More graduates than ever before from the upper secondary level
A total of 4,803 students graduated from the upper secondary level of education with 5,281 graduations during the school year 2004-2005. This is an increase of 28 graduates from the previous year, or by 0.6%. Never before have more students graduated from the upper secondary level in one school year in Iceland. Females were more numerous than males or 53.9% of graduates.
The age distribution of male and female graduates is different. A total of 56.1% of female and 50.8% of male graduates were 21 years old or younger while 36.0% of males and 24.1% of females were 22-29 years old. In the oldest age group, 40 years old and older, women were the majority of graduates; more than four times the number of male graduates.
90 fewer students complete the matriculation exam but a greater proportion of 20 year olds
There were 2,426 graduates from 29 schools with a matriculation exam during the 2004-2005 school year, 90 fewer than in the previous year. The number of males increased by 22, while the number of females decreased by 112 from the previous year. The proportion of students completing the matriculation exam increased as a proportion of 20 year olds, since that age cohort is smaller than in the previous year. Since the school year 1998-1999 the proportion of students completing the matriculation exam had been just under 50% of the number of 20 year olds. In the school year 2002-2003 the proportion increased to 58.4% and this year to 60.7% of this age group and has never been greater. The proportion of males who completed the matriculation exam as a proportion of 20 year olds has never been greater, or 49.4%. The proportion of female students completing the matriculation exam as a proportion of 20 year olds was 71.5%, a decrease of more than five percentage points since the previous year.
The number of students who graduated with the matriculation exam has increased considerably from the previous year in the youngest age group. This school year 131 students younger than 20 years old graduated with the matriculation exam but 72 the previous school year. This increase is partly explained by the first graduation from Menntaskólinn Hraðbraut during this school year, but this school year also saw groups of young graduates with a matriculation exam from Fjölbrautaskólinn í Garðabæ and Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð.
More graduations from vocational programmes at the upper secondary level
Graduations with a matriculation exam were by far the most numerous at the upper secondary level, almost one-half (46.4%) of all graduations. Graduations from various vocational programmes were 2,734, 140 more than the previous year. Thereof 597 were graduations with the journeyman’s examination, 89 more than during the school year 2003-2004. Almost four out of every five (77.6%) graduations with the journeyman’s exam were obtained by males. This school year there were 17 more graduations with school certificates in the certified trades than in the previous year, an increase from 634 to 651.
Never before have more students graduated from the tertiary level
There were 3,277 graduates with 3,308 graduations at the tertiary level of education in 2004-2005. Never before have more students graduated at the tertiary level of education in Iceland in one school year since Statistics Iceland started its data collection in 1995. The number of graduates increased by 103, or by 3.2% since the previous year. Females were 65.5% of graduates while males were 34.5%. The age distribution of graduates was from 20 to 80 years old. The median age was 29 years, which means that one-half of graduates were 29 years old or older.
Graduations with a first university degree are most numerous, or 2,184, an increase by 184 from the previous year (9.2%). 292 students completed the master’s degree, an increase of 5 students from the previous year (1.7%). A total of 14 students completed the Ph.D. degree during the school year, 3 more than in the school year 2003-2004, an increase of 27.3%.
Statistics
Upper secondary schools
Universities