“Doesn't know Norwegian. Maybe first let them learn a bit at home?”
No.
This is one of the worst reasons to postpone contacting the school.
You have arrived in Norway.
The child knows:
Polish,
Ukrainian,
Russian,
English,
or another language.
Norwegian?
Maybe a few words.
The parent starts to think:
“We'll wait a month. Let them learn a bit first.”
But actually the school is one of the places where the child is supposed to start acquiring that language.
Lack of Norwegian does not mean:
“they are not yet ready for school”.
It means:
“the school must assess what language support is needed”.
First step: don't search for a school across all of Norway. Start with your kommune
There is no single national form:
“Register a child for school in Norway”.
The local municipality is responsible for primary school.
So you live in:
Drammen → contact Drammen kommune.
Bergen → Bergen kommune.
Tinn → Tinn kommune.
Oslo → Oslo kommune.
Udir confirms that it is the kommune that is responsible for ensuring primary education for children living or staying in its area.
On the municipality's website look for keywords:
school
new pupil
school enrollment
moved to the municipality
newly arrived pupils
If you can't find anything, simply call the kommune and say:
“We have moved to the municipality and my child needs a school place.”
That is:
“We have moved to the municipality and my child needs a place at school.”
That is enough to start the conversation.
General rules for new pupils:
Udir — regulations for newly arrived pupils
Don't wait for fødselsnummer to even call
This is very important.
A parent often thinks:
“First Folkeregisteret. Then the number. Only then the school.”
Don't treat it like a queue where one thing must finish before the other begins.
If it is known that the child will probably be in Norway for more than 3 months, they have the right to primary education. Udir also emphasizes that the right itself does not depend on citizenship nor on whether the child or the parents have legal residence.
That means:
you do residence formalities in parallel.
And you contact the school right away.
How quickly should the child get a school place?
You should not hear:
“Please come back in six months.”
The law says that education shall begin as soon as possible.
Udir's current clarification indicates that the municipality should not wait until the last day and that a full offer should be provided no later than one month after the child's arrival.
This does not mean:
“the municipality has a month and during that month may do nothing”.
Udir clearly emphasizes that if instruction can start earlier, it should start earlier.
For a parent this means one thing:
you register the child immediately after moving.
Which grade will the child be placed in?
Here is the good news.
The rule does not apply:
“Doesn't know Norwegian, so we move them back two years.”
A child who comes to Norway should, in principle, be assigned to the level corresponding to their age.
The municipality may decide on a lower level only after a concrete, individual assessment of the child's situation.
So for example:
the child is 11 years old.
They do not automatically start in a class for eight-year-olds just because they do not know Norwegian.
Language is a separate issue.
Age and the child's development are a separate issue.
“But they won't understand the teacher”
At the beginning they probably really will not understand everything.
And that is exactly why there is:
særskilt språkopplæring.
If the child has another mother tongue than Norwegian or Sami and does not know Norwegian well enough to participate in ordinary education, they have the right to special language support.
It always includes:
forsterket opplæring i norsk
that is, strengthened Norwegian instruction.
If the child needs it, they may also receive:
morsmålsopplæring
that is, mother tongue instruction,
and/or:
tospråklig opplæring i fag
that is, help learning subjects in two languages.
Example:
a child understands mathematics very well.
However, they do not understand an instruction written in Norwegian.
Bilingual support is meant to help avoid a situation where lack of Norwegian looks like:
“the child cannot do math.”
The school should check how much Norwegian the child really knows
Not every new student needs exactly the same thing.
One child:
doesn't know a single word.
Another:
understands a lot of Norwegian because they lived previously in Scandinavia.
A third:
speaks, but has problems with school language.
Therefore the school should assess the level of Norwegian and the need for support.
Udir even has up-to-date tools for teachers to check whether a pupil needs særskilt språkopplæring and when they are ready for ordinary education in Norwegian.
The parent does not have to administer such a test themselves.
Your job is to tell the school the truth:
which languages the child speaks,
where they previously went to school,
what they can do,
what they find difficult.
Will the child immediately be placed in a regular class?
Often yes.
But not always for the whole time.
In certain situations the municipality may temporarily organize so-called:
innføringsopplæring
that is, more intensive instruction for newly arrived pupils.
It may be conducted in:
a separate group,
a class,
sometimes another school.
The aim is not to “isolate foreigners”.
The aim is to prepare the child faster to participate in ordinary education.
Such a solution is temporary.
If the municipality proposes such a model, ask:
How long is it supposed to last?
How much time does the child spend with a normal class?
How will progress be assessed?
When will the transition to ordinary education take place?
Don't be afraid to ask.
Which school should the child attend?
In Norway there is the so-called:
the neighbourhood school principle.
In simple terms, it means that children from the same local community should be able to attend the school located in their natural neighbourhood together.
Udir points out that the right to a specific school is based on this very assumption.
It does not always mean:
“the nearest building measured in a straight line”.
The municipality may take into account local school boundaries and other permitted factors.
But the starting point is local.
Therefore, moving to the other side of town can sometimes also mean a change of school district.
