About us

The youth guidance centre in Copenhagen – UU Copenhagen in short – is a public service institution in the Children and Youth Administration in the Municipality of Copenhagen.

We provide guidance about education for young people in Copenhagen in the age group 13 to 24. Our mission is that all young Copenhageners by completion of primary and lower secondary school choose, enroll, and finish upper secondary education.

Our 110 employees, of which 95 are employed as UU guidance counsellors, work in different ways to achieve this goal:

“By completion of primary and lower secondary school, all young Copenhageners choose, enroll and finish upper secondary education and hence continue in either education or employment”.

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about UU Copenhagen

UU Copenhagen was established in august 2004 upon the parliament’s passing of the Consolidation Act “Guidance about choice of education and employment in April 2003 (no. 298 of 30 April 2003). The legislation is gathered in the Consolidation Act no. 1659 of 11 August 2021.

UU Copenhagen covers all primary and lower secondary schools in the municipality of Copenhagen. Our UU guidance counsellors are present at primary and lower secondary schools, private schools, 10th grade centres as well as our four guidance offices covering all neighborhoods. Other UU guidance counsellors provide guidance for young people enrolled in individually organized training (STU).

We collaborate with upper secondary educational institutions, preparatory basic training and education, special schools, the Social Services Administration and the Job Centre in the Municipality of Copenhagen, where some of our employees work from, as well as different private and public service providers.

The youth guidance centre is politically independent, and we counsel with a point of departure in the Consolidation Act for Guidance Counselling. The purpose of guidance counselling in UU is as follows (according to the Consolidation Act of the municipal initiatives for young people under the age of 25, chapter 1):

§ 1. Guidance counselling by this law shall contribute to enforcing that choice of education and profession brings the greatest possible benefits to individuals and society, and moreover that all young people complete education leading to professional qualification.

Part 2. Guidance counselling must ensure that the individual pupil achieves a realistic understanding of prerequisites in the educational system and labour market.

Part 3. The guidance counselling must especially target young people who will have difficulties choosing, initiating, or completing an educational programme or choosing a profession if they do not receive a specially targeted guidance effort.

Part 4. The guidance counselling needs to include the individual’s interests and personal prerequisites, hereby including informal skills and the education and employment already obtained, as well as the expected demands for trained labour and independent businesses.

Part 5. The guidance counselling needs to contribute to limiting educational drop-outs and re-elections as much as possible, and the individual pupil completing the elected education with the greatest possible outcome personally and professionally.

Part 6. Moreover, the guidance counselling must support the individual’s abilities to search for and apply information – including IT-based information and guidance services about education, educational institutions, and future employment amongst other things.

Part 7. The guidance counselling must be provided in a manner which secures cohesion and progression for the individual in the counselling activity.

To meet the objectives listed above, we:

  • Provide individual and group guidance counselling and outreach services
  • Plan introductory activities, bridging courses and work placements
  • Prepare individual transition plans and personal education plans with the young person
  • Complete readiness assessments for upper secondary education
  • Make referrals for specialized educational programmes.