All other examinations and assessments are the responsibility of the individual schools and their teachers. After primary school, students can go on to higher secondary comprehensive schools. This is not compulsory and the students now have to pay for their textbooks. The tuition, however, is free of charge. This level of education divides into numerous courses of study, both theoretical and practical, and may take from one to four years.
Many schools offer both general courses and practical training.
There are three universities in Iceland. In addition, there are 11 institutions in Iceland that are defined as non-university institutions, but offer a range of education at university, or higher education level. The prerequisite for admittance to university-level is a matriculation certificate from an Icelandic secondary school or an equivalent certificate from abroad. Most schools at university level are run by the state and do not demand any school fees. Classes at university level are almost exclusively conducted in Icelandic, but the textbooks are often written in foreign languages, i.e., English or the Nordic languages.