Norwegian schools are very informal. The children do not wear school uniforms, and the teachers are addressed by their first name, or a nick name. This is the case in most Scandinavian schools, and, for some unknown reason, in Québec!  

There are rarely sports or extra-curricular activities connected to the school. When the day is over, the kids return home to do their homework. 

School is compulsory in Norway for a total of 10 years. Children start school at the age of 6, and when they leave, they are 15. This part of schooling is called “Grunnskolen”, and it’s divided in two - “Barneskolen” (age 6-12, grade 1-7) and “Ungdomsskolen” (age 13-15, grade 8-10). Afterwards, most students continue school at a “Videregående skole”, which lasts for 3 (or 4) years. 

Most schools in Norway are public schools. All textbooks and notebooks are free in Grunnskolen, and the children get a pencil or two a year, and a ruler when they start school. From the day one starts Videregående skole, one has to pay everything oneself, the text books, the notebooks, the graphic calculators, the pens, everything. 
 
"Barneskolen" and "Ungdomsskolen" are two separate units - in most cases. If it's a very small community they'll be in the same building. The “Barneskolen” should be within walking distance of the children’s homes, at least that’s the government’s policy. If a 1st grader’s school is further than 2 km from his/her house, then the local school authorities must pay for the child’s transportation to/from school. In some cases children must travel by ferry to get to school: There are many tiny islands just off the coast, inhabited islands, and the children have to attend the nearest school, often on the main land or a larger island close by. 

A school year in Norway lasts 190 days. The students have got 8 weeks of summer vacation, a week off in October, two months of Christmas vacation, a week off in March (winter holiday) and about a week off during Easter. In addition there are teachers in service days and public holidays. 

Grunnskolen 

The following subjects are taught in Grunnskolen: 
Norwegian 
Math 
English (mainly from 5th grade) 
Social Science (also geography and history) 
Science and Environment 
Religion 
Physical Education 
Music (involves learning to play the flute) 
Arts and crafts (drawing, painting, woodshop, sewing etc.) 
Domestic science (mainly from 6th grade when they are allowed into the school kitchen) 

In addition, the pupils have 2 optional subjects in grade 8-10. 
 

Barneskolen - Primary school 
The children are in classes of 20-24 pupils. The group of children in one class have all their lessons together and continue to be one class for as long as Barneskolen lasts. In Barneskolen, they tend to place neighbors together so the children will find some familiar faces at the new school. The class has one main teacher, one who is their teacher. In many classes, this teacher will continue being main teacher for the rest of the Barneskolen. There are also other teachers in the classroom at certain times, assistants or helpers. 

In the 2 or 3 first years, this teacher will be teaching almost all the subjects, except maybe P.E and music. When the children start 4th grade, they are likely to have a couple of teachers more. 

The children bring packed lunches to school. As long as they are in Grunnskolen they are almost obliged to do this - cafeterias are rare and the children may not leave the grounds during the day without special permission. In some Videregående skoler there’s a cafeteria where one may buy lunch. At that level, the students may exit the school grounds as they choose. 

Ungdomsskolen - Lower secondary school 
The classes from Barneskolen are split up when the pupils move on to Ungdomsskolen, and new classes are formed. This way the students get to know students from other schools, and there’s no crowd rotting together on the new teachers. 

The same subjects are taught here as in Barneskolen, but now the students also have two optional subjects. The subjects which they may choose varies, but most schools offer French, German, other linguistic subjects and several creative subjects. 

The students do not get grades, marks or report cards until they start grade 8. The marks are numeric, 1 being the lowest, 6 being the highest one achievable. 
A student’s marks are based on his/her performance on written exams, projects and his/her interaction in class. 

The written exams usually last one or two periods. The students get a sheet of questions from, say, the last chapter in their text book, and then they answer these questions on a separate sheet of paper. It’s not unusual that a students writes 6 pages on such an exam! Full sentences and longer explanations are often required as answers.  Schematic drawings and lists can be used to get a point through. 

