Living in Iceland · Education

Education in Iceland, for foreigners

Public schools and universities in Iceland cost little or nothing for most students today. But rules are changing: from autumn 2027, public universities are authorised to charge tuition to students from outside the EEA, EFTA and Switzerland. For foreigners the hard part is still getting your old studies accepted, and the Icelandic language rule that nobody warns you about.

Last verified 17 August 2026 · island.is, ENIC-NARIC Iceland, hi.is

How the system works, in short

School is required until you are 16. After that comes upper secondary school (framhaldsskóli, say: FRAM-halds-skoh-li, the school for ages 16 to 20). You do not have to go, but everyone living here has the right to a place until they are 18. After that comes university (háskóli, say: HOWS-koh-li). Public universities charge no tuition to Icelandic, EEA, EFTA and Swiss students. You pay only a small yearly registration fee. From autumn 2027 they are also authorised to charge tuition to students from outside the EEA, EFTA and Switzerland. The exact fees have not been set yet. To get in from abroad, your old education must first be turned into Icelandic credits. That step is the whole battle.

What do you need to get in? Find your level

Pick the line that fits you. Each one says what you need and where to check. The details for each level are further down this page.

A child under 6 (preschool, leikskóli)

A registered address in the municipality. No school results needed. You apply to your municipality, often with a queue.

Where to check: Your municipality's website

A child aged 6 to 16 (compulsory school, grunnskóli)

No qualifications. School is a right and a duty at this age. Register the child at your local school through the municipality.

Where to check: Your municipality and island.is

A teenager or adult starting upper secondary school (framhaldsskóli)

Finished compulsory school, an equal level from abroad, or age 16 or over. Each school and study line can set extra entry rules.

Where to check: island.is and the school's own website

Someone applying to university (háskóli)

Usually the Icelandic matriculation exam (stúdentspróf) or an equal diploma from abroad. Each university judges foreign diplomas itself. Courses taught in Icelandic may ask for a language level.

Where to check: The university's admissions office

An adult without a finished school diploma

Adult learning centres and upper secondary schools offer routes for adults, often part-time or at a distance. Dates can differ from the school-leaver dates.

Where to check: The school or learning centre directly

Someone with a diploma or trade from abroad

You may need your papers checked before you study or work on them. Keep originals, grade lists and translations ready.

Where to check: ENIC-NARIC Iceland

Moving with children under two

Many people arrive because one parent was offered a job, with small children who are not old enough for school yet. Iceland is used to this, and the country is built around two working parents. But there is one gap that surprises almost every family: the months between the end of paid parental leave and the first day of daycare.

Last verified 13 August 2026 · island.is; Lög um leikskóla nr. 90/2008; municipal websites

Your child is under two and you need care so you can work

What actually happens: Public daycare (leikskóli, say: LAKE-skoh-li, the pre-school for roughly ages 1 to 6) is run by your municipality, and places are given from a waiting list, not on the day you ask. Children younger than about eighteen months to two years are usually not yet at the top of that list. For the months in between, the normal Icelandic answer is a day mother or day father (dagforeldri, say: DAHG-for-el-dri), a person approved and checked by the municipality who looks after a few small children in their own home.
What to do: Register your legal address as soon as you arrive, then put your child on the municipality's daycare waiting list the same week. Your place in the queue is usually counted from the date you apply, not from the date you move. Then look for a dagforeldri separately: your municipality's website keeps the list of approved ones, and you contact them yourself.
The common trap: Waiting until you have a flat, a job contract or a kennitala for everyone before you apply. The queue is the one thing you can start early, and it costs nothing to be on it.

You have twins, or two children close in age

What actually happens: Two places are harder to get than one, and a dagforeldri has a small legal limit on how many children they may keep at once. Families sometimes get one child placed before the other.
What to do: Say clearly in the application that you need two places at the same time, and ask the municipality's daycare office in writing what they do in that case. Some councils try to keep siblings together; the rule is not the same everywhere.
The common trap: Assuming a sibling rule exists. Ask, and keep the answer.

