Students boycott classes over proposed grant cuts
Wednesday 4th November 2026 on 06:45 in
Denmark
Thousands of students are expected to demonstrate in Copenhagen and boycott classes across Denmark in protest against the government’s plans to cut student grants, DR reports.
About 10,000 pupils and students are expected to gather at City Hall Square in Copenhagen. Separately, around 30,000 upper-secondary students at 40 schools nationwide are expected to stop attending classes. The demonstration is backed by 21 education and youth political organisations.
The government, made up of the Social Democrats, Moderates, Socialist People’s Party and Danish Social Liberal Party, wants to remove student grants, known as SU, from 81,000 students living with their parents if their parents earn more than 420,000 kroner a year before tax. For students whose parents earn between about 420,000 and 710,000 kroner, the proposal would gradually reduce the grant rather than remove it entirely.
The government also proposes requiring graduates to have worked an average of four hours a week in at least 18 of the final 24 months of their education to qualify for graduate unemployment benefits.
Oscar Tønsberg Hoffmann, chair of the Danish Association of Upper Secondary Students, called the proposed cuts “the wrong place to save money”. He said students had tried to discuss the plans with ministers but had “met a closed door”. The demonstration, he said, was intended to show how many young people were frustrated.
Hoffmann said that working more alongside school would leave students with less time for lessons and homework. He described the class boycott as a last resort.
Mads Bundvig, student council chair at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium in Copenhagen, said students were protesting against further cuts affecting young people. He said long school days and pressure from assignments and grades could make it difficult to find time for a job, even for students who wanted one. He expects the protest to have an impact and said students intended it to be peaceful.
The demonstration is due to begin at 12.30 at City Hall Square, with participants then walking to Christiansborg Palace Square for speeches, chants and music.