Denmark
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Denmark
Teachers and teaching conditions (TALIS 2024)
  • In Denmark, teachers are on average 45 years old, which is the same as the OECD average of 45 years. Since 2018, the share of teachers aged 50 and above has not changed.
  • More than half of teachers, 55%, have non-teaching work experience (similar to the OECD average: 57%).
  • Schools where more than 10% of students have a first language different from the language of instruction employ 28% of teachers (similar to the OECD average: 25%). The share of teachers who feel they can adapt their teaching to cultural diversity “quite a bit” or “a lot” is 73% (higher than the OECD average: 63%).
  • Three out of four teachers, 75%, feel they can support students’ social and emotional learning “quite a bit” or “a lot” (similar to the OECD average: 73%).
  • At least one hybrid or online lesson in the last month was reported in schools where 23% of teachers work (similar to the OECD average: 16%).
  • Just over a third of teachers, 36%, report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work (similar to the OECD average: 36%).
  • Among novice teachers (with up to five years of experience), 22% have an assigned mentor (similar to the OECD average: 26%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • A total of 68% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the previous 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching (higher than the OECD average: 55%).
  • The most frequent forms of collaboration among teachers include: engaging in discussions about the learning development of specific students (70%), exchanging teaching materials (61%), and teaching jointly as a team in the same class (58%).
  • In Denmark, 38% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society (higher than the OECD average: 22%). This share increased by 19 percentage points since 2018.
  • Almost three-quarters of teachers, 71%, “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment, excluding salaries (similar to the OECD average: 68%). Satisfaction has increased by 34 percentage points since 2018.
  • More than two-thirds of teachers, 69%, “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salaries (higher than the OECD average: 39%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • The most commonly reported sources of stress are: being held responsible for students’ social and emotional well-being (51%), addressing parent or guardian concerns (49%), and modifying lessons for students with special education needs (48%).
  • The share of teachers who report that, all in all, they are satisfied with their jobs is 91% (higher than the OECD average: 89%). Satisfaction has increased by 2 percentage points since 2018.
  • Among teachers under age 30, 18% express their intention of leaving teaching within the next five years (similar to the OECD average: 20%). This share has not changed since 2018.

  • * Estimates for Alberta (Canada), the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway should be interpreted with caution due to higher risk of non-response bias.

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    The following list displays indicators for which your selected country shows the highest and lowest values among countries. The list can be sorted by level of education or by age group. All rankings are calculated including available data from OECD and partner countries. Find out more about the methodology here.

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    Initial and induction training of teachers

    The proportion of recent lower secondary teacher graduates in Denmark who “agree” or “strongly agree” that the quality of their initial education was high overall was among the lowest across countries with available data. (58 %, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher appraisal and feedback

    Compared to other countries participating in TALIS, in Denmark, there is a low proportion of eachers who report receiving feedback from external individuals or bodies. (28.3 %, rank 51/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    In Denmark, a low proportion of teachers report receiving feedback from school principals. (67.3 %, rank 52/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    A low proportion of teachers report receiving feedback from assigned mentors. (33.4 %, rank 51/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Denmark has one of the highest proportion of teachers whose school principals report that they are never formally appraised. (17.6 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' practices

    Teachers report spending less hours per week marking and correcting work. (2.6 Hours/week, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Denmark who indicated a high level of need for approaches to individualised learning was among the lowest across participating countries. (6.2 %, rank 54/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' autonomy, collegiality and collaboration

    A high share of teachers report engaging in team-teaching at least once a month. (58.3 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Denmark who “agree” or “strongly agree” that students and teachers usually get along well with each other was among the highest across participating countries. (98.4 %, rank 5/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers’ working conditions, mobility and risk of attrition

    Denmark has one of the highest proportion of teachers employed on a permanent contract. (97 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Denmark who "agree" or "strongly agree" that they are asked to implement change initiatives without the necessary resources was among the highest across countries with available data. (45.7 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher stress factors

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Denmark who reported that being held responsible for student achievement is a source of stress was among the lowest across countries with available data. (33.7 %, rank 51/55 , 2024) Download Indicator


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    General findings
    
                            
    • Teachers are aging in many education systems. While the average age of teachers is around 45 years old, more than one out of two teachers are 50 or older.
    • Prior non-teaching work experience is more and more common for teachers. In around half of the education systems, at least one out of two teachers have prior non-teaching work experience.
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    • Around one in three teachers report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work, on average across OECD education systems.
    • Many teachers – especially female and experienced teachers – report meeting key lesson aims, though supporting students' social and emotional learning remains challenging.
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    • The large majority of teachers are satisfied with their profession, which indicates that most teachers find meaning and personal fulfilment in their work. Almost nine in ten teachers report that they are satisfied with their jobs overall.
    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
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    • Administrative workload remains a considerable demand for teachers. About half of teachers report excessive administrative work as a source of work-related stress, particularly those with more than ten years of experience.
    • Discipline and behaviour issues as sources of stress are important predictors of teachers’ fulfilment of their lesson aims, their well-being, job satisfaction and their intention to leave teaching. About one in five teachers report experiencing significant disruptive noise and disorder in their classrooms, and the share of time spent on maintaining discipline has increased since 2018.
    • Teachers’ satisfaction with their terms of employment (including salary) has increased in many education systems since 2018.
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    • Mentoring is gaining popularity. About one in four novice teachers (teachers with up to five years of teaching experience) has an assigned mentor.
    • While nearly all teachers participate in continuous professional learning, not all of them find that doing so has a positive impact on their teaching. Just 55% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the 12 months preceding the survey had a positive impact on their teaching.
    Visualisations
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    • Teachers are spending more time working together compared to 2018. Full-time teachers report spending around 3 hours per week participating in teamwork and dialogue with colleagues. Teachers who report good professional relationships with principals, other teachers, parents and guardians, and students tend to report higher well-being and job satisfaction.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
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    • Feedback and appraisal are common features of teachers’ professional lives. On average across OECD education systems, 88% of teachers report receiving feedback from their school principal, 61% from assigned mentors and 55% from external individuals or bodies. At the same time, principals report that only less than 6% of teachers are never formally appraised.
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    Key
    Diagram of funding flows - Denmark

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    Key
    Country Reviews for Denmark

    Note: These values should be interpreted with care since they are influenced by countries' specific contexts and trade-offs. In education, there is often no simple most- or least-efficient model. For instance, the share of private expenditure in education must be read against other measures designed to mitigate inequities, such as loans and grants; longer learning time is an opportunity to convey more and better content to students, but may hinder investments in other important areas. If you want further information on the nature of different variables, please take the time to read the analysis and contextual information, available at the website for each publication.
    All rankings for individual variables are compiled on the basis of OECD and G20 countries for which data are available. The OECD average includes only OECD countries which are listed here: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/members-partners.html

    Reference years displayed in the Education GPS correspond to the most common year of reference among countries for which data is available on each variable. Data for the latest available year is preferred and some countries may have provided data refering to a more recent or late year. To know more about possible exceptions on data please click on the "Download Indicator" link on each variable. When a year of reference corresponds to a school year encompassing two years, the reference reads as follows: 2026 for school year 2025/2026.

    *TALIS averages are based on all countries participating in the TALIS survey, including partner countries and economies. This explains the difference between the OECD average and the TALIS averages. Data from the TALIS survey and Education at a Glance (EAG) may differ. See Annex E of the TALIS technical report and Annex 3 of EAG 2024 for more details about the data collections.

    For additional notes, please refer to annexes in the list of links below the introductory country profile text.