Both parents will not be working at first

What actually happens: If one parent stays home with the children, a daycare place can still be applied for, but in some municipalities children of two working parents are placed sooner. Fees also depend on your household situation, and each council sets its own.
What to do: Check your own municipality's rules for priority and for fees before you decide where in the country to live. Two neighbouring councils can have very different queues.

Daycare, fees and waiting lists are decided by your council, not by the state. What each council must provide, and how to apply, is on our municipal support page.

Daily life with small children

Days are long when a child is too small for school, and the weather takes away the easy answer of going outside. Iceland has more indoor, low-cost places for small children than most people expect, and almost all of them are run by the municipality.

• The swimming pool (sundlaug, say: SUND-loig). Warm all year, open early, and the main meeting place in every town. Most pools have a shallow children's area. A season card is far cheaper than single visits.
• The library (bókasafn, say: BOH-ka-safn). Free to enter, warm, and most run story hours or play mornings for small children. Ask at the desk for the children's programme.
• Open play groups and parent mornings, often run by a church, a community centre (félagsmiðstöð) or the library. These are the usual way parents meet each other.
• The health centre (heilsugæsla, say: HAILS-oo-gyes-la). Your child nurse there sees your child regularly, and is also the person who can point you to local groups and support.
• Indoor play halls and sports halls in winter, and the local leisure card for older children once they start activities.

Editor's note. Meeting other parents here takes longer than in many countries, and it happens through repetition rather than introductions: the same pool, the same time, the same week. It is slow for the first months and then it is not.

How many years is compulsory school in Iceland?

Ten years, from the year a child turns six until the year they turn sixteen. This is compulsory school (grunnskóli, say: GROON-skoh-li, the school for ages 6 to 16). It is run by your municipality, not by the state, and it is free. Books and most materials are provided. Children are placed in the school for the area where the family is registered, and you register the child through your municipality's own website once your legal address is registered.

A child who does not speak Icelandic still starts in the normal class for their age. Icelandic law says children whose first language is not Icelandic have the right to teaching in Icelandic as a second language. How that is given differs between schools: some have a separate reception group for the first months, others give support inside the normal classroom. It is worth asking the school directly what they provide, because it is not the same everywhere.

Last verified 29 September 2026 · Lög um grunnskóla nr. 91/2008; island.is

Choosing an upper secondary school (framhaldsskóli)

After compulsory school comes upper secondary school (framhaldsskóli, say: FRAM-halds-skoh-li). This is the point where the choice of school starts to matter, because schools are not all the same. Some are mainly academic, some are built around trades, some around health, art or business. If you already know roughly what you want to work as, choosing a school that teaches that line saves years later.

The full official list of schools and the study lines each one offers is on Ísland.is and in the schools' own course catalogues. A few broad patterns help you know where to look:

• Health and care. Upper secondary school does not train registered nurses. It trains practical nurses (sjúkraliði, say: SYOO-kra-li-thi), who work beside nurses in hospitals and care homes. Several schools offer this line, including Fjölbrautaskólinn við Ármúla in Reykjavík and Verkmenntaskólinn á Akureyri. To become a registered nurse (hjúkrunarfræðingur, say: HYOOK-runar-fry-thing-ur) you need a university degree, so the useful school choice is one that gives you the science subjects and the stúdentspróf.
• Trades and technical work. Tækniskólinn in Reykjavík is the largest, covering building trades, electrical work, metalwork, motor vehicles and more. Verkmenntaskólinn á Akureyri and Fjölbrautaskóli Suðurnesja serve the north and the Suðurnes area.
• Art and design. Some multi-line schools run an art and design study line, and there are separate art schools for further study after upper secondary. Look at each school's course catalogue, because art lines are not offered everywhere.
• Academic route to university. The older grammar schools (menntaskóli, say: MENT-a-skoh-li) are built around the school-leaving certificate (stúdentspróf) and lead straight to university.

You choose two schools, and two study lines in each, on one application. Choosing a second school you would genuinely accept matters more than most people realise.

