Completion rates of pupils in upper secondary education, 2011

Throughput in upper secondary education has remained relatively stable in the last decade. Sixty-eight per cent of pupils in the 1994 cohort have achieved a general or vocational certificate within a five year period, while the same figure for the 1998 cohort is 72 per cent. For the 2002, 2004, and 2006 cohorts, 69 per cent completed upper secondary education within five years. Throughput for immigrants is about 20 percentage points lower, at around 50 per cent.

Seven out of ten of the 62 000 pupils who started in upper secondary school in 2006 achieved university admissions certification or professional competence within five years. Half of them achieved general certification, 20 per cent achieved vocational certification, while 30 per cent did not achieve any formal qualifications.

Differences among the different education programmes

Eighty-three per cent of the 32 000 pupils that started on general studies had completed within five years. The other 32 000 pupils started on vocational studies. Of these, 30 per cent achieved a vocational certificate, 25 per cent achieved a general certificate, and 45 per cent did not achieve any formal qualifications within five years.

Social background and gender are important factors

As in previous years, social background has a large impact on the pupils’ likelihood of achieving a certificate. The percentage of pupils that complete upper secondary education within the five year period is larger for girls than boys; 75 and 64 per cent respectively. A higher proportion of girls complete upper secondary education compared with boys in all groups of parents’ level of education.

As expected, the throughput increases when the level of parents’ education is high. Ninety per cent have completed within five years when the parents have long tertiary education, while the same figure is 65 per cent when the parent’s highest education level is upper secondary school.

Pupils with high marks are more likely to complete upper secondary education than pupils with lower marks. Ninety-eight per cent of pupils with at least 55 lower secondary school points finish upper secondary education within five years, compared with seven per cent of pupils who had achieved fewer than 25 points.

Direct transition gives lower drop-out rate

The drop-out rate is distinctly lower among pupils with direct transition from lower to upper secondary education. Seven per cent of pupils who start a basic course in general education when they are 16 years old drop out of upper secondary education. In contrast, 40 per cent of pupils who start at the age of 17 or older drop out. For all pupils in the 2006 cohort, in both general and vocational education, the drop-out rate is 18 per cent.

Regional differences

Sogn and Fjordane was the county with the highest throughput; 77 per cent of the pupils had completed within five years. Akershus, Oslo, and Rogaland are just behind with 75, 74, and 73 per cent respectively. The three northernmost counties together with Østfold had the lowest throughput, ranging from 48 to 66 per cent.

Tables:

• Table 1 Pupils who started upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 1994, 1998, 2002, 2004 and 2006, by completed upper secondary education whithin five years, and gender. Per cent
• Table 2 Pupils who started a upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education within five years, education programmes and gender. Per cent
• Table 3 Pupils who started a upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education within five years, gender and parents' level of education. Per cent
• Table 4 Pupils and who started a upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education within five years, gender and county of residence at 16 years of age. Per cent
• Table 5 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents who started a upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006 by completed upper secondary education within five years, gender and country background. Per cent
• Table 6 Pupils who started upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education whitin five years, by education programmes, age and final qualification.Per cent
• Table 7 Pupils who started upper secondary level 1 for the firste time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education within five years, lower secondary school points and gender. Per cent
• Table 8 Pupils who started upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2006, by completed upper secondary education within five years, lower secondary school points and areas of study. Per cent
• Table 9 Pupils who started upper secondary level 1 for the first time in 2005,2006,2007 and 2008, by completed upper secondary education whithin three years, and areas of study. Per cent