Student admissions in Iceland increasingly influenced by background

The socioeconomic background and place of residence of primary school students in Iceland are now significantly impacting their ability to gain admission to their preferred secondary schools. This trend is highlighted by new data revealing a stark contrast in final grade distributions across different schools.

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In the new figures, it can be seen that some of the schools that give the highest grades are in neighborhoods where the social and economic status of parents is among the strongest in the country.

While some schools report awarding top grades to as many as 56.7% of students, 28 schools, predominantly in rural areas, did not award a single top grade in mathematics to any graduating student in 2025 and 2026. This disparity means students from affluent neighborhoods have a smoother path to desirable secondary schools than those in other regions, regardless of their actual skills or academic performance.

Björn Brynjólfur Björnsson, director of the Confederation of Icelandic Enterprise, argues that this system, which replaced standardized national exams in 2009, has created incomparable final grades and grade inflation. He states that students need to know where they stand academically relative to their peers. The current system, relying on letter grades for secondary school admissions, is seen as unfair, potentially leading students with insufficient real skills to enroll in programs they cannot handle, increasing dropout rates.

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Students need to know where they stand academically relative to their peers. Primary schools should give students, parents, and teachers a correct assessment of a child's academic standing.

"It is peculiar that one of the wealthiest and most educated societies in the world lacks a reliable, regular, and comparable national measure of what children learn in school," Björn wrote. He contends that this situation results in applicants not being evaluated on an equal footing, with some gaining admission based on inflated grades rather than genuine ability.

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It is peculiar that one of the wealthiest and most educated societies in the world lacks a reliable, regular, and comparable national measure of what children learn in school.