All minor children of the mandatory school age, who live or reside in Denmark, must be offered education. This is the general rule.
The municipalities are responsible for ensuring that all children of the mandatory school age in the municipality either attend a regular primary school (folkeskole) or receive education equivalent to it.
It is essential that the child actually lives or resides in the municipality. On the contrary, it is of no relevance whether the child has legal residence in Denmark, including whether the child is in Denmark on a procedural stay or whether the child is registered in CPR.
A child is considered to live or reside in a municipality when the child has had a residence in the municipality for a period of at least 3 consecutive weeks outside normal vacation periods. In addition, it must be assumed that the child will reside in Denmark for at least 6 months.
However, the requirement about a residence for 6 months does not apply if the child has already lived in the municipality for a longer period or is already enrolled in primary school. In these cases, the child must continue the schooling until the child possibly moves from the municipality.
If the child wishes it, the municipality is obligated to offer education in 10th grade to children under the age of 18, who live or reside in the municipality.
The right to education in a primary school does not apply when a minor is covered by rules for mandatory schooling in other legislation than the Primary School Act (folkeskoleloven).
As an example, the Aliens Act contains rules for schooling of asylum seekers of the mandatory school age, and they are therefore offered schooling in relation to their accommodation at an asylum center.
If the residence permit of a child of the mandatory school age is revoked or an extension of it is denied, the child will still have the right to be schooled by the municipality until the child moves away from the municipality. If the child later is accommodated at an asylum center or departure center, the Danish Immigration Service will take over the duty of provision and mandatory schooling.
For further information on rules for mandatory schooling in the Primary School Act, the Immigration Service refers to the National Agency for Education and Quality.
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