The number of pupils has decreased since the previous school year
In autumn 2008 there were 43,511 pupils in compulsory education in Iceland. In addition there were 135 pupils in 5 schools attending the 5 year old grade. The number of pupils has decreased by 330 since the previous school year, or by 0.7%. It is expected that the number of pupils in compulsory education will continue to decrease in the next years, since the age groups that will be entering compulsory education are smaller than the age groups that will be completing compulsory education. The number of pupils in compulsory education in Iceland was greatest in autumn 2003, a total of 44,809. These figures are derived from the Statistics Iceland data collection from compulsory schools, which is undertaken in October every year. Statistics Iceland has collected this information since the autumn of 1997.
Almost 5% of pupils have a foreign mother tongue
The number of pupils with a foreign mother tongue increases year by year. In the autumn of 2008, 2,069 pupils have a foreign mother tongue, or 4.8% of all pupils. Never before have there been more pupils with a foreign mother tongue in Icelandic compulsory schools. Polish speakers are most numerous, or 633. Their number has increased by 148 since 2007, or by more than 30%. The number of pupils speaking Philippine languages increased by 24 since the previous year, and the number of English speakers increased by 22.
The number of pupils in private schools is approximately the same as last year
During the school year 2008-2009 there are 9 private schools operating with 666 pupils attending. The number of pupils has increased by 2 since the previous school year. The number of pupils in private compulsory schools has never been greater since the start of the data collection by Statistics Iceland in 1997. A new private school opened in Reykjavík in the autumn of 2008, but another school in the Suðurnes region closed, leaving the number of private schools the same as last year.
There are 174 compulsory schools operating in Iceland, the same number as in the previous year. New schools opened while others were shut down or merged with other schools. The largest compulsory schools are Árbæjarskóli with 759 pupils and Rimaskóli with 693 pupils. The smallest school is Finnbogastaðaskóli with only 2 girls in attendance. There are 4 special education schools operating in Iceland with 143 pupils in attendance.
Fewer pupils per full-time equivalent teacher
There were 5,084 teaching staff members in autumn 2008 and 9.3 pupils per full-time equivalent teacher. The number of pupils per full-time equivalent teacher has decreased year by year. In autumn 1998 there were 13.3 pupils for each full-time equivalent teacher.
On average there are 18.3 pupils in each class. Special education schools and departments are not included. The average class size increases with the higher age of pupils. The average class size is smallest in the 1st grade, or 16.2, while the largest classes are in the 10th grade, with 19.7 pupils on average. Information is not always available on the number of teachers teaching each class but in some cases large classes are taught by more than one teacher. Also, multi-grade teaching is becoming more common and not only in small schools in the countryside.
Additional statistical data on pupils in compulsory schools are available at the Statistics Iceland website.