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 child care 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 are a relatively large number of small schools situated in rural remote and or sparsely populated areas. 

The distance from a child’s home and to the school greatly varies between, and within, municipalities. If the distance to the school is too long or unsafe, a child is entitled to free transportation between the school and the child’s home. Ill and disabled children are entitled to transportation regardless of distance. 

The Education Act and the Regulation to the Education Act allow for instruction in some subjects[1] to be given as distance education when the instruction cannot be given by the teaching staff of the school. The Education Act and the Regulation to the Education Act states it is possible to provide distance education in some subjects if it is not possible for teaching staff at the school to provide the instruction in the subject.  

Norway also has nine Norwegian schools abroad in four countries for children with Norwegian citizenship. These are regulated under the Act relating to private schools (previously called Independant Schools’ Act).

All pupils shall start primary education in the calendar year of their sixth birthday. If, exceptionally, a child enters school at age 5 or 7, the decision is taken by municipal authorities based on parental consent and expert assessment.

There are no admission requirements. According to the Education Act, pupils attending primary and lower secondary school and who have a mother tongue other than Norwegian or Sami have the right to special education in Norwegian until they are sufficiently proficient in Norwegian to follow the normal instruction of the school. If necessary, such pupils are also entitled to mother tongue instruction, bilingual subject teaching, or both.

The general rule is that pupils attend the public school that is closest to where they live, or the school designed for the area where they live. On application, a pupil may be accepted for another school if there are available places.

Compulsory education (grades 1–10) in public institutions is provided free of charge and school materials are free. Fees are charged in private schools, which usually receive public funding (approx. 85% of total expenses).

Compulsory education is organised in two stages:

• Primary stage: grades 1–7 (age 6 to 12)
• 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. Some schools may have very few pupils, and it is therefore inappropriate to divide pupils into grades according to the year they were born. These schools have mixed-age classes, teaching being 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. (See chapter 12. Educational Support and Guidance.)

Flexibility on local level in organising learning activities is the norm since the school year 2004/2005. The earlier understanding of the term class does formally not exist anymore, children in the same grade belong to groups. A group may also have pupils from different grades. There are no regulations as to group size, but the size shall be pedagogically justifiable. Two or more teachers may cooperate in teaching a group of pupils. A contact teacher shall have the same functions as the earlier class teacher.

Regulations for lessons per year in each subject are given in the National Curriculum in Framework regulating the distribution of teaching hours per subject.. The organisation of the school year is the responsibility of the municipality or the local school.

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 of primary and lower secondary education consists of 38 weeks (190 days) for pupils and 39 weeks for teachers and is divided into two terms, Autumn and Spring. The school year starts in mid-/late August and ends approximately in mid-June in the whole education system. The municipalities decide the exact dates for the beginning and end of terms.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 school week is five days. Teaching hours are given in 60-minute units. The organisation of the school day is the responsibility of the local school. 

Since 1999, all municipalities are required by law to offer a voluntary of out-of-school-hours-care (SFO) for all children in grades 1–4, and for children that need special adaptations in grades 5-7. The municipalities receive state support for this purpose, in addition to parents paying a monthly fee. The framework plan for out-of-school-hours-care states that they must facilitate play, cultural and leisure activities based on the age, functional level and interests of the children, and provide the children with care and supervision. They must also provide satisfactory development conditions for children with physical disabilities. In some out-of-schools-hours care, there is co-operation with local organisations within sports,art, music and other areas. Opening hours are generally from 7.30-8.00 am to 4.30-5.00 p.m., but not during school hours. Both opening hours and the monthly fee vary between municipalities. The out-of-schools-hours care are open during pupils’ holidays. 

From the school year 2010 homework assistance is organised free of charge for pupils in grades 1–4; compulsory for the municipality to organise, but voluntary for the pupils to attend. Homework assistance can in some municipalities be organised through cooperation between school and SFO.