Landshagir - 01.12.2015, Page 185

Education
LANDSHAGIR 2015 STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF ICELAND 2015
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degree in one school year, the highest
number until now was in 2010–2011 when
48 Ph.D. students graduated. Almost 40%
of Ph.D. graduates were 40 years old or
older when graduating and almost 88%
were 30 years old or older. More than one
out of four Ph.D. graduates in 2012–2013
was a foreign citizen, a total of 15 gradu-
ates.
Fewer graduates from the tertiary level
of education
There were 4,001 graduates with 4,029
graduations at the tertiary level of educa-
tion in 2012–2013. Females were 64.6% of
graduates. There were 2.589 graduations
with a first tertiary degree, 5 fewer than in
the previous year (-0.2%), and the number
of graduates with a diploma after a Bach-
elor degree decreased by one. In addi-
tion, there were 1,049 graduations with a
master’s degree, down by 88 (-7.7%) from
the previous school year.
Fewer students completed the matriculation
examination than in 2011–2012
There were 3,463 graduates from 35 schools
with a matriculation exam during the
2012–2013 school year, 136 fewer than in
the previous year (-3.8%). Never before
had so many students completed the
matriculation exam in one school year as
in 2011–2012, but 2012–2013 comes second.
The ratio of students graduating with the
matriculation exam to 20 year olds in the
population dropped from the previous
year; from 74.7% to 71.2%. Women were
58.9% of those completing the matricula-
tion exam. The number of graduates with
the matriculation exam after complet-
ing vocational education has increased in
recent years; they were 701 in 2012–2013.
Never more children and staff in pre-primary
schools
There were 6,019 staff members working
5,289 full-time equivalent jobs in Decem-
ber 2014, a 3.3% increase from the previous
year and a larger number than ever before.
At the same time 19,938 children attended
pre-primary schools, more than ever before
in Iceland. The number of pre-school chil-
dren increased by 225 from December
2013, or by 1.1%. The increase was greatest
among one year old children; from 34.0%
to 41.2% of the age group. Almost 86% of
1–5 year old children attended pre-primary
education, the highest proportion ever.
More female headmasters in compulsory
schools
In the autumn of 2014 there were 108
female headmasters in compulsory schools
in Iceland, up from 68 in the autumn of
1998. A the same time the number of males
among headmasters declined by 62, result-
ing in 63 male headmasters in compulsory
schools in the autumn of 2014.
In the autumn of 2014 there were 901 male
teachers in compulsory schools, 18.7% of
teaching staff. The number of male teach-
ers has been declining slowly since 1998,
when 26.0% of teaches were men. At the
same time the number of female teachers
has increased to 3,911 in 2014.