You do this in Ugla in the same way as when you change your course selection at the start of the semester, by clicking the banner on the Ugla homepage.
- Select the courses you plan to take and remember to save your choice.
- You will then be given the option to pay the registration fee in Ugla. By paying the registration fee, you confirm that you intend to continue your studies.
- If you do not register, it will be assumed that you have discontinued your studies.
- If you have forgotten to register, you must contact the Student Registry.
- You can find more information about the annual registration dates in the Academic Calendar.
FAQ about course registration
The Student Registry processes requests for course registration and deregistration when students cannot register themselves through Ugla during the advertised periods. Please note that in some cases, you may also need your department's permission to register. Requests to the Student Registry can be sent to nemskra@hi.is.
Distance learning at the University of Iceland is mostly restricted to individual courses within a limited choice of subjects. For information on the faculties and subjects offering single distance learning courses, please consult the Course Catalogue.
You can see your courses in Ugla (My Ugla – My Courses), and next to each course is a withdrawal icon you can click.
After course registration closes, it is still possible to withdraw from courses for a short period afterwards. The icon to withdraw from a course will then appear next to the course title under My Courses.
The last day to deregister in the autumn semester is 15 September, and in the spring semester, 1 February.
Note that changes to course registration will not appear in the timetable for a few hours.
You follow the same procedure as when withdrawing from courses, and the same deadlines apply. However, if you wish to withdraw from a resit exam, you must email the Student Registration at nemskra@hi.is, including your name, national ID number, the course title, and the course number. Please note that resit exam fees are non-refundable.
- A full academic year consists of 60 ECTS credits, 30 ECTS credits per semester.
- However, you can register for up to 40 ECTS credits per semester.
- If you wish to register for even more credits, you must apply for permission from your department.
In the Ugla registration, you will see course suggestions based on your academic year and completed courses, but you control your study pace, i.e., whether you want to study full-time or not.
In that context, you need to thoroughly review your study programme in the course catalogue. It provides an overview of compulsory and elective courses by academic year, along with prerequisites for each course. Prerequisites give you an idea of the order in which you can take your courses and are therefore important to keep in mind when choosing your courses. If you need help with your study plan, you can consult with an academic advisor.
- It takes three (180 ECTS) or four years (240 ECTS) of full-time study to complete undergraduate programmes. Degree programmes can have one Major (180 or 240 ECTS), two Majors (120 + 120 ECTS) or a Major and Minor (120 + 60 ECTS). Diplomas can be shorter.
- Postgraduate diplomas are 60 ECTS, while Master's degree programmes are either 90 or 120 ECTS.
Micro-credentials can be up to 59 ECTS, but are usually 30 ECTS. They may be offered at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Students who complete a micro-credential programme do not graduate. Instead, they receive a certificate and a micro-credential supplement, both available only on island.is.
- Doctoral degree programmes are at least 180 ECTS.
Use of HI email
For authentication purposes, it is important to use your HI email address when communicating with the University of Iceland.