education system in danmark
CHILDCARE OPTIONS & SCHOOLING IN DENMARK
Denmark is known for its quality education system and Early childhood education.
Below you can get an overview of different levels of Danish education system age-wise.
PUBLIC CHILDCARE (DANISH SPEAKING)
- Nursery/ Vuggestue : 9 months to 2 years and 10 months
In Denmark, children begin in public daycare system as soon as they are 9 months old.
Children aged 9 months – 2 years and 10 months are look after in a Nursery (“Vuggestue” in Danish).
You can register your preferences of nursery on Digital Pladsanvisning . The nurseries usually have waiting lists so remember to sign up before your child turns 4 months.
For signing up , both you and your child will need to have a CPR number and registered address in Copenhagen.
Good to know:
Nurseries/ Vuggestue have a large group of children in the house, but if you wish to enroll your child in a small group of children then you can sign up for home-based child care (“Dagpleje” in Danish). A Dagpleje or home-based child care have a small group of 4-5 children and takes care at care takers own home. A public Dagpleje is supervised time to time by the municipality to live up to the their standards.
- Kindergarten/Børnehave: 2 years and 10 months to 5 years
From the age of 2 years and 10 months to 5+ years , the child is looked after at a kindergarten (“Børnehave” in Danish). Almost 98% of children in Denmark attend a kindergarten. The staff in kindergarten are professional pedagogues trained in early childhood education. Children are taught basic social skills like taking turns, helping others, motor skills, creativity, language development, traffic rules etc.
Read more about cost of child care, child care guarantee and contact information of Pladsanvisning here .
Registration procedure if you are new in Denmark
If you have just arrived to Denmark and you have children in this age group and you wish to enroll them in a Danish Nursery or Kindergarten you need to contact your district office close to your address. The contact numbers can be found here
PUBLIC CHILDCARE (ENGLISH SPEAKING)
You also have option to write your child to English language childcare, but please note that the options are limited. Follow the link below to learn more about registering in the English language public childcare service.
English language childcare options
PRIVATE CHILDCARE (ENGLISH SPEAKING)
Denmark also offers English speaking private kindergartens. If you wish to enroll your child in private kindergartens, you need to contact the kindergartens directly.
Tiny Tots International Daycare and Preschool
Kids R Os, International Daycare and Vuggestue, Copenahgen
Montessori International Preschool
International Schoolof Hellerup (Early years programme)
SCHOOL/ SKOLE: 6 years to 16 years
PUBLIC SCHOOLS(DANISH SPEAKING)
Compulsory education in Denmark starts at the age of 6 years and children can attend the public school (“Folkeskole” in Danish) for free. Your child is guaranteed a space in your district school.
You receive a letter from your district school in your e-box to register your child in school the year before your child turns 6.
Can my child go to a school other than district school?
You have to right to wish for a school other that your district school. The window for registering your wish is open for 3 weeks in November. You can wish upto 2 schools but getting a place is not a guarantee. You can get a space only if there is a vacant space in the school you wished for.
All schools have an Open house or Information evenings in October/November. Please keep an eye on respective school’s website or official Facebook page for the dates.
It is a good idea to attend these Information evenings to learn more about the school & meet the staff.
Read more about enrolling your child in school here.
Non-Danish speaking children:
If you are new in Denmark and your child does not speak Danish yet, then you need to contact your local area office. Your child will be assessed academically and linguistically, and then will be offered space in either normal class with language support or in a “Reception class”. In reception class, non-danish speaking children are introduced to danish language and danish education system. You can read more about reception classes here .
PUBLIC SCHOOLS (ENGLISH SPEAKING):
European School Copenhagen is the only free English speaking public school offered in Copenhagen. If you wish to enroll your child at ESCPH, you can visit their website and read about their admission criteria and process.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS:
All children in Denmark have access to free public school. Some parents choose private school because they are smaller, their particular educational approach or because they are in a particular language(like English, German or French) .
If you wish to enroll your child in private school, you need to contact them directly.
Click on the link below to see the list of all private International Schools in Denmark:
List of all private International Schools in Denmark
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