The Norwegian Education Mirror 2022

Pupils in upper secondary school education who do not get sufficient benefit from ordinary education have a right to special education.

Fewer pupils in special education than in Year 10

The proportion of pupils with an individual statement for special education in upper secondary school is significantly lower than in Year 10; 2.6 per cent in upper secondary school compared with 10 per cent in Year 10. Around 4,900 pupils are receiving special education in 2021-2022.

Pupils in vocational training receive special education to a greater extent than pupils in general study programmes, 5 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.

There is reason to believe that there is some under-reporting of pupils in special education. In a survey of schools, Markussen et al. (2019) found that the proportion of pupils in special education was higher; 7.5 per cent for vocational training programmes and 1.6 per cent for general study programmes. Despite the deviations, both data sources still show that many of the pupils who receive a special education statement in secondary school no longer receive a corresponding statement in upper secondary school. The lower proportion of pupils in special education in upper secondary school may be due to schools structuring and organising education to reduce the need for special education. For example, smaller classes in vocational courses make it easier to adapt teaching (Markussen et al. 2019).