There were 47,162 pupils in compulsory education in Iceland in the autumn of 2024, 345 fewer than in the previous year, a 0.7% decrease. These data come from the annual data collection on compulsory schools in October.
A total of 174 compulsory schools were operating in Iceland in the 2024-2025 school year, one fewer than in the previous year. Private schools were 13 with almost 1,560 pupils, the largest number of pupils ever attending private compulsory schools. Three public special education schools were operating, with 186 pupils.
Fewer schools with a small number of pupils
The number of schools with a small number of pupils has decreased in recent years, as these schools have either been closed or become departments in larger schools. In the autumn of 2004 there were 19 schools with fewer than 25 pupils, but in the autumn of 2014 their number had decreased to 14. They were 10 in the autumn of 2024.
The number of pupils with a foreign mother tongue and citizenship continues to increase
The number of pupils with a foreign mother tongue has increased year by year. In the autumn of 2024, 7,661 pupils had a foreign mother tongue, or 16.2% of pupils, the highest proportion to date. It should be kept in mind that some of these pupils also speak Icelandic as their mother tongue. Out of the pupils with a foreign mother tongue, 847 were in 10th grade, most of whom have probably applied to enter upper secondary education in the autumn of 2025.
The most common foreign mother tongue was Polish, spoken by over 2,200 pupils. The second most common language was Spanish, the mother tongue of over 600 pupils. Almost 600 pupils speak Arabic, and a slightly smaller number have English as their mother tongue.
The number of pupils with foreign citizenship also increased from the previous year and never before have more foreign pupils attended compulsory schools in Iceland. They were 5,368 in the autumn of 2024, an increase of almost 400 (7.9%) from the previous year. The number of pupils with Icelandic citizenship decreased by 737 between 2023 and 2024.