Statistics Iceland now publishes more detailed information than before about teaching staff in compulsory schools with tertiary education, showing tertiary education by degree. In 2022 a total of 63.2% of teaching staff had a basic diploma at the tertiary level and 31.4% had a master’s degree or higher education.
The proportion of teachers with a master’s degree was highest among headmasters, 60.8%, 51.4% among assistant headmasters and almost 30% among teachers and department heads. A master’s degree is a now a requirement to get a licence to teach in compulsory education, but older licences are still valid.
One out of six teachers without a licence in the autumn of 2022
Since 2012, the proportion of teachers without a licence has increased year by year and was 16.9% in the autumn of 2022. At that time, 974 of 5,778 teachers were without a licence, an increase of 46 from the autumn of 2021.
The proportion of teachers without a licence was highest in the Westfjords, 36.2%, the East, 34.3% and in the Southwest at 30.0%. The lowest rate of teachers without a licence was found in the Northeast where 11.3% of teachers were without a teaching licence.
No changes in the number of male teachers in 25 years but more female teachers
Since the autumn of 1998 the number of educational personnel has increased from roughly 4,000 to almost 5,800 in the autumn of 2022. Male teachers were 1,052 in the autumn of 1998 but 1,053 in the autumn of 2022. At the same time, the number of female teachers increased from almost 3,000 to more than 4,700. It should be noted that the number of male teachers has increased year by year since 2016 when looking at numerical data and their number increased by more than 30 from 2021 to 2022. In the autumn of 2022, there were 9,408 staff members in compulsory schools in Iceland, 120 more than in the previous year.
Increased turnover of teaching personnel
Out of the approximately 5,700 teaching staff in the autumn of 2021, 785 were not teaching in the autumn of 2022, or 13.8%. This is the highest turnover according to Statistics Iceland’s data since 2013, when the turnover was 14.1%. When only looking at licenced teachers, 11.8% of those teaching in the autumn of 2021 were not teaching in the autumn of 2022.
Additional statistical data on pupils and staff in compulsory schools are available at the Statistics Iceland website.