Subjects and curriculum

The subjects in the Folkeskole

Teaching in the nine-year Folkeskole is organized three subject areas and includes the following compulsory subjects:

Subjects in the humanities

• Danish: Grades 1-9. .
• English: Grades 2-9.
• Christian Studies: Grades 1-9., except for the year in which confir-mation takes place. At the request of their parents, pupils may be exempted from Christian Studies.
• History: Grades 3-9.
• German or French: Grades 6-9. All schools must offer German as a subject, and may offer French.
• Social Studies: Grades 8-9.

Practical and creative Subjects

• Physical Education: Grades 1-9.
• Music: Grades 1-6.
• Visual Arts: Grades 2-6.
• Crafts and design: 3-6.
• Food science: Grades 5-6.

Science subjects

• Mathematics: Grades 1-9.
• Natural sciences/technology: Grades 1-6.
• Geography: Grades 7-9.
• Biology: Grades 7-9.
• Physics and Chemistry: Grades 7-9.

In addition to the compulsory subjects that schools are required to pro-vide, pupils in Grades 7-9 may also be offered education in a range of elective subjects.

The following topics are a compulsory part of the education programme in primary schools

• Road safety,
• Health and sexual education and family studies,
• Educational, vocational and labour market orientation.

Danish as a second language

Teaching in Danish as a second language is provided, where necessary, to bilingual pupils in pre-school class and in Grades 1-9. The Minister for Education

The curriculum

The Folkeskole Act gives the Minister for Education the authority to estab-lish the national curriculum for the Folkeskole. The curriculum sets out the purpose, competency areas, competency goals and other national re-quirements for each subject, providing the overall framework for teaching and learning.

Descriptions of all subjects, including the curriculum, are available in Dan-ish in the Common Objectives (Fælles Mål) for each subject.

Read the Common Objectives (Fælles Mål) for each subject (in Danish)

Reform of the national curriculum

Denmark is currently developing a new national curriculum for the Folkeskole as part of the Fagfornyelsen (Curriculum Renewal) reform.

The new subject curricula are intended to support engaging, practice-oriented teaching while providing a clearer connection between the overall purpose of the Folkeskole and the content of each subject. They are being developed in collaboration with teachers, school leaders, researchers and other stakeholders.

The new curricula will take effect from the 2027/28 school year.