General organisation of the Danish education system

Education is compulsory between the age six and sixteen. Compulsory education consists of ten years of primary and lower secondary education, including one pre-school year (grade 0) plus years (grades) 1 – 9. Public school education also offers the pupils an optional year (grade) 10.

Danish is the medium of instruction in schools. However, English is a compulsory subject in the Folkeskole (from Year 3) and in general upper secondary school. Most university-level institutions offer various courses and programmes in English.

The academic year runs from August/September to June.

Overall regulation

In Denmark, the education system is financed by the State and the municipalities. Some institutions, including the secondary education institutions, are independent and self-governing, while others are owned by the State or municipalities.

Education is largely the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education.

National legislation covers the aims and framework of education, funding and in some cases curricula, examinations and staffing.

The Ministry of Education is responsible for setting up the framework for curricula at primary and secondary level. However, the contents of the courses are finalised by the teachers themselves, with their students.

The Ministry of Education oversees the the Folkeskole in collaboration with the municipal councils.

In the field of vocational education and training, sectoral committees with equal representation of the labour market organisations concerned play an important role in defining and developing vocational qualifications and stipulating the training conditions. Technical colleges and business colleges are independent institutions under the overall authority of the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education is responsible for university education and medium-cycle professional higher education. The Ministry of Education is responsible for short-cycle professional higher education. Certain higher education institutions fall under the responsibility area of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, e.g. the schools of visual arts and the academies of music.

Institutions of higher education in Denmark have a long tradition of academic freedom and autonomy. The Ministries lay down the overall regulations for all institutions of higher education. These include regulations concerning the admission of students, the structure of studies, programmes offered, awarding of degrees and appointment of teachers and academic staff.

The individual institutions draw up and update their study programmes, indicating the aims, scope and duration, form and contents of the courses, as well as a description of the syllabus.