Last verified 29 September 2026 · island.is; school course catalogues

How the first year works, and how grading works

Most upper secondary schools use a unit system (áfangakerfi, say: OW-fan-ga-ker-vi). You do not pass or fail a whole year. You take separate courses (áfangar), each worth a number of units (framhaldsskólaeiningar). You collect units until you have enough for the certificate you are aiming at. If one course goes badly, you repeat that one course, not the year.

Courses are usually numbered in levels, so Icelandic, English or mathematics each run in steps, and you must pass the lower step before you may register for the next one. This is why a timetable can look empty in the first term: you simply have not unlocked the higher courses yet.

Grades are normally given on a scale of 1 to 10, and 5 is the usual pass mark. Some courses are marked pass or fail instead. Each school publishes its own rules on grading, resits and attendance in its school handbook (skólanámskrá), and those rules differ between schools, so it is worth reading the one that belongs to your school.

Starting upper secondary school as an English speaker

This is the part that is hard to find out in advance. Apart from English and other foreign languages, teaching is in Icelandic. The textbooks are in Icelandic, and so are the exams. That does not stop you from starting, but it shapes what you can take in the first year.

You want to take several subjects, but you are told to take Icelandic first

What actually happens: Schools offer Icelandic as a second language (íslenska sem annað mál, say: EES-len-ska sem AN-nath mowl) in levels. Many subject courses have an Icelandic course as a requirement before you may register, because the subject is taught and examined in Icelandic. So a new student often starts with Icelandic, English and mathematics, and adds other subjects as the Icelandic levels are passed.
What to do: Ask the school counsellor (námsráðgjafi, say: NOWMS-rowth-gya-vi) to go through the requirements with you before the term starts, and to write down which Icelandic level unlocks which subject. Then you can see the order clearly instead of discovering it one term at a time.
The common trap: Reading a light first timetable as a sign that you are behind. It is how the system is built, and it changes as the language courses are passed.

Your Icelandic grades are lower than your other grades

What actually happens: Because most subjects are taught in Icelandic, the language grade tends to decide the pace of everything else. It is common for a new arrival to do well in English and mathematics while Icelandic takes much longer. That is a normal picture, not a verdict on the student.
What to do: Look at what your school offers alongside the class: study support, a longer route with fewer courses each term, or evening and distance courses. Ask the counsellor what options exist at your school and what each one does to the length of your studies.

You are an adult coming back to school

What actually happens: Everyone living in Iceland has the right to a place in upper secondary school until they are eighteen. After that, schools may still take you, and several run distance or evening study for adults. There are also lifelong learning centres (símenntunarmiðstöðvar, say: SEE-men-nun-ar-mith-ster-var) around the country that run Icelandic courses and shorter practical programmes.
What to do: Contact the school directly and ask about distance study and adult places for your study line, and ask your union at the same time, since many unions pay back part of the cost of courses.
The common trap: Assuming the normal spring application window is the only way in. Adult and distance routes often have their own dates.

Editor's note. Starting in a language you are still learning is slow before it is fast, and the first year is usually the slowest. Knowing that in advance makes it far easier to sit through.

Last verified 29 September 2026 · Lög um framhaldsskóla nr. 92/2008; island.is; school course catalogues

Your situations, one by one

You came with a high school diploma from your country

What actually happens: Your diploma does not automatically count as the Icelandic school-leaving certificate (stúdentspróf, say: STOO-dents-prohf). Until it is assessed, universities treat you as if you have nothing, and a school may put you in a year you already finished at home.
What to do: Apply to ENIC-NARIC Iceland for an Assessment of upper secondary education. This office belongs to the Ministry of Culture, Innovation and Higher Education, and it is free. Send your diploma, your list of grades, and a translation into English or Icelandic.
The common trap: Starting courses before the answer comes back. You may repeat subjects you already passed at home.

You did one or two years of university abroad and want to carry on here

What actually happens: ENIC-NARIC can also assess single subjects and part of a degree, not only full diplomas. But the Icelandic university you apply to (HÍ, HR, HA and others) decides what counts inside their course. ENIC-NARIC says what your studies are worth. The university says how they fit.
What to do: Get the ENIC-NARIC assessment first. Then send it, together with the full description of each course you took (not only the titles), to the admissions office of the Icelandic course you want.
The common trap: Thinking European credits (ECTS) always count one for one. They usually do, but each course has its own minimum in each subject.

