If you just moved to Esbjerg Municipality with a fluent Danish speaking child who already started school (age 6 and up) we kindly ask you to contact the district school or the school of your choice to register your child for elementary school enrollment.

If your child is not yet six years old when you move to Esbjerg Municipality, you should await the annual enrollment in January the year your child turns 6 and instead enroll for childcare. You will receive a personal invitation from your local school in January the year the child turns age 6. If do not receive this invitation, please contact the school in January. 

Read more about starting school here.

In case you move to Esbjerg Municipality from abroad with a child not speaking Danish or not being fully fluent in Danish please reach out to Newcomer Service to be connected with a school language consultant who will help you sign up for a Danish public school.

You are welcome to contact Newcomer Service or the school administration for questions about enrollment or choice of School.

You can contact Peter Hartvigsen from the school administration at +45 76 16 86 47, [email protected] or the Newcomer Service. 

You will find information about the schools in Esbjerg Municipality, about pre- and afterschool care and about enrollment here.

There are several private schools in Esbjerg Municipality. Should you wish to enroll your children at one of these, you should contact the school directly.

You will find a list of private schools here (Danish site)

The private school Esbjerg International School offers an IB education with primary and secondary schooling in English, plus early years kindergarten and child care

Esbjerg International School

The Danish "Folkeskole" is a free state school often referred to as public schools or Elementary schools. Nearly 90% of all children in Denmark receive education at the public schools. The Danish school system directs that the total period of school catering is 10 years. School commences in the year in which the child turns 6 (grade 0) and continues with primary classes (grade1-6) and secondary classes (grade 7-9). In addition, there is the choice of an optional year (10th grade) and the option of 3 months pre-school from April to June the year the child start school. Preschool is the transition from home or the kindergarten to elementary school.

Families with children between 6-16 years of age are automatically sent information on public schools when they enroll in the National Register at the municipality of Esbjerg.

Each school has pre- and afterschool care called SFO until end of grade 4, so you child can be taken care of either in the mornings before the school starts and/or after the school day until you pick them up. Some of the schools also have kid’s clubs and youth clubs with extra activities. Whereas the public schools in Denmark are for free, there is a parental payment for pre- and afterschool care.

You can read more about the pre- and afterschool care here.

Download the folder ´A good start at School´ for international parents here.