The students have midterms in November/December and in April/May. Each midterm lasts 5 hours, and midterms are given in Norwegian, English and Maths. These are the only subjects which are considered written subjects - and the only ones in which the students might have to do a written final at the end of 10th grade. At the end of 10th grade the students may also have an oral final exam in any subject, an exam which lasts for about 20 minutes. All final exams are graded by a teacher from another school, a teacher who knows nothing about the students or his/her earlier grades in the subject. 

In 10th grade, the students must find out what they want to do after Ungdomsskolen. As they are guaranteed by the government to get into a Videregående skole, this is what most choose to do. The applications are filled in at Ungdomsskolen, and the students are, if necessary, helped by the guidance counselor to figure out what they want to do from there. There are 13 “foundation” courses at the first year of Videregående skole, each which leads to different opportunities. Choosing the right course is what many 15-year-olds feel is the hardest by graduating from Ungdomsskolen. 

Before a class graduates from Ungdomsskolen (and from the entire Grunnskole for that matter), there is often a prom for the seniors one night, and then at the night of the very last day of school a more official ceremony with parents, teachers, students and the principal. The students receive their diplomas and the principal gives a speech. There is also some entertainment, performed by groups of students. And after that only a few things remains - hugging all one’s classmates and giving flowers, cards and/or hugs to the teachers. 
 

Videregående skole - Upper secondary school 

Everyone who graduates from ungdomsskolen is guaranteed to get in to a Videregående skole (after Reform ‘94), so the grades on one’s diploma from Ungdomsskolen don’t matter much. However, if you want to get into the Music, Dance and Drama course, or some other course which only allows a limited number of students, they can matter a lot. There are only three such classes in Bergen, one for dance, one for drama and one for music. The music class is especially hard to get into. 

There are 13 different foundation courses to choose from when starting Videregående skole. 10 of the courses are vocational, the other 3 will give competence to continue studying at a University level (there are such possibilities with some of the vocational courses too, depending on which subjects one choose). Example of foundation courses: 

Economics and administration 
Music, dance and drama 
Electronics 
Mechanics 

No matter which course one takes, there will be a required load of general subjects. Norwegian and P.E must be carried through all the years. The differences are when it comes to the electives which one may choose. And of course, the vocational courses involve a great deal of practical skills, while the other courses are more theoretical. 

 Some vocational courses last for three years, some for four, and the last or the two last years are spent working in the profession they're training for. Unfortunately, the government can only guarantee the students room in school, they can't demand industries, firms and agencies to take in apprentices, as they have to be paid as well as trained. Those who don't get a job have to go to school, and later, before they graduate, they don't have as much experience as the others. Many of them get trouble passing the final, important exam -the one that'll certify them as whatever they have been training for the past years. 

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Contents : 

General Information 

Grunnskolen 

Barneskolen 

Ungdomsskolen 

Videregående skole 
 
Related topics: 

The German School System 

Education in the U.S. 

Visit Norwegian schools! 

Gudmundstad - links to all schools in Norway. 
 

Three 2nd-graders showing  some of the work they have done during the spring semester. 

Periods and recess:  
Each period lasts 45 minutes. Between the periods there is a minimum five minutes recess. The length of the recess varies throughout the school day, leaving a schedule like this: 

1st period 
5 min. recess 
2nd period 
10 min. recess 
3rd period 
30 min. recess 
4th period 
10 min. recess 
5th period 
5 min. recess 
6th period 
 
The children use the recesses to play. 

Do's  and Don'ts in school: 
Do say hi to your teachers 
Do be nice to others and respect them. 
Don't throw snowballs. 
Don't chew gum in class. 
 
Reform '97: Made the mandatory schooling a year longer by making children start school at the age of 6, instead of 7 as previously. 

Reform '97 emphasizes on an integrated curriculum, with school projects which span several subjects. 
 

 

Exams: Kiki says, “We had a social science exam in 10th grade, about the Cold War. There were 80 pages on that in our books, and the exam lasted 3 periods. I wrote 13 (!!!) pages on that exam... My hand was so incredibly tired after that exam!" 
 

Three students working intensely on a cooperative school project. It's close to deadline... 

As you have seen from the photos above, both students and teachers dress casually.