Kindergarten admissions in Oslo: deadlines, entitlement and switching
Kindergarten admissions in Oslo have one big deadline and a few less well-known rules that decide whether your child gets a place in August or has to wait a whole year. Most of it hangs on which month your child was born in, not which date.
The deadlines
1 March
The main intake. This is the deadline that applies to almost everyone, and the same one applies if you want to switch kindergarten.
1 June
A supplementary deadline for an additional intake round.
The rest of the year
No deadline. Available places are allocated on a rolling basis, after children with a statutory right have been offered one.
When is a child entitled to a place?
The entitlement follows the birth month, not the birthday.
| Born | Entitled to a place |
|---|---|
| January to August | Entitled to a place in August of the year the child turns one. |
| September to November | Entitled to a place in the month the child turns one. |
| December | Must wait until the first August after the child turns one. |
December babies draw the short straw
A child born in December 2026 turns one in December 2027 but has no right to a place until August 2028. That is up to twenty months of leave or another arrangement to cover. You can apply and get a place earlier if one is free, but the entitlement does not kick in until August. This is worth working out before you plan your leave, not afterwards.
You can apply to seven kindergartens
Up to seven at once, in order of preference. Use the slots: an application with two choices gives the city little to work with, and then they pick the alternative for you. If none of your choices work out, you should be offered another place.
Switching kindergarten: the same deadline
If you already have a place and want to switch, you apply in exactly the same way, with the same 1 March deadline. Most places in the switching round start in August. You can also apply after the deadline, but then your child joins the allocation of free places through the year, behind those with a statutory right.
Worth knowing: you keep the place you have until you accept a new one. Applying to switch is not in itself a risk.
Deadlines for starting and replying
Your preferred start date must be no later than 30 November for you to keep the statutory entitlement. In municipal kindergartens the place must be taken up within one month of the offered start date.
Got a place? Then settling in comes next, and it takes longer than the three days people talk about:
Sources
- City of Oslo: Applying for a kindergarten place →
- City of Oslo: Switching kindergarten place →
- City of Oslo: Who is offered a place first →
Deadlines and rules were checked against the City of Oslo on 12 August 2026. The city has signalled that admissions may move to monthly deadlines; check their own page before planning around the dates here.