You want to apply to upper secondary school

What actually happens: You apply online on island.is. You choose two schools, and two study lines in each. Pupils coming straight from 10th grade apply in spring (in 2026: 24 April to 10 June) and may add a third school. Other applicants apply in set windows, for example 1 to 30 November for the spring term. Check island.is for this year's dates.
What to do: Log in with electronic ID, allow them to collect your details from the national register, and send it. Study lines for pupils who need extra support (starfsbrautir) open earlier, in February.
The common trap: Missing the May date. Late applications are handled school by school, and no place is promised.

The Icelandic language rule is blocking your university application

What actually happens: This surprises almost every foreigner. Most bachelor courses at HÍ and HA are taught in Icelandic, and they ask you to prove you can follow them. Usually that means a set number of Icelandic credits from upper secondary school (íslenska I to V or the same), or passing the university's own Icelandic entrance test. Without that, you can have a perfect foreign diploma and still not get in.
What to do: Choose your path early. Either (1) study Icelandic as a second language at an upper secondary school or on the University of Iceland's Icelandic for Foreigners course, or (2) apply only to courses taught in English (most master's courses, and some bachelor courses at HR and HÍ). Check the language of teaching on each course page before you apply.
The common trap: Spending two years collecting credits and only then finding out the course also needs Icelandic at a very high level. Send one email to the admissions office and ask for the full list of entry rules, language included, before you start.

You need money to study

What actually happens: Public universities in Iceland charge no tuition to Icelandic, EEA, EFTA and Swiss students. Everyone pays a yearly registration fee, and the current amount is on each university's own website. From autumn 2027 the universities are authorised to charge tuition to students from outside the EEA, EFTA and Switzerland. Students who begin in autumn 2026, current students, PhD students and some permanent residents are exempt. The exact fees have not been set yet. Private universities already charge tuition. The real problem is not always fees, it is the cost of living. The Icelandic student loan fund (Menntasjóður námsmanna) lends to students who meet its rules about residence and progress in their studies.
What to do: Read the fund's rules carefully before you start: how long you must have lived here, how many credits you must take, and how fast you must pass them. If you are from outside the EEA, EFTA or Switzerland, also check the university's own page for the autumn 2027 tuition rules before you budget.
The common trap: Guessing the cost from an old blog post. Fees and registration amounts change, and the 2027 rules are still being set.

You want a job that needs a licence (nurse, teacher, electrician, doctor, lawyer)

What actually happens: An ENIC-NARIC assessment is needed, but it is not enough on its own. These jobs also need a licence from the right Icelandic office: for nurses and doctors that is the Directorate of Health (Embætti landlæknis, say: EM-byet-ti LAND-lyek-nis); for trades it is the ministry's process for accepting foreign craftsmen.
What to do: After the school assessment, apply for the licence on island.is. Plan in months, not weeks. These take a long time.

Can I work while I study in Iceland?

Students from the EEA, EFTA and Switzerland can work here in the normal way. For students from outside those countries the rules changed on 8 July 2026: if you hold a student residence permit, you no longer need a separate work permit. You may work as an employee for up to 60% of full-time employment during the academic term, and the limit counts all your jobs together.

Between terms, including the summer and Christmas holidays, you may work full-time. Self-employment is not allowed. If you are applying for your first student residence permit, you may not start work until the permit has been issued. At renewal you give information about your employment, and you must show satisfactory academic progress, meaning at least 75% of a full-time course load completed during the academic year. Working beyond the limit can cost you the right to work.

When you apply for the permit you also have to show you can support yourself for the whole period, so a part-time job is not counted as your means of support. The required monthly amount is published by the Directorate of Immigration on its own page, and it changes, so check the figure there rather than relying on an older page.

Sources: Ísland.is: student permit holders no longer need work permits, Ísland.is: new residence and work permit rules take effect and Ísland.is: residence permit for students, requirements.

