The Higher Preparatory Examination (HF)
The Higher Preparatory Examination (HF) was introduced in 1967 in a political climate that was characterised by a desire to extend educational possibilities to new groups in society. Originally, it was the idea to create a two-year course aimed specifically at prospective candidates for teacher training. There was however a concern that this concept might result in an educational cul-de-sac. So the course design was changed into an alternative route to further and higher education.
The students that were entering the new HF-programmes were mainly adults. But from the start, the HF also appealed to young people who for social or personal reasons had not followed the straight route via the Gymnasium to higher education.
The HF is thus the "sweeper" of the general upper secondary education level. In the Gymnasium, there is still an overrepresentation of middle class children (40% male/60% female), whereas the HF recruits its predominantly female students from a broader base of society (30% male/70% female).
Read more about this topic: Secondary Education In Denmark
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