Size of the classroom.

Gross floor area per student

There are no rules for the size of a classroom. Schools do have a minimum number of square meters of floor space per student. All rooms count, including toilets and hallways. You can check if the school meets this rule by dividing the total square meters of floor space by the total number of students.

The standards

The amount of space needed differs per type of school and grade:

• Primary school: 3.5 square meters of floor space per student.
• Secondary school: between 5.7 and 14.8 square meters per student.
• Learning path support: there is 0.7 (year 1 and 2) or 1.2 (year 3 and 4) extra square meters per student, on top of the standard amount.
• Special primary education: 6.6 square meters of floor space per student.
• Special education: between 7.8 and 15.8 square meters of floor space per student.
• Continued special education: between 7.7 and 15.3 square meters of floor space per student.

A full overview of the square meters per type of school and grade can be found in the implementation decree for facilities in housing primary and secondary education. It also states how big a school must be at minimum, the so-called fixed size. The central government also provides more detailed information.

Size of the schoolyard

There are no national rules for the size of the schoolyard. The municipality usually includes this in the education housing regulation. You can request this from the municipality or the school.

More information

• Implementation decree for facilities in housing primary and secondary education
• Central government on classroom size