Education
KEY FIGURES
Level of education
69 % of homosexuals and bisexuals ...
85 % of heterosexuals ...
... aged 30-40 years had an competency-based educationin 2020.
Source: Danish Institute for Human Rights’ own calculations based on SHILD (2020).
Student well-being in primary and lower secondary school
35% of LGBT+ students in primary school ...
15% of other students in primary school ...
... reports low well-being.
Percentage of respondents scoring low (0-9) on the WHO-5 Well-being Index
Source: Greve m.fl. (2024)
Sex education
Around 83,000 or 31 % of students in upper secondary school do not get mandatory sex education.
Source: Statistics on education provided by the Ministry of Children and Education (2022)
- Sex education is now mandatory in upper secondary school beginning in the school year 2023/2024.
- Especially homosexual and bisexual men aged 30-40 years have little or no education. 61 % of homosexual and bisexual men have an education; this is true of 83 % of heterosexual men.
- LGBT+ students generally have lower well-being across all types of education compared to other students. In primary and secondary schools, more than every third LGBT+ student has low general well-being
- Around 83,000 students in upper secondary school do not get mandatory sex education. This includes vocational education programmes, preparatory basic education and training programmes (FGU) and youth education programmes for young people with special needs (STU).
Editing was completed September 2023
Having an education does not simply open the door to the labour market. It also opens doors to social networks and general learning and education. Whether a person completes a study programme is determined by various factors, e.g., their academic and social competences as well as the social and learning environment at the school. In the long run, having an education affects a person’s job opportunities, income and physical and mental well-being.
69 % of homosexuals and bisexuals aged 30-40 years have an education, which is significantly fewer than in the remaining heterosexual population (85 %). The share is even lower for homosexual and bisexual men (around 61 %).
Homosexuals and bisexuals have a slightly higher drop-out rate, and they attribute this to factors related to their personal well-being or mental health. There are no available figures for the drop-out rate of transgender and nonbinary persons in Danish study programmes.
Level of education
“I was the first in my family to earn a university degree, so it felt like a major change. At the same time, I feel lucky, because it has had such a positive effect on my life.”
- Emily (LGBT+-person)
Many LGBT+ adults already reflect on their sexual orientation or gender identity during primary school age. Today, far more people in the younger part of the population identify as LGBT+. Among young people between the ages of 15 and 25, 13.3% belong to the LGBT+ group, which corresponds to approximately 105,000 young people. This means that there are on average two to three LGBT+ students in each primary school class.
A report from the National Research and Analysis Center for Welfare (VIVE) paints a worrying picture of the well-being of LGBT+ students in school. The report shows that a significantly higher proportion of LGBT+ students have low general well-being compared to other students. In primary school, 35% of LGBT+ students experience low general well-being, while the figure for other students is 15%.
The report also shows that the low well-being follows LGBT+ students into upper secondary education. Every fifth LGBT+ student in upper secondary school experiences that they cannot be themselves, while more than half of transgender people in vocational schools hide their identity. For transgender and non-binary people across all types of education, low levels of well-being are even more pronounced, with up to 50% having low general well-being. Students cite an unsafe school environment and fear of bullying as the primary reasons for their low well-being.
Research also shows that bullying increases in unsafe social environments and that the consequences are significant. Bullying in childhood increases the risk of both anxiety, depression, and suicide later in life, while low mental well-being increases the risk of being bullied.
The Danish Centre of Educational Environment (DCUM) has produced information material and organises workshops to increase the well-being and safety of LGBT+ students.
Both the information material and workshops are targeted at managements, well-being representatives and teachers in primary, lower and upper secondary school. Read more on the DCUM website.
This reflects a broader issue within educational settings—a critical need for supportive and visible role models. It appears there may also be a lack of such role models for primary school students. Around 40 % of the LGBT+ teachers who participated in a survey conducted by the Danish Institute for Human Rights answered that they are more likely to be open about sexual orientation towards family, friends and colleagues but only “to a limited degree” or “not at all.” when it comes to their students. A lot of teachers state that students frequently use derogative words like “faggot” or “homo”.
