The shortage of qualified teachers in Denmark is becoming increasingly visible in international comparisons: nearly one in five teachers in Danish public primary and lower-secondary schools is not fully qualified, while the country also has the highest teacher attrition rate among the OECD systems with comparable data.
According to the OECD’s latest Education at a Glance 2026, 18.9% of teachers in Denmark are not fully qualified, compared with an OECD average of 9.1%. Denmark ranks 29th out of 31 countries and participating education systems for the share of fully qualified teachers.
The OECD notes that the Danish figure needs some context. Many of those classified as not fully qualified are university students taking a gap year who are temporarily employed by schools, often part time. Qualification systems also differ considerably between countries, which makes the category broader than simply “teachers without education”.
Denmark is also struggling to keep qualified teachers
The second figure is potentially even more significant. 14.5% of fully qualified Danish teachers left the profession in 2023/24, either through retirement or resignation. According to the OECD comparison of teacher attrition, that was the highest share among the 24 education systems for which comparable data were available and more than twice the OECD average of 6.4%.
The Danish Union of Teachers (Danmarks Lærerforening) argues that working conditions are a central part of the problem.
Its president, Gordon Ørskov Madsen, told TV 2 that the problem has been known for years and that Danish schools are not only struggling to recruit teachers but also to retain those already working in them.
“We have known about this problem for years, and we have been raising the alarm about it for years.”
Around 40,000 qualified teachers currently work outside the Danish public school system, according to figures cited by the union. Ørskov Madsen says many have left because of working conditions. The Danish Union of Teachers has called for more teachers in classrooms, better tools for school management and stronger support for newly qualified teachers entering the profession.
For Ørskov Madsen, higher spending remains necessary but cannot solve the issue on its own.
“We cannot avoid spending more money, but that alone will not solve everything.”
The teacher shortage comes after Denmark’s worst PISA results
The OECD figures arrive only weeks after another warning sign for Denmark’s school system.
The latest PISA 2025 results showed Danish 15-year-olds recording their lowest scores since the country began participating in the international assessment in 2000. According to the results released in September, scores fell in reading, mathematics and science.
The decline has intensified a wider debate in Denmark over what is happening in the folkeskole, the municipal public school system covering primary and lower-secondary education. Screens and digitalisation, classroom discipline, artificial intelligence, inclusion policies and the role of parents have all been cited in the national debate, although the PISA results themselves do not establish a single cause for the decline.
The government has acknowledged that teacher shortages are part of the broader challenge. Education Minister Magnus Heunicke, who took office in June 2026, has said Denmark needs both to attract more people into teaching and persuade more trained teachers to remain in schools.
The government is preparing a new tripartite process on the public school system involving teachers and other stakeholders. The latest OECD figures suggest that one of its central challenges will be not simply how many teachers Denmark can recruit, but whether the school system can make qualified teachers want to stay.
