Pupils in primary and lower secondary school

Updated: 16 December 2022

Next update: 15 December 2023

Change in the number of private schools
Change in the number of private schools
2012 - 2022
50.3
%
Primary and lower secondary schools and pupils by ownership. Absolute figures and change in per cent
Primary and lower secondary schools and pupils by ownership. Absolute figures and change in per cent
2022Per cent change
2012 - 20222021 - 2022
Primary and lower secondary schools, total2 740-7.3-0.8
Private schools27850.33.0
Public schools2 462-11.4-1.0
Pupils, total636 9343.60.4
Pupils in private schools30 04565.23.5
Pupils in public schools606 8891.70.2
Explanation of symbols

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

  • Primary and lower secondary schools. Pupils in primary and lower secondary school
    Primary and lower secondary schools. Pupils in primary and lower secondary school
    School yearSchools, totalType of schoolPupils
    Primary schoolsCombined schoolsLower secondary schoolsPupils, totalPrimary levelLower secondary level
    20122 9571 714752491614 894424 993189 901
    20132 9071 669748490615 327425 917189 410
    20142 8861 656738492618 996430 864188 132
    20152 8671 636738493623 755438 387185 368
    20162 8581 615746497629 275444 638184 637
    20172 8481 601746501633 029447 355185 674
    20182 8301 585741504636 350448 655187 695
    20192 7991 548749502636 250446 218190 032
    20202 7761 539744493635 497443 967191 530
    20212 7611 527741493634 674439 644195 030
    20222 7401 506741493636 934437 855199 079
    Explanation of symbols
  • Pupils in primary and lower secondary school who receive special education, by county. 1 October
    Pupils in primary and lower secondary school who receive special education, by county. 1 October
    2022
    Pupils, total1st-7th grade8th-10th gradeShare of pupils who receive special education totalShare of pupils who receive special education 1th-7th gradeShare of pupils who receive special education 8th-10th grade
    Total636 934437 855199 0797.86.810.0
    Viken157 975108 25249 7237.26.39.3
    Oslo69 69648 88120 8156.85.89.3
    Innlandet39 46626 79712 6697.46.59.4
    Vestfold og Telemark48 89133 38815 5037.86.710.4
    Agder39 47726 98412 4939.38.112.0
    Rogaland64 85044 93819 9127.56.59.8
    Vestland77 12453 29223 8327.46.78.9
    Møre og Romsdal31 57821 48110 0979.79.110.9
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage54 95437 95217 0028.27.310.4
    Nordland - Nordlánnda26 59618 1228 4749.78.512.3
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku26 08817 6008 4889.512.0
    Svalbard23916871:::
    Explanation of symbols
  • Pupils who receive special education. Total number and proportion.
    Pupils who receive special education. Total number and proportion.
    School yearTotal number of pupilsPupils who recieve special education, totalProportion of pupils who recieve special education
    2017633 02949 7137.9
    2018636 35049 7557.8
    2019636 25048 9397.7
    2020635 49748 6847.7
    2021634 67449 2467.8
    2022636 93449 8147.8
    Explanation of symbols
  • Primary and lower secondary pupils and primary and lower secondary schools, by ownership
    Primary and lower secondary pupils and primary and lower secondary schools, by ownership
    Schools, totalPrivate schoolsPupils, totalPupils in private schools
    20122 957185614 89418 190
    20132 907195615 32719 184
    20142 886199618 99618 185
    20152 867215623 75519 399
    20162 858238629 27522 721
    20172 848244633 02923 817
    20182 830252636 35025 370
    20192 799261636 25027 027
    20202 776267635 49728 100
    20212 761270634 67429 037
    20222 740278636 93430 045
    Explanation of symbols
  • Schools and pupils by school size. Per cent
    Schools and pupils by school size. Per cent
    Primary and secondary schoolsPupils
    0-99 pupils100-299 pupils300 pupils or more0-99 pupils100-299 pupils300 pupils or more
    201530.440.029.66.936.157.0
    201629.840.030.26.635.557.9
    201729.539.830.76.634.858.6
    201828.740.131.26.234.659.2
    201928.339.732.06.133.860.2
    202028.039.932.26.133.860.1
    202127.840.132.16.134.159.9
    202227.739.532.86.133.360.6
    Explanation of symbols
  • Pupils with native language training, bilingual education, adapted education and additional training in Norwegian, by county. 1 October
    Pupils with native language training, bilingual education, adapted education and additional training in Norwegian, by county. 1 October
    2022
    Pupils, totalPupils with native language training onlyPupils with native language training and bilingual educationPupils with bilingual education onlyAdapted educationPupils with additional training in Norwegian
    Total636 9342 1588637 2031 14843 949
    Viken157 97531391 5821058 232
    Oslo69 696:4321713 814
    Innlandet39 46633974932402 291
    Vestfold og Telemark48 891:421 100272 246
    Agder39 477134402371 906
    Rogaland64 850962951 249663 965
    Vestland77 1241 3391028651874 376
    Møre og Romsdal31 578:19323691 733
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage54 9545421876212603 004
    Nordland - Nordlánnda26 596710399321 245
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku26 08895641371081 132
    Svalbard23900005
    Explanation of symbols
  • Pupils with native language training and additional training in Norwegian
    Pupils with native language training and additional training in Norwegian
    School yearPupils, totalPupils with mother language training and/or bilingual educationPupils with additional training in Norwegian
    2018636 35012 47642 633
    2019636 25011 61041 003
    2020635 49710 62439 808
    2021634 67410 37439 725
    2022636 93411 37243 949
    Explanation of symbols
  • Pupils, by official form of Norwegian and county. 1 October
    Pupils, by official form of Norwegian and county. 1 October
    2022
    PupilsOfficial form of Norwegian "bokmål"Official form of Norwegian "nynorsk"Official form of Norwegian "samisk"
    Total636 934556 30573 117876
    Viken157 975155 3775240
    Oslo69 69668 45010
    Innlandet39 46636 3562 9220
    Vestfold og Telemark48 89146 6151 8120
    Agder39 47737 7491 3260
    Rogaland64 85049 44214 2590
    Vestland77 12439 89537 0243
    Møre og Romsdal31 57816 22815 2420
    Trøndelag - Trööndelage54 95454 306221
    Nordland - Nordlánnda26 59626 553131
    Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku26 08825 0954821
    Svalbard23923900
    Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The purpose of the statistics is to provide useful information about the state of primary and lower secondary school. The statistics are meant to cover the need of information of both educational authorities and other interested parties.

