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1. Educational support

2. Social cohesion and equal opportunities

Educational support

All relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Children and Education, partake in a ministerial working group concerning disabilities. The task of the working group is to inform, coordinate, and ensure direction and fair pace in initiatives and actions in legislation and the allocation of resources for disability-specific purposes and initiatives. 

The Act on Primary and Lower Secondary Education from 2020 establishes that children in need of extra help can receive special needs education. However, only children in need of more than nine hours of extra help (per week) to participate in ordinary classes are entitled to special needs education. Special needs education can take place in ordinary schools as well as in special needs schools. However, the government aims to include as many pupils as possible in ordinary classes.

In 2020, the parliament adopted the current law on support for students with impairments in higher education. The legislation obliges the educational system to ensure access for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others.

Furthermore, the targeted training programme, the preparatory basic education and training (FGU, LBK nr 606 af 24/05/2019), was established to ensure lasting and satisfactory participation on the labour market for youth and young adults in risk of exclusion, including youth and young adults with disabilities.

The increase in the number of recipients is due to better knowledge about the opportunities at the educational institutions, more qualified and targeted efforts to include persons with disabilities in education, and in general a better understanding of persons with disabilities as full and equally active citizens.

Throughout education from compulsory primary education to higher education and in-service training, disability-specific support and reasonable accommodation are provided free of charge to the individual in order to ensure full and equal participation. The support is structured in different ways depending on the specific level of education.

Education institutions are paid general grants for the maintenance and improvement of buildings. The institutions are themselves in charge of how to prioritise these grants (compulsory public education is exempt from this, as municipalities are in charge of maintenance and improvement). One of the purposes such grants can be used for is establishing and improving general accessibility for persons with disabilities, such as elevators for wheelchair users, guidelines for persons who are blind, or hearing loops for people who are hard of hearing. Therefore, such general improvements are not part of the support granted for individual pupils and students, and educational institutions cannot apply for funding for these expenses at the Ministry of Children and Education. 

Social inclusion in the preparatory basic education and training (FGU) - below the age of 25 years

In May 2019, a new education was established for persons below 25 years of age who are not yet ready to start an ordinary youth education or get a job. The education is called the preparatory basic education (Forberedende grunduddannelse or FGU) and follows a holistic approach to learning and to the students. The aim of the programme is to support the students either to proceed to education or to achieve qualifications ensuring employment. The background for all students is the need for a special and targeted effort to return to education, and the reasons for the personal situation can be many (e.g. previous unsuccessful encounters with education, accidents, addiction). A common factor is the risk of being excluded from education and in the long run suffering from a lack of lasting and satisfactory participation on the labour market. If needed, the student starts with an introduction of up to two weeks in order to plan further participation of the individual. Participants participate in one of three different tracks:

1. general basic education
2. basic production education
3. basic vocational training

Even though there are three main tracks and students are taught in classes, teaching is highly differentiated to meet the needs of every individual. Students with disabilities can have assistive devices and accessible learning materials for this education; however, mentoring is considered as being built into the programme and therefore cannot be granted specifically. Participants in the education are entitled to a scholarship, the amount of which is dependent on their age, whether they live with their parents or independently, and there is also a child benefit for participants who are parents. As the programme is newly established, the outcome has not yet been measured.

Social inclusion in general and vocational upper secondary education – 15–20 years olds

According to Act no. 1507 of 17/12/2022, all pupils and students with disabilities and special needs are entitled to support. The aim of such support is to provide all young people with the opportunity to get an education, regardless of their impairment. Individuals who can apply for support under this act include young people who have dyslexia, ADHD, a hearing or visual impairment, a physical disability or a chronic disease.

Specialised youth education – below the age of 25 years 

A specialised youth education (særligt tilrettelagt ungdomsuddannelse, STU) for people who are not able to participate in ordinary youth education was established in Act no. 610 from 28/05/2019. This education is fully managed and funded by the municipalities. Students are young people who cannot complete an ordinary upper secondary education in spite of extensive support. The target group is young people with intellectual, physical, or psycho-social disabilities. The participants have to be below 25 years of age when starting the education. The education has a duration of 3 years, and the programme is individually planned to meet the needs and interests of the participant. The content is planned on an individual basis and is often a mix of schooling and workshops. 

Social inclusion in higher education – above the age of 18 years

In higher education, students can have disability specific support when having a documented impairment. The aim of this support is to ensure that students with disabilities can, to as large a degree as possible, participate in education on an equal basis with others. When a student considers that he or she needs support, the student can contact the educational institution and the institution will draft an application for the Ministry of Children and Education requesting the specific support required for the student. Support takes many forms and is highly individualised. Support can be assistive devices such as laptops with special programs for reading for people with dyslexia or who are blind or have low vision; it can be specialised keyboards for people with rheumatism or other impairments affecting the ability to use their hands. Support can also be sign language interpretation or captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. For people with dyslexia or psycho-social disabilities, mentoring can be granted to develop reading strategies or plan and structure work routines, collaboration, and participation. Also, in some situations, students need practical support (e.g. to take out books from their bag). Often, the individual student has more than one kind of support.

