Address
Eurydice Unit
Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills
Fortunen 1
5013 Bergen
P.O. Box 1093
NO-5809 Bergen
Tel: +47 22 249 090
E-Mail:eurydice@hkdir.no
Website: https://hkdir.no/eurydice
1 Place guarantee to ECEC
In Norway, the statutory right to a place in a publicly subsidised kindergarten came into force in 2009 under the Kindergarten Act. All children are entitled to a place from the age of one, in both centre‑based and home‑based provision; paid parental leave covers the period before this.
Children who turn one by the end of August are entitled to a place from August that year, while those who turn one in September, October or November are entitled to a place by the end of their birth month. Municipalities are responsible for ensuring sufficient capacity to meet demand.
A full‑time place is not explicitly guaranteed by law. In practice, however, most municipalities offer full‑time provision, although this is not formally regulated in the Kindergarten Act.
2 Affordability
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Norway is publicly subsidised but not free. Parental fees for both public and private kindergartens, including centre‑ and home‑based provision, are nationally regulated and set annually in the state budget.
The maximum monthly fee was NOK 3,000 per child in January 2024, reduced to NOK 2,000 from August 2024 and further to NOK 1,200 from August 2025. In the least central municipalities, the cap was NOK 1,500 from August 2024 and NOK 700 from August 2025. Kindergartens are free of charge in the action zone of Finnmark and Northern Troms.
Families with more than one child in kindergarten are entitled to a sibling discount of at least 30 per cent, and from August 2023 the third child attends free of charge, provided the siblings live together and attend kindergartens in the same municipality. These rules apply equally to public and private provision. Children from low‑income families are legally entitled to 20 hours of free ECEC per week from the age of two, and municipalities may introduce additional local fee‑reduction schemes.
Parents also pay separately for meals. Kindergartens may charge food fees in addition to the regulated parental fee, but these must not exceed the actual cost of food.