The Norwegian Education Mirror 2022

Primary and lower secondary school costs

In 2021, the municipalities spend NOK 82 billion on municipal primary and lower secondary schools, which is an increase of 7 per cent compared with 2020 (Statistics Norway 2022c). Operating costs of after-school activities (over NOK 5.3 billion) are additional. The state also gives a subsidy to primary and lower secondary schools who are approved in accordance with the Independent Schools Act; NOK 3.6 billion including NOK 37 million in Coronavirus-related subsidies (The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training 2022b).

In 2021, a pupil in a public primary school cost the municipality on average NOK 135,300 (Statistics Norway 2022c). Of this, NOK 108,700 was spent on teaching, school materials and similar, while NOK 24,100 was spent on premises and transport. In total, costs per pupil have decreased by NOK 10,000 from 2020 to 2021.