More about the neighbourhood school principle:
Udir — the neighbourhood school principle
What to prepare before the first meeting with the school?
Don't delay contacting them just because you don't have a perfect folder of documents.
But if you have them, bring:
the child's identity document,
parents'/guardians' details,
current address,
information about the previous school,
the most recent school report,
information about the grade the child completed,
any assessments concerning educational needs,
important health information,
vaccination records,
information about the child's languages.
If a document is in Polish, don't automatically assume you must pay to have everything translated.
Ask the school first:
what they actually need and in what form.
Do not translate dozens of pages "just in case".
Is the Norwegian public school fee-based?
Public primary school is free.
And it's not just about:
“no tuition fees”.
Udir explains that the municipality cannot require parents to cover costs associated with primary school education, for example educational materials, transport during school activities, overnight school camps or school excursions that are part of the education.
Check the principle of free schooling:
Udir — the principle of free schooling
This does not mean that a parent never bears any expenses related to the child's life.
For example, ordinary:
clothing,
food,
some personal equipment
are a separate matter.
But public education itself cannot be made conditional on whether a parent pays for mandatory school activities.
And if the school is far away?
A child may have the right to free school transport.
Basic distance limits are:
more than 2 km for 1st grade
and:
more than 4 km for grades 2–10.
The right to transport may also exist when:
the route to school is particularly dangerous or difficult,
the child has a disability,
an illness,
an injury,
or needs transport by boat.
Full rules for school transport:
Udir — school transport
If you live 5 km from the school and drive your child by car every day, don't assume right away:
“apparently that's how it has to be”.
Check the right to transportation.
The first day at school is not the end of the story
The child got a place.
The backpack is ready.
Problem solved?
Administratively, almost.
But for the child everything is just beginning.
New people.
New language.
Unknown jokes.
Different rules.
They may come back on the first day and say:
“It was great.”
They may also shut their bedroom door and say:
“I'm never going back there.”
Both reactions can be normal.
Don't ask only:
“What did you learn today?”
Also ask:
“Who did you sit with?”
“Did anyone talk to you?”
“Did you know what you were supposed to do?”
“What was the hardest thing?”
That often says more about the start than the first grades.
If a child feels bad at school, there is someone besides the teacher
Every school also has access to:
school health service.
This is a free health service intended for students.
The child can talk to the school nurse among other things about:
stress,
well-being,
health,
the situation at home,
relationships,
school problems.
You do not always need to have a prior appointment; Helsenorge also describes the possibility of drop-in contact.
Check the service here:
Helsenorge — school health service
If the child is dealing with the move much worse than you expected, don't wait until the problem grows.
“My child is older, they're 16 or 17 years old”
Here the path may look different.
A newly arrived 16–18-year-old may, depending on previous education, be entitled to:
upper secondary education
or:
preparatory education.
If they have completed the Norwegian primary and lower secondary school or an equivalent education abroad, they may be entitled to upper secondary education. If not, preparatory education organized by the municipality may be appropriate.
Check the rules for 16–18 years:
Udir — education for newly arrived youth
Don't try to guess on your own:
“17 years = high school”.
First, it also matters what education the child has already completed.
And SFO?
If the child is younger, another practical question will appear very quickly:
“School finishes earlier than my work. What now?”
From 1 August 2026, pupils in grades 1–3 will have a statutory right to 12 hours of free SFO per week. The municipality may still charge a fee, for example for meals and, of course, for extra hours beyond the free range.
We do not expand on this here, because SFO together with kindergarten will be another separate guide.
The first phone call to the municipality can really be very simple
You do not need to know specialist words.
You can say:
„We have just moved to the municipality. I have a 10-year-old child who needs a school place. The child does not yet speak Norwegian. Who should I contact?”
That is:
„We have just moved to the municipality. I have a 10-year-old child who needs a place at school. The child does not yet speak Norwegian. Who should I contact?”
That's enough.
Really.
You don't have to know the Education Act on the first phone call.
What to do after reading this guide?
Don't postpone this until Monday three weeks from now.
1. Go to your municipality's website.
Look for school, new student or enrollment.
2. Contact the municipality.
Say the child's age, address and when you arrived.
3. Tell them right away that the child does not yet know Norwegian well.
This is information the school needs, not something to be ashamed of.
4. Prepare documents from the previous school.
But translate only what the school actually asks for.
5. Ask about language instruction.
If the child is not ready for normal instruction in Norwegian.
6. Check the transport.
If the school is far away.
7. During the first weeks ask the child about people and how they feel, not just about lessons.
Because starting in a new country is much more than a class schedule.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Udir — newly arrived students
Right to primary and lower secondary education, the municipality's responsibility and the organization of schooling for children arriving in Norway.
Udir — regulations for newly arrived students
Udir — special language instruction
Enhanced Norwegian instruction, mother tongue teaching and bilingual support in subjects.
Udir — special language instruction
Udir — the principle of free education
The principle of free public primary education.
Udir — school transport
Right to school transport.
Helsenorge — skolehelsetjenesten
Free health care and support for students.
