Violence against teachers in Denmark has increased sharply in recent years, according to new figures from the Danish Working Environment Authority (Arbejdstilsynet). In 2025, 18 percent of teachers said they had experienced physical violence at work during the previous 12 months, almost twice the share recorded four years earlier.
The figures come from the National Monitoring of the Working Environment among Employees (National Overvågning af Arbejdsmiljøet blandt Lønmodtagere, NOA-L), a nationwide survey conducted every two years by the Danish Working Environment Authority.
Data obtained through a freedom of information request and reported by DK Nyt show that 9.7 percent of teachers reported physical violence in 2021, compared with 18 percent in 2025.
Violence and threats against teachers are both increasing
The trend is similar for threats. In 2021, 12.8 percent of teachers surveyed said they had been threatened in connection with their work. By 2025, the figure had risen to 20.9 percent, an increase of 8.1 percentage points.
The latest NOA-L survey is based on responses from about 24,100 Danish employees during the first half of 2025 and covers both physical and psychological aspects of working life, according to the Danish Working Environment Authority.
The authority identifies education and pedagogical work with children and young people among the professions where employees can face work-related violence. This can include physical attacks as well as verbal or non-verbal threats.
The 2021 comparison comes with an important caveat
The Danish Working Environment Authority cautions against interpreting the increase between 2021 and 2025 as a straightforward measure of how much violence in schools has grown.
The 2021 survey was conducted during the Covid-19 pandemic, when restrictions and periods of remote teaching reduced the amount of time many teachers physically spent at school. This may have affected their exposure to violent or threatening incidents.
The figures therefore show a substantial difference between the two surveys, but do not establish that the underlying level of violence itself increased by exactly the same proportion.
The results nevertheless reinforce concerns that have already pushed Danish authorities and municipalities to focus more closely on safety in schools. Local Government Denmark (Kommunernes Landsforening, KL) lists schools among workplaces requiring a strengthened effort to prevent violence, threats and other harmful behaviour.
Denmark is testing ways to prevent conflicts in schools
The issue has also reached national education policy. In February 2026, the Ministry of Children and Education announced a nationwide pilot programme aimed at preventing persistent conflicts and aggressive behaviour in primary and lower secondary schools.
The programme, which begins during the 2026/27 school year, involves closer cooperation between teachers and staff from the pedagogical psychological counselling service (PPR). Participating fourth-grade classes will test a ten-week programme intended to strengthen classroom communities and intervene before conflicts escalate.
Announcing the programme in February, then-Minister for Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye said:
“We must protect the community and reduce violence and threats in primary and lower secondary schools. We therefore need to become better at preventing aggressive behaviour and intervening before the problems become serious.”
Tesfaye left the post on 3 June 2026, when Magnus Heunicke became Minister for Education (Undervisningsminister).
The new workplace figures suggest that violence and threats are becoming an increasingly important part of the wider debate over conditions in Denmark’s public schools. Alongside questions about inclusion, staffing and classroom support, the ability to provide teachers with a safe working environment is now emerging as another significant challenge for the Danish school system.
