According to the law on compulsory schools the annual school period for pupils should not be shorter than 9 months. The school period is counted in school days, which are divided into teaching days, examination/assessment days and other teaching days. Other teaching days are days when teaching according to the timetable does not take place, such as when field trips and school trips are organized. According to the law on compulsory schools the minimum number of teaching hours in grades 1 to 4 is 30 hours, 35 hours in grades 5 to 7 and 37 hours in grades 8 to 10. In Iceland one teaching hour in compulsory school is usually 40 minutes.

School days are fewer than 170 in only two schools
Statistics Iceland collects data from all compulsory schools in spring annually. In only two schools are school days fewer than 170. Both of these schools have an exemption from the ministry of education because of the small number of pupils attending the school or because of the arrangement of school bussing.

The difference in the number of school days by grade is not significant. The average number of school days for all grades was 179. The number of teaching days ranged from 164 to 172. The average number of examination days also varies by grade. In the youngest grades there are more teaching days and fewer examination days. In the oldest grades there are more examination days and a greater number of other teaching days, while there were fewer teaching days. The lowest number of examination days was found in first grade; 0.4 days, while the highest number was found in tenth grade; 7.4 days on average.

Because of different circumstances between schools in populated areas and schools in rural areas, a comparison can be difficult.  School bussing is expensive and schools in rural areas have had to adjust their teaching hours to the driving services. The number of examination days, i.e. when pupils are allowed to go home after the exams, is low in schools in rural areas. In some rural schools pupils stay longer in school each day but get fewer teaching days instead. This way the legal requirement regarding the minimum number of teaching hours is fulfilled.

The requirement regarding the minimum number of teaching hours is fulfilled in most schools
Most schools fulfil the legal requirements on the minimum number of teaching hours that pupils shall receive. The ministry of education is allowed to give schools an exemption from the law due to special circumstances. Many municipalities have increased the number of teaching hours per week in compulsory schools. Therefore many pupils receive more hours per week than stipulated by the law.

There are 13 teachers’ working days without pupils
The annual spring data collection requests the number of teachers’ working days without pupils. The average number of teachers’ working days without pupils during the school year 2006-2007 was 13. The number varied between schools from 3 to 21. Teachers had 5 working days without students during the school year on average. They also had 8 days in autumn and/or spring before the start of the school year and/or after the school year ended.

On average the total number of teachers’ working days was 179 with pupils and 13 without pupils, for a total of 192 days.

More pupils receive special support
During the school year 2006-2007 10,802 pupils received some kind of special education or support, or 24.6% of all pupils. That is an increase of 835 pupils from the previous year, or 8.4%. The largest proportion of pupils receiving support is found among pupils in 4th grade (9 year old pupils).