Children and childcare when you move: day care, school and deadlines

When you move with children, you typically need to get three separate tracks in order:

1. Childcare (dagtilbud) for the youngest

2. School for school-age children

3. After-school care (SFO) or an after-school club (fritidshjem) before and after the school day

The rules are tied to the child's address and the municipality you live in. But deadlines, waiting lists and documentation requirements can differ from one municipality to the next. That is why it is a good idea to look into the specific municipality as soon as the handover date (overtagelsesdag) is known.

Short answer

If you move to a new address, it can affect your child's childcare, school catchment area and SFO.

For childcare, you use the municipality's online childcare placement system (Digital Pladsanvisning). The municipality decides, among other things, the deadlines, waiting lists, seniority on the list and documentation requirements for people moving in. The childcare guarantee (pasningsgaranti) gives you the right to an age-appropriate place, but not necessarily in the institution or neighbourhood you would prefer.^[1]

For the state school (folkeskole), your child is, as a starting point, entitled to the catchment school (distriktsskole) that belongs to your home address. You can request a different state school through free school choice (frit skolevalg) if there is room.^[2]

The most important thing is to get answers to these questions early:

• When can the child be put on the list in the new municipality?
• What documentation does the municipality require before you move in?
• Which school does the new address belong to?
• Is there room at the preferred school or institution?
• When does the current place need to be cancelled?
• Does the child also need to be registered for SFO or an after-school club?

In brief

• The municipality sets the local rules for childcare, waiting lists and people moving in.
• A signed purchase agreement (købsaftale) is not automatically sufficient documentation in every municipality.
• The childcare guarantee is a guarantee of an age-appropriate place, not of a specific institution.
• It may be possible to apply for childcare in another municipality if its waiting list is open to children from outside.
• The child's home address decides which catchment school the child is entitled to.
• Free school choice depends on available capacity and the municipality's framework.
• SFO or an after-school club normally requires a separate online registration.
• Notice periods can mean you pay for the old place for a transition period.

Start with the municipality, not with assumptions

It is tempting to think the rules are the same across Denmark. They are not.

There is a national framework for things such as the childcare guarantee and free school choice. But the municipality decides many of the practical rules:

• When the child can be put on the list
• How seniority on the list is calculated
• What documentation people moving in must send
• How places are allocated
• When a place must be cancelled
• How SFO and school enrolment are handled

Some municipalities may accept documentation for a future address before the official moving day. Others require different information or treat people moving in in a particular way. So the purchase agreement should not in itself be seen as a guarantee that the child can be put on the list straight away.

First find the new municipality's page on childcare placement and school. Then write down the dates that apply to your family in particular.

Childcare when you move

Childcare covers, among other things, childminders (dagpleje), nurseries (vuggestue) and kindergartens (børnehave).

If your child needs a new place, you apply online through the municipality's childcare placement office (pladsanvisning). You typically state when the child needs a place and which options the family prefers.

The municipality may have different rules for:

• Prioritisation between applicants
• Sibling priority
• People moving in
• Requests for specific institutions
• Transfers between places
• Deadlines for accepting and cancelling

A request is not the same as a reservation. So you can list three institutions without being sure of getting any of them.

What does the childcare guarantee mean?

The childcare guarantee means that the municipality must be able to offer an age-appropriate place to children over 26 weeks old until they start school.

When a family applies for a place in a situation other than directly following a birth, the municipality must, as a starting point, offer a place no later than three months after receiving the application.^[3]

But this is where the important difference lies:

The childcare guarantee gives you the right to a place. It does not give you the right to a specific institution.

The place offered may be further from your home or workplace than you had hoped. It may also be a different type of childcare than your first choice, as long as it is still age-appropriate.

So you need to look at both the date and everyday life. A place covers the need for childcare. But getting to and from the place also has to work every morning and afternoon.

Also read the guide on transport when buying a home.

Can you apply before the official moving day?

It depends on the municipality.

Some municipalities describe special options for future residents. They may, for example, ask for a purchase agreement, a tenancy agreement or other documentation for the future address. Other municipalities have other requirements.

So the reliable answer cannot be found in a single nationwide sentence. Instead, check:

1. Whether the municipality accepts applications before your address in the civil registration system (CPR) has changed
2. What documentation the municipality requires
3. From which date seniority on the list is counted
4. Whether the date you need the place from can be registered
5. When the family will get an answer

Keep the municipality's written answer. That way you know which date and which assumptions the childcare placement office is working from.

Can the child stay at the old institution?

In some cases it may be possible for your child to attend childcare in a municipality other than the one you live in. This depends, among other things, on whether that municipality has open waiting lists for children from outside and how the municipalities handle payment.^[1]

It can give the family a calmer transition if the child can stay in familiar childcare for a period. But do not count on this solution until both municipalities have confirmed it.

Also check:

• Whether the old place continues after the moving date
• Which municipality charges for the place
• Whether the parental fee changes
• Which notice period applies
• Whether the transport still works in everyday life

School and school catchment area when you move

The municipality is divided into school catchment areas (skoledistrikter). The child's address normally decides which catchment school the child has the right to be admitted to.

