During the school year 2024-2025 81.8% of teaching staff in compulsory schools in Iceland had a teaching licence, compared with 81.3 in the previous year. The number of teachers with a teaching licence increased by 57 from the autumn of 2023.
There were 5,947 staff members working as teachers in the autumn of 2024, never more. Licenced teachers were 4,862, the highest number to date, but unlicensed teachers were 1,085, slightly fewer than in the previous year. Of the unlicensed teachers, 82.9% had university education, the highest proportion ever.
The proportion of licensed teachers was highest in the Northeast, where it was 87.6%, and 85.0% in the Capital region outside of Reykjavík. The proportion was lowest in the Southwest at 65.6% and in the East, 67.4%.
Never nore male teachers
Male teachers were 1,134 in the autumn of 2024, the highest number since Statistics Iceland started its data collection in 1998. However, their share of teaching staff has been decreasing during this time. They were 26.0% of teaching staff in 1998 but the proportion was under 18% in 2016–2021. Since 2022 the share of male teachers has increased again, and was 19.1% in the autumn of 2024.
Lower avarage age of teaching personnel
The average age of teaching staff was slightly lower than in the previous year, it dropped from 46.1 to 45.9 years. The drop was caused both by a drop in the age of licensed teachers from 48.5 years to 48.3 years, and in the age of unlicenced teachers from 35.7 years to 35.3 years.
Never more staff in compulsory schools
In the autumn of 2024 there were 9,709 staff members working 8,538 full-time equivalent jobs in compulsory schools in Iceland, an increase of 2.5% from the previous year. Never before has the number of staff been higher in compulsory schools, according to data collected by Statistics Iceland. There were 47,162 pupils in compulsory education in Iceland in the 2024-2025 school year.