According to the Compulsory Education Act, the principal of a compulsory school is authorized to grant a student an exemption from compulsory education in a specific subject if there are valid reasons to do so. The main principle is that children should study full-time and that exemptions from this should be narrowly defined. School principals are given leeway to assess what are considered valid reasons for granting an exemption from compulsory education. With reference to the right of children to education, it is assumed that strong reasons must exist for such an exemption to be granted. The National Curriculum Guide for Upper Secondary Schools contains provisions stating that if a student has been granted an exemption from a compulsory subject in compulsory school, such an exemption will continue to be valid in the same subjects in upper secondary school if requested. Granting exemptions from compulsory education is an administrative decision, and the procedural rules of the Administrative Procedure Act must therefore always be observed when making such decisions. Such requests must be submitted to the school in writing.

Valid reasons for exemption from compulsory education in a particular subject may include a student with high support needs being exempted from certain subjects or students with diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. The school may offer the student alternative learning opportunities after consultation with the parents, e.g. studies in the student’s native language if circumstances permit. Parents should be informed that such exemptions may potentially affect the student’s later studies, e.g. at the upper secondary school level. This exemption may also be used for students who have demonstrated outstanding performance in a particular field, in accordance with the guidelines for schools on handling such cases published below.

Examples of reasons for exemption from compulsory education in a specific subject:

1. A student whose native language is other than Icelandic is exempted from compulsory education in certain subjects.
2. A student with high support needs who is exempted from certain subjects after consultation with professionals.
3. A student who is dealing with temporary personal challenges, e.g. due to school avoidance or anxiety.

Criteria for procedures for requesting an exemption from compulsory education in a specific subject:

1. The parents’ application must be in writing and confirmed by the parents and the student, as applicable. The application must include the student’s name, social security number, address and primary school.
2. Justification for an exemption must be included in the parents’ application, along with a written expert assessment if applicable.
3. The principal obtains additional information, e.g. from the supervising teacher and school services, if deemed necessary.
4. The principal shall respond to the report in writing and apply the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act to the implementation.

The principal of a primary school may recognize studies conducted outside primary school as equivalent to primary school studies after a prior assessment in each case. Examples of this include recognition of students’ proficiency in a mother tongue other than Icelandic in accordance with the government’s policy on the education of children and young people with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, Icelandic students’ proficiency in foreign languages ​​other than English and a Nordic language, and studies at music schools, other art schools or language schools.

It is also permitted to assess students’ participation in, for example, social life, sports or organised voluntary work and studies outside compulsory school in their own mother tongue as part of choices and electives at junior high school level. Students’ participation in the world of work may be assessed at the initiative of the school in connection with a specific learning resource, but not traditional employment participation. The process for such collaboration between schools and the world of work must be formalised by the local authorities and it must be clear for what purpose it is used. It is also permitted to assess studies outside compulsory school and record them on the student’s report card as an elective, even though the student in question does not receive any exemption from compulsory education.

All students have the right to appropriate instruction regardless of physical or mental ability.

A student who, in the opinion of a doctor, cannot attend school due to an accident or long-term illness is entitled to remedial education either at home or at a medical institution. Remedial education is the responsibility of the relevant municipality and may partly take place as distance learning or distance learning under the guidance of a teacher and with follow-up from parents or employees of medical institutions after consultation with the student’s primary school. This provision does not apply to occasional illnesses of a student, and in this context, illnesses lasting less than a week may generally be considered.

A student has the right to remedial education as soon as he, in the opinion of a doctor, is able to study, and the duration of daily or weekly remedial education shall be based on his condition and endurance. The goal of remedial education is that the student misses as little instruction as possible and does not miss opportunities for study due to an accident or long-term illness.

The principal, in consultation with the doctor and parents, decides on the scope and further arrangements of the teaching. The principal thereby assumes the responsibility placed on local authorities to ensure that appropriate physical education is provided. He is responsible for drawing up an individual curriculum for a longer or shorter period of time, taking into account the circumstances, illness and needs of the student. The principal is responsible for ensuring that, before the arrangement and organisation of physical education is decided, the student has been given the opportunity to express himself, taking into account the age and development of the student in question. Physical education is not expected to replace local education in terms of scope.

A variety of methods should be used in the organization and implementation of medical education, in consultation with the student in question, as much as possible. The student should then have the opportunity to connect with his school and supervision group as best as his circumstances and condition allow.

Parents may apply for a temporary exemption from their child’s school attendance in individual subjects and areas of study or in all respects. The school principal obtains sufficient information about the child’s situation, for example by consulting with the supervising teacher. In all cases, the parents are obliged, if they are granted such an exemption, to take responsibility for ensuring that the student makes up for any missed learning according to information from the school.

Children’s prolonged absences from school, due to temporary exemptions at the request of parents, should not affect school work as a whole or the learning of other students.

Valid reasons must exist if a child does not attend school. Valid reasons for temporary exemption from compulsory education may include:

1. Serious illnesses, deaths or other traumas in the child’s immediate environment.
2. Travel organized by schools or in collaboration with schools, whether domestically or internationally.
3. Participation in achievement projects in the fields of sports, arts or youth council work.