Last verified 30 September 2026 · island.is, Directorate of Immigration (Útlendingastofnun)

Editor's note (opinion)

The best thing I could have done on day one was ask one question, in writing, to the admissions office of the exact course I wanted: "What is the full list of entry requirements, language included?" The answer takes about a week. It would have saved me almost two years. Send that email before you start.

Sources

Moving with children: language and school

Almost every parent who moves asks the same questions. Will my child be behind? Will they make friends? Will I understand what is happening at school? These worries are normal, and you are not the first to carry them. Iceland is used to receiving children from abroad: in autumn 2024, one pupil in six in compulsory school had a mother tongue other than Icelandic. Your child will probably not be the only one.

Last verified 29 September 2026 · Lög um grunnskóla nr. 91/2008; Hagstofa Íslands; island.is; municipal reception handbooks

My child does not speak Icelandic yet

What actually happens: By law, children whose first language is not Icelandic have the right to lessons in Icelandic as a second language (íslenska sem annað tungumál, often shortened to ÍSAT, say: EE-sat). Schools must also have a written plan for welcoming pupils with another mother tongue (móttökuáætlun, say: MOHT-tek-koh-eye-t-loon).
What to do: Register your child with the municipality as soon as you have an address — you can apply for a school place on island.is. New pupils have priority at their local school. At the first meeting, ask what support your child gets in the first months, and how long it is planned to last.
The common trap: Waiting for the school to contact you first. Registering early starts everything: the place, the welcome plan and the Icelandic lessons.

I am afraid my child will fall behind

What actually happens: This is the worry most parents carry, and it is a fair one. Icelandic takes time. The welcome plan is written for your child's own level, and lessons in Icelandic as a second language are part of the normal school week, not a separate programme your child must catch up with on their own.
What to do: Ask the school what they expect your child to manage in the first term, and how progress is shared with you. A realistic picture is better than a guess.

I do not understand what the school says

What actually happens: Notices and parent meetings are mostly in Icelandic. Many municipalities offer an interpreter (túlkur, say: TOOL-ker) for the welcome meeting and other important meetings, and short emails from parents in English are usually fine.
What to do: At the first meeting, ask if an interpreter can join, and ask how notices can reach you in a language you understand. Ask the same question again later if it slips.

I want to know my child will be treated well

What actually happens: By law, every school must have a policy and a plan for preventing and responding to bullying, and it must involve parents when problems come up.
What to do: Ask the school who to contact if something happens, and keep that name. If you do not get a clear answer, your municipality's school office can point you to the right person.

One more thing parents ask: what about nursery-age children? The right to lessons in Icelandic as a second language starts at compulsory school. Before that, preschools are expected to give children language stimulation in Icelandic, and many municipalities offer extra language support for children of foreign origin — ask your preschool directly.

Common questions about school in Iceland

Short answers. Times, fees and school lists change, so check with your municipality or the school itself.

Are schools free in Iceland?: Public compulsory school (grunnskóli, say: GROON-skoh-li, ages 6 to 16) is run by the municipality and is free. Things like school meals and after-school care are separate, and each municipality sets its own rules for them. Compulsory school on island.is
Are there private or international schools in Iceland?: Yes, a small number. Most children go to their local public school. There are also independent schools, and a few schools teach in English. These can charge fees. Your municipality can tell you what is available where you live. Compulsory School Act (Icelandic)
What time does school start in Iceland, and how long is the school day?: Each school sets its own timetable, so start times and day length differ. The national curriculum sets the minimum teaching time per week, and older pupils have longer days than younger ones. The school's own website shows its times. National curriculum guide
How many years is school in Iceland?: Compulsory school lasts ten years, from age 6 to 16. After that, upper secondary school (framhaldsskóli) is optional and usually takes about three years for a matriculation exam (stúdentspróf). Education on island.is
Do Icelandic public schools teach religion?: Public schools teach about religions and life views as part of social studies. It is a school subject about many beliefs, not religious practice. If you have questions about content, you can talk to the school. National curriculum guide
How many schools are there in Iceland?: The number changes each year. Statistics Iceland publishes up-to-date counts of schools and pupils at every level. Statistics Iceland: education

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