This does not necessarily mean that the catchment school is the school closest to the home on a map. The boundaries follow the municipality's catchment area map.

Before the purchase, you can look into the area and the schools. Once the move is definite, check the catchment area again with the municipality. Catchment boundaries can change, and information from a property listing should not stand alone.

Read the in-depth guide on schools and childcare when you research an area.

What does free school choice mean?

Free school choice means you can apply for a state school other than the catchment school. It can be a school in the same municipality or in another municipality.

But the choice is not a guarantee of a place.

The preferred school must have available capacity, and admission follows the applicable rules. The municipality may also have guidelines for how places are allocated when more children apply than the school can take.^[2]

It is therefore important to distinguish between:

• The right to the catchment school
• The option of applying to another school
• The actual confirmation that the child has been admitted

Only plan everyday life around the preferred school once the place is confirmed.

Changing schools in the middle of the school year

A change of school can happen at times other than the summer holidays. The new municipality or school can tell you how the transition will be handled.

Ask, among other things, about:

• The child's expected start date
• Which class the child will join
• Transfer of information from the old school
• Introduction to the class
• SFO before and after the first school day
• Transport to school

The practicalities take up a lot of room. But so does the social side. A trip past the school, the playground or the new route can make the area feel less unfamiliar before the removal van pulls into the drive.

Also read the guide on researching the area before buying a home.

SFO and after-school clubs

SFO and after-school clubs are care options before and after school hours, typically for younger schoolchildren.

Registration is done online. When a child starts school in the usual way, they are often registered for SFO as part of school enrolment. If the child changes school or needs a place later, the family must contact the municipality.^[4]

Check:

• Whether the SFO place automatically comes with admission to the school
• When the place can start
• Whether there are closure days around the move
• Which notice period applies to the old arrangement
• What the place costs

A school place does not necessarily cover care before and after lessons. So the two should be treated as separate tasks.

Timeline from purchase agreement to moving in

When the purchase agreement is signed

• Find the new municipality's pages on childcare, school and SFO
• Check the school catchment area for the new address
• Ask the childcare placement office whether you can apply before your CPR address changes
• Find the documentation requirements and notice periods

When the purchase is final

• Send the documentation the municipality requires
• Register your preferences and the date you need a place from in Digital Pladsanvisning
• Contact the relevant school if the child is changing school
• Apply for SFO or an after-school club, if relevant
• Get confirmation of when the old place must be cancelled

Before handover day

• Get written confirmation of places and start dates
• Plan transport to the institution or school
• Visit the area together with your child
• Share relevant information with the old and new school or institution

When you move in

• Register your move and check that your CPR address is correct
• Check that the school, childcare and SFO have the right contact details
• Keep letters and confirmations from the municipality

Read the guide on changing your address when you move and gather the dates in your moving plan.

Example: the family moves to a new municipality

A family takes over the home on 1 November. They have one child in kindergarten and one child in second grade (2. klasse).

They have four separate tasks:

1. Find out whether the kindergarten child can be put on the list before the CPR address changes
2. Clarify the notice period at the current kindergarten
3. Get the new catchment school confirmed or apply to a different school
4. Apply for SFO for the schoolchild

If the family only focuses on the school, the SFO place can be forgotten. If they only focus on the childcare guarantee, they may overlook that the institution offered is far from the home.

The point is not to make the process bigger. It is to break it down so that one task does not hide inside another.

Common misunderstandings

A signed purchase agreement is always enough to get on the list

No. Municipalities can have different requirements for future residents. Ask the specific municipality what documentation it accepts.

The childcare guarantee means a place at our first choice

No. The guarantee covers an age-appropriate place, not a specific institution.

The nearest school is automatically the catchment school

Not necessarily. Check the address on the municipality's catchment area map.

Free school choice means we decide for ourselves

You can apply to another school, but admission depends on available capacity, among other things.

A school place and SFO are the same registration

Not always. Check whether SFO requires a separate application.

The old childcare place ends automatically when you move

This should not be assumed. The notice period and the option of continuing depend on the arrangement and the municipality's rules.

Checklist for moving with children

• Find the new municipality's childcare placement office
• Check local deadlines and documentation requirements
• Register the date you need a place from
• Check what the childcare guarantee means in your situation
• Find the school catchment area for the new address
• Get the school place confirmed
• Apply for SFO or an after-school club
• Check the notice period in the old municipality
• Plan everyday transport
• Visit the school, institution and local area with your child
• Keep the municipality's written answers and confirmations
• Put all the dates in your moving plan

In summary

When you move with children, childcare, school and SFO should be planned as three separate tasks.

Start with the new municipality. Find the rules for people moving in, the childcare guarantee, the school catchment area and SFO. Get dates and places confirmed in writing before you plan everyday life around them.

Then gather the deadlines in your moving plan, so that cancellation, the new place, school and change of address fit together.

BoligKlar gives you a second pair of eyes and an overview. The municipality and the specific childcare and schools make the decisions on admission and places.

Frequently asked questions