In a qualitative survey with 14 respondents with variations in sex characteristics (including intersex persons), the majority say that they have experienced bullying in school directed at their body and sex characteristics, and that the bullying has had severe negative effects on their mental health.
The Association for the Support of Transgender Children has produced a guide for professionals in schools, youth centres and clubs. The guide contains information and guidance on how to support transgender children, handle gender segregation in schools and promote a student-teacher/pedagogue relationship characterised by trust.
Read more about the association in their website.
Well-being of students in primary and lower secondary school
“If you ask me, it is extremely important that schools teach about gender, norms and sexuality. Both to prevent discrimination and promote understanding. It should be a mandatory subject.”
- Ciliane (LGBT+-person)
![Portræt af Ciliane](/files/styles/common_02/public/media/image/Ciliane.jpg?itok=cIOUN5Zc)
Sex education provides young people with knowledge of genders, the human body and sexuality, and it strengthens their sense of agency when it comes to health, rights, well-being and sexuality.
Since 1970, sex education has been a mandatory subject in Danish schools. However, the subject does not figure on the school timetable, but must be integrated in other subjects and prioritised by the individual headmaster. A survey of sex education in Danish primary and lower secondary school from 2019 confirms that schools still do not prioritise sex education; this is both a matter of division of responsibilities, scale and quality.
More and more young people grow up in rainbow families or identify as LGBT+, which is why different family constellations, gender expressions and gender identities should be reflected in sex education in school. Only 17 % of the respondents in a survey of primary and lower secondary schools conducted by LGBT+ Denmark say that they have learned about different sexual orientations in sex education, while even fewer (5 %) have learned about different gender identities.
In Denmark, around 270,000 young people are enrolled in upper secondary education. 83,000 of them – or 31 % – are enrolled in a programme that does not provide sex education.
Since 2014, the subject Sexuality and Sexual Health has been mandatory in basic vocational education (GF1). However, it is merely directed at students who enrol in a vocational education programme immediately after completing ninth or tenth form and not at the many students who start a vocational education later in life (the second part of the basic vocational education programme, GF2).
Beginning in the school year 2023/2024, sex education is a mandatory subject in upper secondary school. It must touch on topics such as consent, limits, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases – but not necessarily gender identity. Mandatory sex education has not been introduced in the remaining upper secondary education programmes.
The Danish Family Planning Association (DFPA) provides information, teaching and courses for primary and lower secondary schools and upper secondary education programmes. The DFPA is responsible for Week Sex, which is a teaching campaign focussing on gender, body and sexuality directed at Danish students.
Normstormerne is a norm-critical teaching programme for students and teachers in primary and lower secondary school (4th-10th form). The programme focusses on criticism of norms, conditions of LGBTQIA+ persons, privileges and antidiscrimination. Book teaching through the website.
Sex education
- Greve, J., Andersen, D., B., Nicolajsen, J., S., Kolodziejczyk, C. (2024). LGBT+-elevers trivsel og mentale sundhed samt oplevelser af mobning, vold, chikane og diskrimination – En kortlægning for grundskolen, ungdomsuddannelserne og FGU-institutionerne. VIVE - Det Nationale Forsknings- og Analysecenter for Velfærd
- Greve, J., Østergaard, S. V., Andersen, M., & Thomsen, M. K. (2022). Kortlægning af homo- og biseksuelles samt trans- personers levevilkår og samfundsdeltagelse. VIVE Det Nationale Forsknings- og Analysecenter for Velfærd.
- Juhl, N. L. (red.). Stop diskrimination i skolen LGBTQ+ elevers trivsel og vilkår i grundskolen. LGBT+ ungdom og LGBT+ Danmark.
- Martin, H. M., & Thomsen, M. K. (2021). Interkøn. En kvalitativ undersøgelse af erfaringer med variationer i kønskarakteristika. VIVE - Det Nationale Forsknings- og Analysecenter for Velfærd.
- Følner, B., Jensen, M. K. & Larsen, T. N. (2019). Evaluering af sundheds- og seksualundervisning og familiekundskab. SSF.