Education Act. The Education Act regulates both primary, lower secondary and upper secondary education, including education of adults on corresponding educational levels. The Education Act is in force from the school year of 1999/00.

Primary and lower secondary education. Primary and lower secondary education is obligatory to attend for all. It is also a given right to attend public primary and lower secondary school. The municipality is responsible for the fulfilment of this right for children and youths under the age of 16, according to the Education Act section 13-1. Children are usually enrolled in primary schools the calendar year they complete 6 years of age. Lower secondary school is usually finished after the 10th grade. Primary and lower secondary education includes education of persons above primary and lower secondary school age, that receives education on corresponding levels.

School year. The time allocated to teaching shall not be less than 38 weeks within a framework of 45 consecutive weeks during the school year. The school year normally starts on August 1st each year.

Pupil in primary and lower secondary school. Children and young people that, in accordance with the Education Act section 2-1 have the right and obligation to undertake primary and lower secondary education. This usually applies to children and young people from 6 to 15 years of age. It also includes persons older than 15 who get education on primary or lower secondary school level.

Grade. The grades in primary and lower secondary schools span from 1st to 10th grade. All pupils are transferred to the next grade each year.

Primary/ lower secondary. Primary school consists of 1st to 7th grade. Lower secondary school consists of 8th to 10th grade.

