Meet the Danish Efterskole

• An Efterskole offers general education. It is regarded as the primary task for the Efterskole to deal with the entire development of each individual young student.
• The Efterskole students are all between 14 – 18 years.
• The Efterskole offers education at 8th – 10th forms, and you can choose to complete a school year in the Efterskole, instead of the municipal school (Folkeskole). You even have the same possibilities of passing final examinations.
• Although the Efterskoles fulfil social functions, it is important to stress that they are schools and not social institutions.
• The average size of an Efterskole is approx. 85 students.
• The Efterskole is a private self-governing educational institution, run by a private school board with great responsibility and authority. The school is superintended by The Danish Ministry of Education.
• Education and boarding fees are charged and can vary from one school to another, in reality though with only minor differences. The fees are paid partly by parents and partly by state and municipal grants. The public financial support ensures that everybody has a realistic, free choice of attending an Efterskole.

The Danish Efterskole is unique

This publication is an introduction to, and an interpretation of, the Efterskole, but the reader should realize that the Efterskole must be personally experienced – not studied at a distance. There is great variation among the 235 schools, which use their educational, economic, political, and religious freedom in very diverse ways.

The Efterskole is often referred to as a boarding school or a "continuation school", but this might lead to mistaken conceptions of the Efterskole; the Danish term will therefore be used consistently.

Quoted from the folder: Meet the Danish Efterskole. Click to download (pdf)