🇩🇰 Denmark ​
This page describes how schools in Denmark grade pupils, from the first year of primary school (year 1, about age 6–7) to the end of upper secondary, and how to build the same system in MarkBook. Back to Find Your Country.
Check the current rules
This description comes from public sources (ministry pages, national laws, Eurydice) read in October 2026. Rules change with reforms, and schools often have local rules. Check the current official text for anything your school reports to the ministry.
How pupils are graded ​
Before year 1: Børnehaveklasse (0th grade) is compulsory but not graded.
| Years | Stage | Scale | Pass | Recipe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 (before year 1) | Børnehaveklasse (preschool class, 0th grade) | No marks | Not applicable | Written description |
| 1-7 | Folkeskole, indskoling and mellemtrin (forms 1-7) | No marks; ongoing written and oral evaluation | Not applicable | Written description |
| 8-9 (optional 10) | Folkeskole, udskoling (forms 8-9, optional 10) | 7-point scale: 12, 10, 7, 4, 02, 00, -3 (12 best) | 02 (leaving certificate needs an average of 02 or above in the leaving exam) | Whole-number marks |
| 3 years after form 9 or 10 | Gymnasiale uddannelser (upper secondary: stx, hhx, htx, 2-year hf) | 7-point scale 12 to -3, plus pass/fail in some elements | Weighted average of at least 02 over the certificate | Whole-number marks |
Values in Folkeskole, udskoling (forms 8-9, optional 10)
| Value | Local word | English |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | fremragende præstation | outstanding performance |
| 10 | fortrinlig præstation | excellent performance |
| 7 | god præstation | good performance |
| 4 | jævn præstation | fair performance |
| 02 | tilstrækkelig præstation | adequate performance |
| 00 | utilstrækkelig præstation | inadequate performance |
| -3 | ringe præstation | poor performance |
The year. One school year from August to June, no formal terms in the law. Folkeskole: proficiency marks at least twice a year from form 8 (typically December/January and May/June). Gymnasium: term marks about twice a year; exams in May-June.
Averages and rounding. Single marks are teacher judgement of the overall level against subject goals, not an arithmetic mean of test scores. The certificate average is a mean of the 7-point values (gymnasium: weighted by subject level, combining final term marks and exam marks), shown with one decimal. The negative mark -3 counts as -3 in the average.
Passing the year. Folkeskole: pupils move up automatically by age. The head may, after consulting parents, let a pupil repeat or skip a form. Gymnasium: the programme is passed with a weighted average of at least 02.
Conduct. No conduct mark in folkeskole or gymnasium.
Differences between regions or school types. National rules for public folkeskole. Free schools (friskoler) and efterskoler may use their own evaluation in the early forms but use the 7-point scale for official exams. The description is the public folkeskole case.
Common practice that is not official. Teachers often give points or percentages on tests and convert them to the 7-point scale. Some schools give informal marks before form 8. This is not official.
National exams.
- Folkeskolens prøver, form 8 practical/oral exam (year 8): 7-point scale
- Folkeskolens afgangsprøve (leaving exam) (year 9): 7-point scale
- 10.-klasseprøve (year 10): 7-point scale
- Nationale test (year various forms): Not marks; adaptive / self-correcting results
- Studentereksamen / hf-eksamen (year 12): 7-point scale
Words you will meet ​
karakter (mark), 7-trinsskalaen (the 7-point scale), standpunktskarakter (term / overall proficiency mark), karaktergennemsnit (average), prøve / eksamen (exam), eksamensbevis (certificate), elevplan (pupil plan), skole-hjem-samtale (parent meeting)
Set it up in MarkBook ​
Create one scale 'Danish 7-point' with values 12, 10, 7, 4, 02, 00, -3 and points equal to the number (-3 = -3); 02 and above pass. Forms 1-7: comment columns only, no marks. Forms 8-10: two periods (winter, summer) with one 'standpunktskarakter' column per subject per period, plus an exam column in form 9. Certificate average = mean of final marks, shown with one decimal. Gymnasium: same scale, term-mark columns twice a year, exam columns, and a weighted average by subject level (A > B > C). Plan a migration: an 8-step scale (00, 01, 02, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) is proposed for 2030-2031.
The scales, ready to copy ​
These are the scales as MarkBook shows them in the scale editor. Build yours with the same grades, descriptions and weights. Each scale links to the recipe that explains it on Set Up Any Grading System.
Denmark · 12 to −3 ​
Attainment scale for years 8-9 (optional 10) (Folkeskole, udskoling (forms 8-9, optional 10)). Build it in Configuration → Assessment → Attainment scales. Recipe: Whole-number marks.
| Grade | Description | Weight | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | fremragende præstation · outstanding performance | 12 | yes |
| 10 | fortrinlig præstation · excellent performance | 10 | yes |
| 7 | god præstation · good performance | 7 | yes |
| 4 | jævn præstation · fair performance | 4 | yes |
| 02 | tilstrækkelig præstation · adequate performance | 2 | yes |
| 00 | utilstrækkelig præstation · inadequate performance | 0 | no |
| -3 | ringe præstation · poor performance | -3 | no |
Before you rely on this page ​
Confidence: medium
A new 8-step scale (00-12, no 7 and no -3) was proposed in November 2025, for upper secondary from 2030 and folkeskole from 2031/32. It is not adopted. The mark labels come from secondary sources, not from the current order. The local labels for each mark come from the 2007 grading order (karakterbekendtgørelsen) as reported in secondary sources; I could not open the current order on retsinformation.dk. Exact gymnasium weights by level and the rule for rounding of the certificate average were not confirmed. Reform: in November 2025 the government proposed a new 8-step scale 00, 01, 02, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 (7 and -3 removed, 12* star for exceptional work). Target: upper secondary from August 2030, folkeskole from 2031/32. Not yet adopted as of the sources read. The 2025 agreement on a new vocational gymnasium (EPX) may change upper secondary programmes.
Sources (4)
- Eurydice – Denmark: Assessment in single-structure education (official)
- Eurydice – Denmark: Assessment in general upper secondary education (official)
- Eurydice news – Denmark: Government proposal for a new grading scale (official)
- Regeringen / UVM – Forslag til ny karakterskala (PDF) (official)