The Upper Secondary School in Norway with Reference to Qualifications for Academic Studies

Abstract

The Act Concerning the Upper Secondary School was passed in 1974 as part of an educational reform program that had previously introduced the nine-year compulsory basic school. This new basic school gathered under its roof both the traditional seven-year elementary school and the two- or three-year lower secondary school. It followed that the traditional system of upper secondary education had to be reorganized accordingly. The result was a system which entitles anyone who has completed nine years of basic schooling to another three years within one of the main fields of upper secondary education, viz., the general area of study,¹ the areas of study for vocational subjects, and the two-year foundation courses. The latter may serve as a basis for an optional third year.