Statistics Iceland has issued a new standard for the classification of educational attainment, ÍSMENNT2011. The standard is based on the international standard classification of education, ISCED-2011, while taking into account the education attained by Icelandic students from early 20th century.
As in the international standard, the new classification standard, ÍSMENNT2011, divides attained education into nine levels—numbered 0 to 8—with six of the levels further subdivided. In all, educational attainment is classified into 31 educational classes. Statistics Iceland will use ÍSMENNT2011 for its own purposes; inviting others to avail themselves of the new standard should they wish.
| Table 1. Educational attainment levels in ÍSMENNT2011 | ||
| Level | Label | No of classes |
| 0 | Less than primary education | 1 |
| 1 | Primary education | 1 |
| 2 | Lower secondary education | 8 |
| 3 | Upper secondary education | 8 |
| 4 | Post-secondary non-tertiary education | 5 |
| 5 | Short-cycle tertiary education | 2 |
| 6 | Bachelor’s or equivalent level | 3 |
| 7 | Master’s or equivalent level | 2 |
| 8 | Doctoral or equivalent level | 1 |
| 9 | Unknown* | - |
| *Not a defined group, but included for convenience. | ||
ÍSMENNT2011 - Statistical Series