Municipalities are responsible for primary and lower secondary education and for providing access to education for all children living in the municipality. There are a few exceptions. The County Municipality is responsible for primary and lower secondary education for pupils who live in childcare institutions or who have been admitted to health care institutions. The county has responsibility for primary and lower secondary education for pupils living in institutions. Norway has a scattered population and the school system is adapted to local demographic patterns.

There is a relatively large number of small schools situated in rural remote and or sparsely populated areas. Pupils in primary and lower secondary education are entitled to free transport if they live more than 2 km (Grade 1) or 4 km (Grades 2–10) from school. They are also entitled to free transport if the route is particularly hazardous, if boat transport is required, or if transport is needed due to disability, injury or illness. Pupils in upper secondary education are entitled to free transport if they live more than 6 km from school.

The Education Act section 14-4 and the Regulation to the Education Act allow for parts of the education to be given without the teacher being physically present. There must be valid reasons for it and it must be safe and pedagogically sound. Having valid reasons means that the benefits for the students must outweigh the disadvantages of conducting the education remotely. When assessing whether it is pedagogically sound to provide parts of the education through remote learning, consideration must be given to students' opportunities for learning, development, well-being and social cohesion. 

Norway also has nine Norwegian schools abroad in four countries for children with Norwegian citizenship. These are regulated under the Independent Schools Act.

There are no admission requirements. All children start primary education in the calendar year in which they turn six. In exceptional cases, school entry may be deferred or brought forward by one year following parental consent and an expert assessment.

Pupils normally attend the public school nearest to their home or the school designated for their catchment area. Municipalities are responsible for allocating school places. Parents may apply for admission to another school, but acceptance depends on available capacity and municipal approval. School placement decisions may be appealed under the general rules governing administrative decisions.

Compulsory education (Grades 1–10) in public schools is free of charge, including learning materials. Private schools may charge fees but generally receive public funding covering approximately 85% of their operating costs. 

Compulsory education is organised in two stages: Primary stage: grades 1–7 (age 6 to 12) and Lower secondary stage: grades 8–10 (age 13 to 16).

Some schools have pupils at all stages. Dividing compulsory education between two schools is often done for practical reasons, such as the number of pupils, the size of the buildings and traditions in the local area.

Norway has a scattered population and the school system is adapted to local demographic patterns. In small schools, mixed-age groups may be used and the teaching is adapted to the levels of the pupils. These schools have been approximately one third of all schools, but with less than one tenth of all pupils.

Compulsory education is comprehensive and coeducational. The aim is to offer all children an education that is adapted to their individual abilities. This principle applies just as much to the education of children with learning difficulties or other handicaps as to children with exceptional abilities, be these theoretical, practical, physical or aesthetic. Extra resources, mostly extra teachers, can be allocated to pupils with learning difficulties or other special educational needs.

Flexibility at local level in organising learning activities has been the norm since the school year 2004/05. The previous formal concept of a class no longer exists; instead, pupils belong to groups, which may include pupils from different grades. There are no national regulations on group size, but groups must be pedagogically justifiable. Two or more teachers may cooperate in teaching a group of pupils.

Each pupil is assigned a contact teacher (kontaktlærer), who is responsible for following up the pupil’s academic and social development and for maintaining contact with parents. The contact teacher broadly corresponds to the former class teacher. The contact teacher scheme is regulated nationally in the Education Act. However, the organisation of the scheme varies between municipalities and schools. Whether the same teacher follows a group of pupils for several years, or whether contact teachers change between grades, is decided locally. In many primary schools, continuity is promoted by allowing the same contact teacher to follow pupils for several years, but there is no national requirement to do so.

Regulations on the minimum number of teaching hours in each subject are laid down nationally in the National Curriculum and the Framework for the Distribution of Teaching Hours. The organisation of the school year is the responsibility of municipalities and schools within this national framework.

The minimum number of teaching hours at primary level has been increased in later years by the Ministry of Education and Research, especially in the first four grades. Physical activity is introduced as a compulsory activity and allocated a minimum numbers of hours (grades 1–7).

The school year in primary and lower secondary education consists of 38 weeks (190 school days) for pupils and 39 weeks for teachers and is divided into two terms, autumn and spring. The school year starts in mid- to late August and ends in mid-June throughout the country. While the overall structure of the school year is determined nationally, municipalities decide the exact dates for the beginning and end of terms and school holidays. As a result, minor regional and local variations exist in the school calendar, although the total number of school days and the overall length of the school year are the same nationwide.

There are usually four short vacations during the school year for pupils. These are one week in late September/October, two weeks at Christmas, one week in February and one and a half weeks at Easter. The summer vacation lasts around 8 weeks.

The organisation of the school year is closely linked to national regulations on instructional time. Municipalities and schools have self-rule in scheduling teaching, but they must ensure that pupils receive the minimum number of teaching hours prescribed nationally for each subject and level of education.

The school week consists of five days and yeaching hours are measured in 60-minute units. The organisation of the school day is the responsibility of local authorities and schools. Schools typically start between 08:00 and 08:30 and finish between 13:00 and 15:30, depending on grade level and local arrangements. Pupils in the early primary grades generally have shorter school days than pupils in the upper primary and lower secondary grades.

Compulsory education is organised as a full-day programme, although the length of the school day varies by age and the allocation of teaching hours across grades. Local authorities and schools have considerable flexibility in organising timetables, which may result in some local variation in starting and finishing times, lesson scheduling and the distribution of teaching hours during the week.

Since 1999, all municipalities are required by law to offer a voluntary after-school programme (SFO) for all children in Grades 1–4 and for children requiring special adaptations in Grades 5–7. Municipalities receive state funding for this purpose, while parents pay a monthly fee. The framework plan for SFO states that it shall facilitate play, cultural and leisure activities based on the age, functional level and interests of the children and provide care and supervision. It shall also ensure appropriate developmental conditions for children with disabilities. In some municipalities, SFO cooperates with local organisations in sports, arts, music and other activities.

Opening hours are generally from 07:30–08:00 until 16:30–17:00, but not during regular school hours. Both opening hours and parental fees vary between municipalities. SFO is normally available during school holidays.

Since the 2010/11 school year, homework assistance has been provided free of charge for pupils in Grades 1–4. Municipalities are required to offer homework assistance, although participation is voluntary. In some municipalities, homework assistance is organised in cooperation between schools and SFO.