Keep your dagpenger while you take the bootcamp
Since the reform became permanent in 2021 you can apply to keep your dagpenger while you study, and the 2026 rules treat organised nettbasert opplæring outside normal working hours leniently. That is what makes this the NAV scheme that actually fits an intensive course with us. One condition decides everything else: your application has to be in before you start.
The NAV scheme you can actually apply for
Start with the route that is open to you. Dagpenger under utdanning, in folketrygdloven § 4-6 with its own forskrift, lets you keep your unemployment benefit while you study, and it sets no condition at all on who teaches the course, because what NAV assesses is your activity and whether the education is compatible with getting into work. That is worth knowing early, because NAV has a second, quite different route that gets confused with this one: opplæringstiltak, where NAV buys the course place itself. That route is bounded by its own scope in rundskriv R76-12-01, which limits it to training held in Norway by a provider lawfully operating there. It is a rule about where and from whom NAV purchases, not a verdict on any course. This page is about the first scheme, because that is the one you can apply for: your living costs come from NAV while you study, and the fee is handled one of the ways at the foot of this page.
You need a running right to dagpenger first. That means you have lost at least 50 percent of your working hours, and that you have had an income of at least 1.5 G over the last twelve months or 3 G over the last 36. If you already hold a dagpenger decision, this point is settled and you can move straight on to the age and waiting conditions below.
The 2026 age thresholds are 25 for courses, videregående and fagskole, and 30 for university and university college. A bootcamp with us is kurs og annen opplæring, so it is the 25 threshold that applies to you, not the 30 that most people read first and then give up on.
You normally need twelve weeks on dagpenger before the education starts. It is worth doing that arithmetic early, because this point, rather than the application itself, is usually what decides which cohort you can begin with. We run several intakes a year, so a later start date is a scheduling question and not a lost year.
The remaining condition is about the education fitting a route back into work. NAV looks at your activity and your study plan: what you are learning, how many hours a week it takes, how long it runs and whether all of that is compatible with getting into a job. That is the assessment your application is written for, which is why the documentation in step 3 does real work.
Frequently asked questions
Will NAV pay for my course fee?
No, and it is worth having that clear on the first screen: the fee is yours to fund, and the last section above lists the routes people in Norway actually use for it. What you can get from NAV is your dagpenger kept while you study, which is a scheme in its own right with its own conditions on your age, your time on dagpenger and the timing of the application. Those conditions are worth checking against your calendar before anything else, because they decide which cohort you can realistically start with.
I am 23. Can I apply?
Not to this scheme, which sets the threshold at 25 for kurs og annen opplæring in 2026. That is a line in the regulation rather than an assessment of you, so it is something to plan around rather than to apply against. Two routes stay open in the meantime: the employer route, which carries no age condition at all, and interest-free monthly instalments, up to 60 payments, paid directly to Code Labs Academy, while you keep working. A call now is still useful, because the intake you want may well start after the birthday that settles this.
I have been on dagpenger for four weeks. Do I have to wait another eight?
As a general rule yes: the requirement is normally twelve weeks on dagpenger before the education starts. The practical move is to plan toward a later cohort rather than to postpone the application, since processing took about six weeks in July 2026 on top of the waiting period. Count backwards from a start date twelve weeks out and you can send the application now and have the decision in hand before your first teaching day. We run several intakes a year, so the start date can follow the paperwork.
Can I just start, and sort it out with NAV afterwards?
This is the one expensive mistake available on this page. You have to apply before the education starts, and a course you have already begun is hard to get approved after the fact. The order is the condition itself rather than a formality, and the cost of reversing it is that you can end up holding both the course fee and a break in your dagpenger. Apply first and start afterwards, and if the decision has not arrived in time, talk to us about the next intake instead.
Does an intensive full-time course fit, or should I choose part-time?
Both can work, but they are not assessed in the same way. Kurs og annen opplæring can be approved for up to three months counted as full-time, so an intensive run sits inside the frame. At the same time the rules treat teaching outside normal working hours leniently and name organised nettbasert opplæring explicitly, so an evening part-time track is easier to get a yes on, because you stay available for work throughout. If you are unsure, ask your caseworker which of the two formats they would approve before you commit to an intake.
Get Personalized Advice
Want help navigating tuition and funding in Norway? Book a one-to-one call with an education specialist. We can explain payment plans, share employer-friendly details (like invoices and programme summaries), and point you toward Norway-relevant routes such as employer sponsorship, a union education fund, or education in a severance agreement. The goal is to make financing clear, so you can focus on learning.
