Please note that this press release was corrected 1 June 2018 at 08:50
There were 10,875 graduates from schools in Iceland in 2015-2016, both at the upper secondary and at the tertiary levels of education. In total, the number of graduates increased by 280 (2.6%) from the previous year.
There were 4,554 graduates with 4,593 graduations at the tertiary level of education. Females were 65.6% of graduates. There were 2,753 graduations with a first tertiary degree and 397 graduations with a diploma after a Bachelor degree. There were 1,317 graduations with a master’s degree and 72 completed the Ph.D. The number of Ph.D. graduates has increased in recent years, and only in 2013-2014 have there been more Ph.D. graduates in one school year, when they were 84.
More male graduates from the upper secondary level of education
A total of 5,741 students graduated with 6,374 graduations from the upper secondary level of education during the school year 2015-2016, 93 more than in the previous year (1.6%) but fewer than in 2011-2014. Females were slightly more numerous than males, 50.9% of graduates. In recent years, females have been 52-54% of graduates at the upper secondary level, and the proportion of males has not been as high since 1998-1999.
More students completed the matriculation examination under the age of 20
There were 3,421 graduates from 34 schools with a matriculation exam during the 2015-2016 school year, 172 more than in the previous year but a comparable number to 2012-2014. Women were 56.6% of those completing the matriculation exam. The ratio of students graduating with the matriculation exam to 20 year olds in the population was 73.3%.
A total of 11.9% of graduates with a matriculation exam were 19 years old or younger, but 47.3% were 20 years old. The proportion of graduates under the age of 20 has increased since 2013-2014 when it was 9.3%. However, the changes in the requirements which shorten the time needed to complete this examination have not been fully implemented in the years covered by this data collection.
There were 522 graduates who were 25 years or older when completing the matriculation exam (15.3%). There were fewer older graduates than in recent years, as students 25 years and older were around 17% of graduates in 2011-2015. Age is computed at the end of the year after the completion of the school year.
More graduates with the journeyman’s exam but fewer masters of a certified trade
In 2015-2016 there were 631 graduations with the journeyman’s exam, 63 more than in the previous year (11.1%). We have to go back to 2009-2010 to find more graduates with the journeyman’s exam. Males were 81.5% of those completing the exam.
Graduated masters of a certified trade were 166, slightly fewer than in the two previous school years. Males were 71.1% of certified trade masters.
Detailed statistics on graduates and graduations are available on the Statistics Iceland website.
Statistics
Upper secondary schools
Universities