Contact Normal Print Language Compulsory schooling in Norway is ten years and children start school at the age of six. Primary and lower secondary education in Norway is founded on the principle of a unified school system that provides equal and adapted education for all on the basis of a single national curriculum.
All young people are to share in a common framework of knowledge, culture and values.
Universal schooling for children was introduced in Norway 250 years ago. As a result of Norway s scattered population, forty per cent of primary and lower secondary schools are so small that children of different ages are taught in the same classroom. Primary and lower secondary levels are often combined in the same school. The collective objectives and principles for teaching in primary and lower secondary schools are laid down in the national curriculum. The subject curricula lay down a common learning content for all pupils, which increases in scope throughout the school and is greatest at the lower secondary stage.