It is possible to apply for support during international mobility (special educational assistance (support scheme)) for instance during studies or traineeships abroad. The support during studies or traineeships abroad cannot exceed the support the young person would be eligible for in Denmark.

Measure targeting pupils/students with dyslexia

In 2019, the government launched a measure targeting dyslexia. One of the targets is to adjust dyslexia tests for pupils and students with Danish as their second language so that they receive the correct support in primary and lower secondary education, upper secondary education and basic preparatory education (FGU).

Discounts on transportation for students

Students enroled in upper secondary and higher education are entitled to a discount on public transportation from their home to the education institution. 

With a Youth Card, young people enroled in recognised formal education are entitled to unlimited travel between the home and the education institution. Prices vary depending on age and level of education.

Alternatively, students may be entitled to a mileage allowance when they use their own vehicle. The scheme compensates students for long distances and physical or mental impairments.

In order to be eligible for mileage allowance, the young person must be entitled to the Youth Card and must fulfil one of the following criteria:

• Public transportation is not possible on the entire distance.
• The waiting time for public transportation is at least two hours each day.
• The travel time using public transportation will be prolonged by more than two hours compared to transportation in own vehicle.
• Due to physical or mental impairment, the student is eligible for a subsidy to purchase a vehicle according to § 114 in the Law on Social Services (serviceloven).

The student must direct the application to the education institution with documentation for travel time when using public transportation as well as the distance from the home address to the education institution. If a physical impairment influences the distance and speed at which the student is able to walk, this should be documented in the application with a doctor’s note.

Discounts on transportation with ferries

If students need to travel by ferry, they care entitled to a discount. The discount can be included in the Youth Card or be a separate discount – this depends on the ferry company.

Flexible scheme – youth educations

Students enroled on FGU (preparatory basic education and training) are entitled to a transportation discount when they participate in short term and changing courses. The education institutions decides whether the student is entitled to the flexible scheme discount.

Cash discount

In special circumstances, when the processing of the granting of the discount could not be completed, and the applicant has had to pay out the full amount, the applicant can be entitled to a cash discount. The education institutions decide whether the student is entitled to the cash discount.

Social cohesion and equal opportunities

State educational grant (SU)

Besides the targeted support for students with special needs, a universal education grant targets all students from 18 years of age regardless of social standing. Young people from 18 years of age are entitled to the state educational grant (SU) when they are enroled in approved formal education programmes. Furthermore, the tuition at Danish public and most private educational institutions is free for Danish students and for EU/EEA students, as well as for students participating in an exchange programme.

In addition to the ordinary state educational grant, students with a permanent functional or mental disability that substantially reduces the students’ ability to take a student job may be eligible for a grant supplement of 9372 DKK (2023 rate) per month before tax. The impairment must be documented by a general practitioner.

As of 2019, the state education supplement due to impairment has been extended to vocational education and training (VET) programmes. Students with permanent functional or mental disability enroled in VET programmes may be entitled to a supplement of 5879 DKK (2023 rate) before tax.

Students applying for the supplementary grant must receive or have applied for the state educational grant already.

There is a limit regarding how much students are allowed to earn when receiving the state education grant. This limit will be reduced when receiving the additional grant because the grant compensates the earnings that the student could have made without the impairment.

New diploma for persons who have legally changed gender

As of 2020, the Ministerial Order on Examination at the Danish Universities (BEK nr 22 af 09/01/2020) entitles a person who provides documentation of a legal change of gender to a new diploma with the new personal data. The original diploma is cancelled and shredded. If the person has completed part of the education programme, the education institution is obliged to issue documentation for the completed parts of the programme.

Focus on increasing the number of female students in vocational education and training

In vocational education, the vast majority of students are enroled in a field of study where their own gender is dominant. Men continue to choose an education within technology, construction or transport, while women primarily choose care work, health and pedagogy. Men make up two-thirds of employees in the private sector and less than a third in the public sector. This indicates that companies and society as a whole are missing out on skilled labour, as well as new perspectives and ideas to solve the complex challenges that the world faces both now and in the years to come. Furthermore, this can have consequences for individuals’ opportunity to utilise their talent, just as the gender segregation impacts the differences in salaries and pension savings that still persist between women and men.

Initiatives to achieve gender balance and equality in education

The government is establishing an expert group with the purpose of looking at differences in the academic results of boys and girls in schools and advising on how to minimise the gender differences.

An expert group will also be established to provide advice on how to minimise the gender-segregated educations.

Moreover, the government is planning on gathering, among others, vocational educational institutions, labour market partners, student organisations and industry associations to discuss ways to ensure more gender balance on the vocational educations.

Prevention of bullying

Since 2017, all primary schools and upper secondary education institutions have by law been obliged to have a strategy for preventing bullying, including digital bullying. To ensure effective efforts, the legislation also requires schools to react to inquiries from pupils, students, and parents within 10 working days with a written plan on how to prevent the bullying from occurring. Parents of pupils and students below 18 years of age, as well as students above 18 years, can file a complaint if an institution does not have a strategy or if they consider a plan related to a specific incident or row of incidents to be insufficient.