Primary and lower secondary schools. Primary and lower secondary schools are municipal, county municipal or state schools for primary and lower secondary education, according to the Education Act section 13-1, or private (chartered) primary and lower secondary schools approved under the Education Act.

Official form of Norwegian. The official form of Norwegian (bokmål, nynorsk or samisk) used by the school.

Minority language pupils. Refers to persons with other mother tongue than Norwegian or Sami. Mother tongue refers to the language that is used in a person's home.

Mother language training. Mother language training is training in the mother tongue of minority language pupils.

Additional training in Norwegian (for minority language pupils). Additional training in Norwegian for minority language pupils is either an additional training in Norwegian for minority language pupils, or training in Norwegian for minority language pupils as a separate subject, or a combination of the above.

Special Eduacation. Refers to the Education Act § 5-1, which states that pupils who are not able to gain from ordinary education are entitled to special education.

The Norwegian Standard Classification of Education, which was created by Statistics Norway in 1970, groups the educational activity. The standard has been revised; the latest version is from 2000. The type of educational institution is classified by the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (NOS C 182).

Name: Pupils in primary and lower secondary school
Topic: Education

15 December 2023

Division for Education and Culture Statistics

The Statistics are published at municipal, county and national level.

Annually, final numbers in December.

The data is delivered to OECD, UNESCO and Eurostat.

All education statistics at Statistics Norway is stored in a proper, standardized manner in consultation with the Data Inspectorate.

The Purpose of GSI is to collect all necessary information for planning and official statistics related to primary and lower secondary education in Norway. All information about education of children and adults on a primary and lower secondary level, in accordance with the Education Act, is to be included in GSI.
From 1992 onwards, GSI is the source for the official statistics.

Prior to 2011 there were two releases of statistics; preliminary and final figures. From 2011 and onwards there is only one release; final figures.

In addition to statistical purposes, the data collected through GSI serves as an important information source for the Ministry of Education and Research, the Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (UDIR), the County Governors and the local governments.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users onssb.no at 08 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

Data from GSI is also used in KOSTRA and skoleporten

Statistics Act of 21 June 2019 No. 32 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway § 10, and Act relating to Primary and Secondary Education (Education Act), last amended 30 June 2000, section 14-1.

Regulation (EC) No 0452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 concerning the production and development of statistics on education and learning. Commission Regulation (EU) No 88/2011 of 2 February 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 0452/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the production and development of statistics on education and lifelong learning, as regards statistics on education and training systems.

The population includes all primary and lower secondary schools, both private and public. Norwegian schools abroad are not included. Schools without pupils are not included.

The annual collection of data takes place at Grunnskolens informasjonssystem, GSI

Fullscale

The statistics are based on annual reports by the schools and municipal authorities to central authorities. Every autumn the schools report the situation on October 1 and their plans for the current school year. The reports are collected through the Internet using a web portal run by Waade information systems. The municipal authorities are responsible for the schools under their domain, the County Governors are responsible for privately run schools and the municipalities in their jurisdiction.

Municipal authorities and the education department in each corresponding County Governors office revise the data. There are also controls undertaken by Statistics Norway, and Udir.

Not relevant

The lowest level for publishing is the municipal level. For special teaching and minority language teaching, cells with less than 3 are not published.

GSI is the source of the primary and lower secondary school statistics from 1992 and later. Tables based on earlier statistics are comparable to tables based on GSI. The time series might be interrupted by changes succeeding amendments to the Education Act. There is no collection of data regarding classes after 2003, as teaching from then on was organized in groups rather than classes. From 2011/2012 special schools and ordinary schools are merged. In order to have comparable figures, special schools and ordinary schools have been merged also for previous years. For this reason, statistics published before 2012, will diverge from the statistics published in 2012.

Errors in data collected from administrative registers can be caused by uncertainties in the definition of variables and values between those responsible for the registers and others responsible for data collection from the registers.

Other sources of error can be the quality of the personal and school data in the registers or the registration process of data input into the registers. Such errors can affect the quality of the data if the control and revision processes in Statistics Norway are not comprehensive enough.

Not relevant

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