[2] The majority of schools in Norway are municipal, where local governments fund and manage administration.

The Christmas holiday from mid-December to early January historically divides the Norwegian school year into two terms.

[citation needed] Shortly after Norway became an archdiocese in 1153, cathedral schools were constructed to educate priests in Trondheim, Oslo, Bergen and Hamar.

[3] In 1736 training in reading was made compulsory for all children, but was not effective until some years later, when ambulatory schools (omgangsskoler) were also established.

[4] Traditionally poorer counties like Finnmark and Hedmark have the highest shares of inhabitants who only have completed the compulsory primary education, with numbers as high as 38%.

Private schools must be founded upon a curriculum used and recognized internationally or an alternative approach to teaching – either religious or pedagogical.

[7] These schools must be approved by the government and are heavily grant-aided, and cannot select students based on subjectivity, such as skill or intelligence.

Typical offered languages are German, French, and Spanish as well as additional English and Norwegian studies.

[11] In 2009, Norwegian fifteen-year-olds performed better in OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment than other Scandinavian countries, with significant improvement since 2006.

[12] Criticism has come (2024) from Sanna Sarromaa, a sociologist who has taught at Lower secondary level (in Norway): "One always waits for the slowest and" most stupid [pupils]"; furthermore, she says that the parents must "provide (for) all basic knowledge".

Kunnskapsløftet also makes it harder to switch between electives that are taken in the second and third year in the general studies path.

To be accepted to most higher education schools, a student must have attained a general university admissions certificate (generell studiekompetanse).

This can be achieved by taking general studies while in upper secondary school or through the law of 23/5 where a person must be above 23 years of age, have five years of combined schooling and work experience and have passed exams in Norwegian, mathematics, natural sciences, English and social studies.

The majority of higher educational institutions are run by the state and take responsibility for their own instruction, research, and dissemination of knowledge.

To gain access to studies commonly requiring a high GPA, like medicine, law and engineering, many students re-sit their upper secondary school examinations to improve their grades.

Pupils who cannot manage to yield learning outcomes from the typical teaching style have a right to special education.

In addition to the society system, special educators play a significant role, particularly in the content of their instructions.

Institutions are expected to create an inclusive and flexible learning environment that represents universal design.

Lower levels of education use a scale running from 1 through 6, with 6 being the highest and 2 the lowest passing grade.

This is obtained by those who have passed all their subjects, and lists grades which are "based on teachers' determination of overall achievement marks of their own students.

A minority of students will be chosen at random to sit an exam, a concept called trekkfag in Norwegian.

The dictionary translation of trekkfag is given as a description of the concept: "subjects students may be chosen to sit an exam for.