Norway's bullying rates are falling across all school grades as the country prepares a major new tool to monitor student welfare. 5.5% of first-year upper secondary students now report being bullied, a drop of 0.8% from last year. Younger grades show similar declines. This positive trend coincides with a national push for better data. The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Utdanningsdirektoratet) will now create detailed absence statistics for all schoolchildren, starting from first grade.
“We hope to have a pilot ready for the next school year, and that this registry is in place again the year after,” said Sissel Skillinghaug, Director of Knowledge and Technology at the Directorate. The complete system for tracking absence across the entire primary and lower secondary school system is slated for the 2027/2028 school year. Officials state this data will provide better national-level information about absence in the lower grades.
A New Layer of Student Support
The initiative marks a significant expansion of Norway's education monitoring. Currently, comprehensive national absence data does not systematically include the youngest pupils. Tracking from first grade—when children are typically six years old—aims to identify problems earlier. Frequent absence can be a critical warning sign. It often points to underlying issues like school anxiety, learning difficulties, or social challenges including bullying.
“This isn't about policing attendance for its own sake,” explains Lars Mjøen, an educational researcher at the University of Oslo. “It's about creating a safety net. When a six-year-old starts missing school regularly, it's a red flag. With national data, we can see patterns, allocate resources to the right schools, and intervene before a child becomes completely disconnected from their education.” The system is designed to support, not punish. The focus remains on understanding the 'why' behind the absence.
Bullying Numbers Show Encouraging Drop
The latest bullying statistics provide a hopeful backdrop for this new data drive. The figures show a clear decrease after several years of rising reports. For students in the 10th grade, 9.6% experience bullying, down one percentage point. In the 7th grade, the rate is 11.3%, also down a full point. “After several years with increasing bullying numbers, we now see a clear decline across all levels,” Skillinghaug noted.
Experts link this decline to sustained national efforts. Norway has implemented widespread anti-bullying programs like the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Schools have increased focus on social inclusion and digital citizenship. “The consistent, long-term work in schools is likely bearing fruit,” says Mjøen. “Teachers are better trained to spot and handle incidents. There's also a broader cultural awareness among students and parents that bullying is unacceptable.”
How Data Fuels Prevention
The new absence registry and the bullying statistics will work in tandem. School administrators see them as two vital metrics for student well-being. Chronic absence can sometimes be a child's only way to signal distress. A student might not report bullying directly but may start avoiding school. National data allows the Education Directorate to identify municipalities or schools with outlier numbers. This enables targeted support and sharing of best practices from areas performing well.
| Grade Level | Bullying Rate (2024) | Change from Previous Year |
|---|---|---|
| VG1 (Upper Secondary Year 1) | 5.5% | -0.8% |
| 10th Grade | 9.6% | -1.0% |
| 7th Grade | 11.3% | -1.0% |
The table above illustrates the recent downward trend in bullying reports. The goal of the absence tracking is to help push these numbers down further by enabling earlier, more effective interventions. The philosophy is preventative: use data to identify risk and provide help before a crisis develops.
The Norwegian Context: Equality and Trust
This move fits within Norway's deep-seated educational principles. The country offers free, equal education for all, with a strong emphasis on the learning environment. Collecting sensitive data on children also operates within a framework of high public trust in institutions and strict privacy laws (GDPR). Parents and the school community are seen as partners in student welfare.
“The success of this system depends on that trust,” Mjøen emphasizes. “The data must be used transparently and ethically to help children, not to label schools or pupils negatively. The communication from the Directorate has been clear on this point—it's a tool for care.” The pilot phase will be crucial for testing data collection methods and ensuring they are non-intrusive and effective.
The Road to 2028
The full implementation target of the 2027/2028 school year gives authorities time to develop a reliable system. The pilot starting next year will work out technical and practical challenges. Questions remain about how to uniformly code absences—distinguishing between illness, family holidays, and unexplained avoidance—across thousands of schools. The Directorate will need to provide clear guidelines to ensure data is consistent and meaningful.
For now, the dual story is one of cautious optimism. The falling bullying rates validate current approaches to student welfare. The forthcoming absence statistics represent the next step in Norway's systematic, data-informed strategy to safeguard its youngest citizens. In a world increasingly focused on educational outcomes, Norway is investing just as heavily in monitoring the environment that makes those outcomes possible. The ultimate question is whether this powerful new dataset will become a global model for proactive student support.