The principal is responsible for assessing the circumstances in each case. When assessing an exemption, an assessment shall be made in each case as to whether the reason is such that it is considered normal to grant an exemption. Exemptions from school attendance shall always be for a specified period of time that does not last longer than is necessary.

A child’s continuous and integrated day is considered successful when schoolwork and other organized activities end earlier in the day, and this can also have a positive impact on the child’s family life. Collaboration between schools and other organized activities requires flexibility, but it can be difficult for a primary school that operates according to a timetable to compensate a child for the learning loss they suffer if they miss lessons at the same time each week. It is important that such issues are implemented with the guiding principle that what is in the child’s best interests always takes priority and that their right to education is not curtailed. This includes, among other things, exploring the child’s wishes and including them in the process when arrangements are chosen, as required by the Children’s Convention. If an exemption is granted for, for example, music lessons or other studies during school hours, written consent must be obtained from the parents, the child and the school, which, among other things, states how the parents will take responsibility for the child being able to make up for the learning that is lost.

If absenteeism affects a student’s learning and well-being, it requires a school response. The goal should be for a school to respond if a student’s total absences exceed one-tenth of a school year. Municipalities should set criteria for formal responses to declining student attendance, which stipulate actions that become progressively more severe in parallel with declining school attendance until absences from school reach a level of severity that requires reporting to child protection authorities. With progressive actions, it is assumed that before reporting to child protection authorities occurs and the criterion is reached, the school has attempted at earlier stages to work out the student’s possible circumstances in collaboration with parents and the student himself. However, this does not prevent school administrators from contacting child protection authorities earlier, as the child’s overall circumstances must be assessed in each case individually and all the issues that must be reported according to the Child Protection Act must be taken into account. It is also important to consider, among other things, all absences, illnesses, leave and unauthorized absences and the student’s circumstances in other respects when formulating rules for formal responses to declining school attendance. These municipal guidelines shall be published publicly and also become part of the school curriculum and school rules of all schools in the municipality. Municipalities can then use these rules when formulating formal guidelines for responses to declining school attendance by students.

A dream of school attendance may be an indication that a contact person or case manager is needed in accordance with the Act on the Integration of Services for the Well-being of Children. School staff should then provide parents with instructions on the integration of services, for example by indicating a contact person at the school. If such a failure to attend school by a child constitutes neglect, it should be reported to the child protection authorities. The same applies to parental neglect of responsibility for the child’s education while the child is exempt from school attendance.

School truancy has been defined as conscious or unconscious behavior that a child or young person displays that manifests itself in difficulties attending school, whether for the entire school day, part of the school day or for certain subjects, for a longer or shorter period of time. The reasons for school truancy can be varied and each case must be examined based on the circumstances of the child and their family and the social context and learning environment, such as well-being at school, social skills, learning ability and other factors that can affect the child and family environment. Parents and school staff need to be alert to the symptoms of school truancy and take any indications of this seriously. These symptoms can, for example, be unexplained absences or late arrivals to school, absences on certain days or a student not wanting to attend school even though there are no visible signs of illness. Other symptoms can be sleep disturbances or a child wanting to leave school in the middle of the day. It should be kept in mind that this is not an exhaustive list, as school avoidance can take many forms and have a variety of causes.

Primary schools should place special emphasis on support and prevention, especially if there is evidence of school avoidance, with the aim of identifying the problem before it becomes chronic and affects children’s learning, upbringing and development conditions and their future well-being.

Early support and targeted cooperation between home and school are key to preventing school avoidance and getting a child who is struggling with school avoidance back into school as soon as possible. The child can request to be assigned a designated contact person within the school who works on student issues in accordance with the Act on the Integration of Services for the Well-Being of Children. It is also important that schools, where appropriate with the involvement of a contact person, make an individual assessment of the needs of each child struggling with school avoidance and what support resources the child in question needs, including with the involvement of appropriate parties, e.g. school, social and health services for the well-being of children. If it is not possible to return a student to full-time studies with the help of school services and the contact person for the integration of services, it is a reason to investigate whether there is reason to get a case manager for further processing with integrated services.

While working to engage the student in their studies and work, the school must take appropriate measures to assist the student and his or her family. However, such measures can never become a principle for a student in school avoidance and should always be considered short-term with the goal of the student being able to attend school again.

According to current law, the Minister may grant municipalities or other operators temporary authorization to operate development schools or conduct experiments with certain aspects of school work. In such cases, a temporary exemption from the National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools may be granted and generally authorization is not granted for more than three years with a provision for evaluating experimental projects after that time has elapsed. Such an exemption may, for example, concern studies, school hours, teaching arrangements, number of hours, deviations from the reference timetable and deviations from the National Curriculum Guide. Schools can also be granted the status of development schools for development and experimental work within compulsory schools, although the activities fall entirely within the law and the National Curriculum Guide. Such experiments shall always be subject to a time limit and the Ministry shall always evaluate such experiments when they are completed.

A development school can be operated as a general primary school under the auspices of a municipality, as a department within a primary school, or as an independently run school with permission from the Ministry and with financial contributions from municipalities.

