From the 2025/2026 school year, students in 8th and 9th grade will have the opportunity to take part of their schooling in junior master apprenticeship.
The scheme makes it possible to combine regular schooling with practical learning in a company. As a rule, the student is in school three days a week and in internship two days a week.
This applies to Nikoline Juul Weidemann, among others. She is 14 years old, from Suldrup in North Jutland and will start in 8th grade. She will supplement her Danish and math lessons with work in the kitchen at Rold Storkro.
- I thought school had become a bit boring. So I thought it would be pretty cool to have some fun and try some new things, she says.
Although Nikoline Juul Weidemann is not doing badly academically, she felt tired from traditional schoolwork.
- That's why I'm really looking forward to seeing how it works in a workplace. I think the school week will be easier, and I'm looking forward to getting going more, she says.
Big difference between municipalities
There is no official figure for how many have registered for the scheme.
However, a document review by SMVdanmark shows that in some municipalities over ten percent of the students participate, while others have no students registered.
Rebild Municipality, where Nikoline Juul Weidemann lives, is one of the municipalities with the most registered young people.
This applies to approximately ten percent of the year group, says the municipality's children and youth manager, Lene Hvilsom Larsen.
To get the scheme off to a good start, the municipality has helped the young people find a place, and a junior master apprentice roper has been appointed at each school, she says.
A course has been arranged on Wednesday and Thursday in the first week of school, which will prepare young people for life in a workplace, where they will learn about the working environment, lifting techniques and first aid, among other things.
According to Minister of Children and Education Mattias Tesfaye (S), the scheme is intended for students who are really "just staring out the windows".
- They have lost their motivation. Now we are giving them an opportunity for an everyday life that they look forward to getting up for, he said earlier this year.
There are grey areas
The organization Skole & Forældre sees potential in junior master apprenticeship.
According to national chairman Regitze Spenner Ishøy, it is an exciting opportunity to offer young people an alternative way to go to school.
- We are curious about how it will affect the opportunities of young people. It can have a really positive effect, but there are also some grey areas that we need to uncover along the way, she says.
The Prime Minister warns that students may risk becoming locked into their choices too early in life.
- Young people change and change their minds along the way. There may be young people who have challenges at school and need a break, but who later in life would like something different that requires a different education or some other skills, she says.
According to Regitze Spenner Ishøy, the scheme also places high demands on parents, who must basically find an internship for their child themselves.
Advice may be needed on the requirements for an internship, so that it does not just become a break from teaching. The young people should also get something professional out of it, she explains.
- But that requires that we are open to developing it all the way through, says the national chairman.
DI is hopeful
In Denmark, it has long been a fact that there will be a shortage of skilled workers in the future.
Therefore, the hope of the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) is that more young people will open their eyes to vocational education through the scheme, says Deputy Director of DI Mikkel Haarder.
- Conversely, I hope that there are not many young people who could have taken a full final exam who do not. So there is a balance that I am curious about where it will end up, he says.
Among several companies that DI represents, there is also an interest in the scheme that can create future workforce, says Mikkel Haarder.
- And I certainly also believe that many companies are concerned with taking on the social responsibility that lies in it. We have a strong tradition of this, he says.
The framework for junior master apprenticeship
* Each municipality must, within the legislative framework, create a locally adapted model for junior master apprenticeship.
* The student must, together with their parents, initially find an apprenticeship themselves, possibly with support from the teacher or the municipal youth service.
* It is estimated that approximately five percent of a year group will choose junior master apprenticeship.
* The government's ambition is that junior master apprenticeship will, among other things, contribute to more people passing the primary school leaving exams.
* In 2024, one in eight students did not achieve at least 02 in both Danish and mathematics in 9th grade.
* Up to one in six students graduated last year 9th grade without meeting the requirements for admission to a vocational education program.
* 80 million has been allocated in 2025 and 190 million annually from 2026 onwards for the scheme.
Source: Ministry of Children and Education
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