Around 40,000 Danish students walked out of classes at 57 upper-secondary schools on Wednesday, 4 November, in a nationwide protest against planned cuts to student grants and tighter rules for unemployment support after graduation. The figures were provided by the Danish Association of Upper Secondary School Students (Danske Gymnasieelevers Sammenslutning, DGS), according to a report by the Ritzau news agency.
In Copenhagen, an estimated 12,000 to 13,000 demonstrators marched from City Hall Square to the square outside parliament at Christiansborg, according to AFP. Twenty-one educational and youth organisations backed the protest, while students elsewhere in Denmark organised local rallies and boycotts.
Why 40,000 Danish students walked out
The protests followed the government’s proposal to reduce or remove financial support for some students who live with their parents. Student representatives argue that the grants help young people cover education-related costs and concentrate on studying rather than taking on more paid work.
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, chair of DGS, told public broadcaster DR that attempts to discuss the proposals with ministers had been unsuccessful:
We have tried to engage with the ministers, but have met a closed door.
Some schools saw more than a conventional walkout. At institutions including Silkeborg Gymnasium and schools in Aalborg, students blocked access to classrooms to prevent lessons taking place, as TV 2 reported. An initial estimate of 30,000 strikers at 40 schools was subsequently revised upwards by the organisers.
How the student grant proposals would work
Denmark’s State Educational Support (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte, SU) provides financial assistance to eligible students, including those in upper-secondary and higher education.
Under the government’s proposed 2027 budget, students living at home would lose their SU if their parents’ combined annual income exceeded DKK 710,077 (about €95,000) before tax. Grants would be progressively reduced for those whose parents earned between DKK 419,589 (about €56,100) and that upper threshold.
The government also wants to change eligibility for graduate unemployment benefits (dimittenddagpenge). Recent graduates would need to have worked an average of at least four hours a week for 18 of the final 24 months of their studies to qualify.
Both measures are proposals, not changes already in force. They are part of the 2027 state budget process.
The protests put pressure on the governing parties
The walkout has also put the Socialist People’s Party (Socialistisk Folkeparti, SF) in an awkward position. The party previously opposed reductions to SU but is now part of the four-party governing coalition that has proposed them.
SF parliamentary spokesperson Sigurd Agersnap told DR that the measure was not proposed or wanted by his party, but formed part of a government compromise. The disagreement had already featured in NordiskPost’s earlier coverage of the coalition’s budget negotiations.
Research, Education and Digitalisation Minister Christina Egelund, of the Moderates, defended the trade-off, pointing to rising defence and security costs while saying the government also wanted to invest in education quality.
The budget remains under negotiation, and its final adoption by parliament is expected in December.