According to the Compulsory Education Act, the Minister is authorized to recognize a compulsory school or a study program within a general compulsory school that operates according to a recognized foreign or international curriculum and study structure and to grant exemptions from the relevant provisions of the Act and the National Curriculum Guide for Compulsory Schools. The Minister shall issue a regulation on the further implementation of this provision, including on service contracts between municipalities for the operation of schools according to the Compulsory Education Act, the determination of contributions from the local fund, non-compliance and withdrawal of recognition. The exemptions shall not impair the statutory rights of students to education. This applies in particular to compulsory schools that operate temporarily in this country due to specific projects in the business world and to compulsory schools for children of parents who work internationally and temporarily reside in this country.

Both local authorities and private parties may apply for permission to operate an international school or an international department at a compulsory school. When a request is made to establish an international school or an international department at a compulsory school, the Minister shall first grant permission to operate an international school as a development school for a maximum of three years and evaluate the work after that period before the school is granted international school status under the Compulsory Schools Act. Formal recognition shall be granted if all conditions for recognition are deemed to have been met in the opinion of the Ministry. Although international schools are primarily intended for students of foreign origin and especially those who intend to stay temporarily in Iceland, international schools have also been open to Icelandic students. When Icelandic students study at an international school, it is required that they study Icelandic according to the National Curriculum Guide and it is also assumed that all students of international schools of foreign origin are given the opportunity to learn Icelandic as a second language. Further provisions on international schools and the conditions for their operations are contained in the Regulation on Schooling According to a Foreign or International Curriculum and Study Structure, No. 699/2012.

A primary school is a place where children receive a statutory education and also has an important role to play in terms of the safety and well-being of children, as well as in promoting their comprehensive development and future success. School staff have obligations towards children under the Primary School Act, the Child Protection Act and the Act on the Integration of Services for the Well-being of Children, which do not cease to apply even if a child is homeschooled.

Homeschooling is an exception to the principle of compulsory schooling, cf. 46. Article 1 of the Act on Primary Schools. Therefore, high demands are made on parents or guardians of children who are granted temporary permission to take charge of their child’s education in part or in full.

The local government may grant a child’s parents an exemption to take care of their child’s education themselves, in accordance with further instructions set out in the Regulation on Home Education at Primary School Level, No. 531/2009. Parents who request an exemption to be able to teach their children at home must apply for the exemption to the municipality where they are legally domiciled.

Children who are homeschooled are exempt from attending compulsory school for the duration of homeschooling, but must be connected to a specific school in the municipality and be subject to regular assessment and supervision. They must have access to the municipality’s school services and other support services, as well as the opportunity to participate in school activities. They must also have the opportunity to participate in social and recreational activities and school trips organized by the school in the same way as its students. It is important that every child has the opportunity to spend time with other children. The students’ own wishes regarding their participation in general school activities, even if they are homeschooled, should be taken into account as far as possible.

In accordance with the compulsory education of children in Iceland, the main principle is that students must attend school on a regular basis, but a fundamental prerequisite for children to enjoy various rights guaranteed to them by law is that they attend school in a stimulating learning environment.

The Icelandic primary school is a local school, i.e. students attend the school building daily to do their studies. However, it is permitted to organize learning and teaching so that part of it is taken outside the school building. This applies, among other things, to field trips, outdoor learning and outdoor activities and trips to school camps, school trips within and outside Iceland and Nordic and European cooperation between schools. It is also possible for schools to implement individual subjects, e.g. electives, in distance learning or as independent home study without attending school. This can be both to teach independence in working methods and to meet the special circumstances of students, e.g. living far from the school building. Thus, such an implementation can be implemented in different ways within schools, i.e. individual principals have the authority to implement such implementations of school work and this must be presented in the school curriculum.

The main goal of distance and distance learning in compulsory school is to give students who choose it the opportunity to study regardless of their place of residence. This includes, among other things, studies that are not available at the school in question, such as language studies for students of foreign origin and elective courses of various kinds, but also studies for students who have the ability to take individual courses in upper secondary school through distance and distance learning alongside their studies in compulsory school.

To promote flexibility at the boundary between compulsory and upper secondary schools, upper secondary school students shall be offered distance or distance learning in upper secondary schools as part of their studies in primary school. If such studies are assessed as part of compulsory studies, including as an elective subject, they shall be free of charge to the student. The arrangements for distance and distance learning shall be explained in the school curriculum. On the other hand, if a primary school student takes upper secondary school courses that are assessed for credits in upper secondary schools, the student shall bear the cost of the study, i.e. the enrolment and registration fee and study materials, but the cost of teaching shall be free of charge to the student.

A primary school, as a workplace for students, should conduct its work in such a way that students feel safe and enjoy their abilities, in addition to having the right to enjoy their childhood in all work carried out by the school, including distance and distributed learning.

Before schools begin distance learning, it is necessary to be clear about how the duties of the supervising teacher will be fulfilled towards students in distance learning. Attention is drawn to the role of the supervising teacher according to law, which is that he or she shall closely monitor the learning and development, well-being and general welfare of his or her students, guide them in their studies and work, assist and advise them on personal matters and contribute to strengthening cooperation between schools and homes.