Iceland
Explore the OECD's reports or draw from a wide variety of education indicators and data to construct your own, customised country reports, highlighting the facts, developments and outcomes of your choice.




Iceland
Teachers and teaching conditions (TALIS 2024)
  • In Iceland, teachers are on average 46 years old, which is higher than the OECD average of 45 years. Since 2018, the share of teachers aged 50 and above has not changed.
  • A very large majority of teachers, 95%, have non-teaching work experience (higher than the OECD average: 57%).
  • Schools where more than 10% of students have a first language different from the language of instruction employ 54% of teachers (higher than 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 64% (similar to the OECD average: 63%).
  • Just over two-thirds of teachers, 68%, feel they can support students’ social and emotional learning “quite a bit” or “a lot” (lower than the OECD average: 73%).
  • At least one hybrid or online lesson in the last month was reported in schools where 18% of teachers work (higher than the OECD average: 16%).
  • Less than one in four teachers, 24%, report having used artificial intelligence (AI) in their work (lower than the OECD average: 36%).
  • Among novice teachers (with up to five years of experience), 27% have an assigned mentor (similar to the OECD average: 26%). This share has increased by 9 percentage points since 2018.
  • A total of 57% of teachers report that the professional learning activities they participated in during the previous 12 months had a positive impact on their teaching (similar to the OECD average: 55%).
  • The most frequent forms of collaboration among teachers include: engaging in discussions about the learning development of specific students (70%), teaching jointly as a team in the same class (47%), and exchanging teaching materials with colleagues (44%).
  • In Iceland, 19% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that teachers are valued in society (lower than the OECD average: 22%). This share increased by 9 percentage points since 2018.
  • Just under three-quarters of teachers, 72%, “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their terms of employment, excluding salaries (higher than the OECD average: 68%). Satisfaction has increased by 22 percentage points since 2018.
  • Only 19% of teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salaries (lower than the OECD average: 39%). This share increased by 13 percentage points since 2018.
  • The most commonly reported sources of stress are: modifying lessons for students with special education needs (47%), maintaining classroom discipline (44%), and being held responsible for students’ social and emotional well-being (41%).
  • The share of teachers who report that, all in all, they are satisfied with their jobs is 94% (higher than the OECD average: 89%). This share has not changed since 2018.
  • Among teachers under age 30, 27% 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.

    Select first some countries to compare, choose the charts you wish to display and customise them.

    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.

    Show indicators for which your country ranks among the top or bottom: Sort by:

    Who the teachers are

    The share of lower secondary teachers with non-teaching work experience in Iceland was among the largest across countries with available data. (94.9 %, rank 1/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' practices

    Teachers report spending less hours per week marking and correcting work. (3 Hours/week, rank 52/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teaching in multicultural settings

    Among novice lower secondary teachers in Iceland, those reporting a high level of need for teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting were among the highest across countries with available data. (37 %, rank 3/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' autonomy, collegiality and collaboration

    In Iceland, the share of lower secondary teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that their principal has good professional relationships with staff was among the smallest compared to other countries. (77.1 %, rank 55/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Iceland who “agree” or “strongly agree” that students and teachers usually get along well with each other was among the highest across participating countries. (98.6 %, rank 2/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers' satisfaction with their jobs

    Compared to most other TALIS countries, Iceland has a low proportion of teachers who are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work. (19.3 %, rank 52/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teachers’ working conditions, mobility and risk of attrition

    The proportion of lower secondary teachers in Iceland working in schools where intimidation or verbal abuse occurs “weekly” or “daily” was among the highest across countries with available data. (13.9 %, rank 4/55 , 2024) Download Indicator

    Teacher stress factors

    The percentage of lower secondary teachers in Iceland who reported that being held responsible for student achievement is a source of stress was among the lowest across countries with available data. (29.2 %, rank 53/55 , 2024) Download Indicator


    The data table will display up to six selected countries.
    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.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    
                            
    • 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.
    Visualisations
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Click the arrow sign next to the title: arrows to display other variables
    Key
    Diagram of funding flows - Iceland

    Click on the coverpage to see the full OECD iLibrary version
    Key
    Country Reviews for Iceland

    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.