Pupils in primary and lower secondary school, 1 October 2016

This year there are 629 275 pupils in Norwegian primary and lower secondary schools. A total of 58 per cent attend larger schools with 300 pupils or more. Eighty-seven per cent use the Norwegian written form bokmål, while 12 per cent use nynorsk. Eight per cent of the pupils received special education, almost 70 per cent of whom are boys. 

Growing disparity between counties

The number of pupils has increased by 9 000 over the last ten years. This increase is mainly caused by growth in five counties (see Figure 1). The increase is highest in Oslo and Akershus, counties that already have a high number of pupils. Eleven counties have had a decrease in pupil numbers in these ten years. 

More pupils in private schools

Nearly 23 000 pupils attend a private school in 2016, which equals 3.6 per cent of the total number of pupils. This is the most pupils in Norwegian private schools ever. In Oslo, Vestfold and Aust-Agder counties, the share is up to 5 per cent. In Sogn og Fjordane, the county with the fewest pupils in private school, the share is 0.5 per cent. In our neighboring country Sweden, 15 per cent of the pupils attend private schools. 

Decreased use of special education

The number of pupils who receive special education has steadily decreased from a top of 52 000 pupils in 2011. This year, about 50 000 pupils receive this type of tuition, which equals 8 per cent of all pupils. 

About 14 000 receive native language training, bilingual education and/or adapted education in 2016. This is a decrease from 22 000 in 2008. At the same time, the number of pupils with additional training in Norwegian is increasing. About 49 000 pupils receive this type of tuition in 2016, which is an increase of 9 000 since 2006. 

Pupils are costing more

Each pupil costs about NOK 16 5000 more a year then they did in 2006. KOSTRA figures for the fiscal year 2015 show that one pupil cost NOK 108 500 a year last school year. This includes costs for tuition, housing and travel to school. Wage expenditure amounts to 80 per cent of the total expenditure, and is the item that has seen the highest increase since 2006. 

KOSTRA figures also show that 86 per cent of the teachers in primary and lower secondary schools have a tertiary education and educational science qualification. This number has remained stable over the last ten years.