How to get your children into school and daycare in Denmark

How does childcare and school work in Denmark?

Denmark’s system splits childhood into clear stages, each with a Danish name you will see on every form. Municipal daycare runs from around 6 months to school start, and the folkeskole (municipal primary and lower secondary school) runs from age 6 to about 16. Both are subsidised, and both are allocated by your address through the kommune (municipality). The City of Copenhagen sets out the stages and age ranges on its public childcare page.

Daycare is not free. You pay a monthly fee that drops when your child turns 3 years and 1 month, and there is a sibling discount for more than one child in care. Copenhagen’s fees are among the highest in the country.

What do vuggestue, børnehave, dagpleje and SFO mean?

Each stage has a name. Copenhagen’s own childcare dictionary defines them:

• Vuggestue (day nursery): from 6 months to 2 years and 10 months, usually 60 to 96 children with adults in small groups.
• Dagpleje (registered childminder): one municipal childminder looks after a few children in their own home.
• Børnehave (kindergarten): from 2 years and 10 months until school start, typically 44 to 96 children.
• SFO / KKFO (skolefritidsordning, after-school care): for school children who need care before and after the school day.
• Fritidsklub: a club for older children, cheaper again.

How do you apply for daycare in Copenhagen?

You apply through the kommune’s Digital Pladsanvisning self-service, where you sign up, accept an offer and apply for subsidies.

1. Get a CPR number for yourself and your child, and register a Copenhagen address. Both are required.
2. Log in with MitID and open Digital Pladsanvisning.
3. List your preferred institutions. There is usually a waiting list, so sign up before your child is 4 months old.
4. Accept the offer you are given. If you refuse, you may drop down the queue.

Copenhagen’s childcare guarantee means that, once you are on the guaranteed list, your child is offered a place within two months.

How much does daycare cost?

Prices below are the Copenhagen municipal rates as of 1 May 2026, from the kommune’s price list for daycare:

The English-language version of the same list is on the city’s cost of childcare page.

There is a søskenderabat (sibling discount): you pay full price for the most expensive place and half price for the others. It applies when more than one child is in dagpleje, vuggestue, børnehave, an SFO or a private institution. It does not apply to a klub or a private fritidsinstitution.

Can you get help paying for daycare?

Yes, if your household income is modest. Copenhagen offers økonomisk fripladstilskud (income-based subsidy). As of 2026 you can apply if your total household income before tax is under DKK 677,500, with a full free place up to DKK 218,100 and a partial one above that. Single parents get a higher threshold. The rules and thresholds are on the kommune’s fripladstilskud page.

How do you get a school place, and can you choose the school?

Every child is linked to a distriktsskole (district school) based on their address, and as a rule they have an unconditional right to a place there. But Denmark also has frit skolevalg (free choice of school): you can apply for a different folkeskole, in your kommune or another one, provided there is space and the school has a suitable offer. Copenhagen runs the annual sign-up through kk.dk/skoleindskrivning, with a set autumn window each year. Class sizes are capped at 26 pupils in børnehaveklasse to 2nd grade and 28 from 3rd to 9th grade. You can read the rules on the ministry’s frit skolevalg page.

What is the difference between folkeskole and privatskole or friskole?

The folkeskole is free and municipal. Frie grundskoler are private, self-governing alternatives that include friskoler, privatskoler and lilleskoler. They charge fees, follow their own values or pedagogy, and must teach to a standard that matches the folkeskole. Denmark has 10 years of undervisningspligt but no skolepligt, so you may choose a free school instead. The ministry explains the framework on its frie grundskoler page.

What is 10. klasse?

10. klasse is an optional extra year after 9th grade for pupils who need more academic grounding or help choosing an upper-secondary path. It includes a week of compulsory bridge-building to a youth education programme and ends with a personal education plan. It is not a “repeat year” for everyone, but it is common. The ministry describes it on its 10. klasse page.

How are children who do not speak Danish supported?

Pupils who need language support get basisundervisning i dansk som andetsprog (basic Danish as a second language). This can take the form of a modtagelsesklasse (reception class), where pupils spend all or part of their timetable, a special group, or one-to-one teaching. A reception class may have no more than 12 pupils at the start of the school year unless two teachers are present. The basic programme must end once the pupil can join ordinary lessons, and no later than after two years. The rules sit in the ministerial order on Danish as a second language.

What about international schools?

Copenhagen has one public international school, European School Copenhagen (Europaskolen), which is free but has limited places and manages its own admissions. There are also several private international schools teaching in English, French or German, and these charge monthly fees. The City of Copenhagen does not subsidise private international school places. Popular schools have waiting lists, so apply early. See the city’s list of international schools.

What do you need to bring and set up?

Apply for your CPR number and address first, because everything else depends on them. Then set up MitID, which you need for Digital Pladsanvisning, the school portal and Aula, the digital platform most Copenhagen daycare centres and schools use to communicate with parents. The city explains how parents get into Aula on its Aula page. Your CPR number comes from the folkeregister through your kommune’s borgerservice; the basics are on borger.dk.

What it costs and how long it takes

Expect the biggest cost in the first three years: around DKK 3,555 a month for a Copenhagen vuggestue without lunch. Budget a drop to about DKK 1,988 once your child passes 3 years and 1 month, plus SFO at about DKK 2,042 a month at school age. A daycare place from the guaranteed list comes within two months, but a specific popular institution can take much longer.

Common mistakes

• Waiting for a CPR number to start looking. You cannot apply without CPR and an address, so sort those first.
• Only listing one fashionable institution. Add several realistic choices across districts.
• Assuming the folkeskole is compulsory. It is not; the obligation is to educate, not to attend a specific school.
• Missing the school sign-up window. It is a fixed date range each autumn, not rolling.

If something goes wrong

If you get an offer you cannot use, reply in Digital Pladsanvisning so it passes to the next family. If your child is struggling without Danish, ask the school directly for a dansk som andetsprog assessment rather than waiting. If a decision goes against you, every kommune has a formal complaints route, set out on borger.dk.

FAQ

Can my child get a daycare place before we have a CPR number? No. Both you and your child need a CPR number and a registered address in the kommune. Register first, then apply the same week.

Is daycare free in Denmark? No. It is subsidised, not free. Copenhagen vuggestue cost DKK 3,555 a month without lunch for children under 3 years and 1 month, as of May 2026.

Do we have to send our child to the local folkeskole? No. Every child has a district school by address, but you may apply for another folkeskole or choose a private friskole or privatskole and pay its fees.

What happens if our child does not speak Danish? The school provides basisundervisning i dansk som andetsprog, often as a modtagelsesklasse of up to 12 pupils, and this ends within two years.

How long is the waiting list in Copenhagen? It depends on district and age. Sign up before your child is 4 months old, and the childcare guarantee gives you a place within two months once you are on the guaranteed list.