Norway’s national registry system combines extensive administrative data on individuals, linked by a unique social security number. These data are updated annually and compiled from multiple authorities, with Statistics Norway (Statistisk sentralbyrå, SSB) overseeing most of the process. The educational records include national assessment results in grade 5, 8 and 9 (available from 2007) and school marks from grade 10 (available from 2002) and throughout upper secondary (available from 2003). In addition, records are available for ongoing and completed education for alle education levels (available from 1970). School level information is available from the school information system (Grunnskolens informasjonssystem, GSI) and by linking employees to schools (not grade levels or classes), detailed teacher characteristics are available as well. Norwegian registry data can also be linked to sample data, thereby enriching datasets with additional information. One such study is The Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa, Magnus et al., 2016). The study is a prospective population-based pregnancy cohort study conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and includes 114,500 children (born between 1998 and 2008), 95,200 mothers and 75,200 fathers with detailed survey information as well as genotyped data from children and parents. Researchers can gain access to Norwegian registry data by submitting a written application to Statistics Norway (Statistics Norway, 2024). The application should include a detailed research proposal describing the goals and methods of the project, a detailed list of variables and a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). The institution responsible for the project must be a research institution recognized by the Research Council of Norway or Eurostat. However, institutions outside of Norway are, as a general rule, only permitted access to thoroughly anonymous data. In addition, there is a web-based tool (microdata.no) giving access to a wide selection of the available registry data. Up to now the use of national registry data has been dominated studies relating to the larger societal functions of education, such as studies of educational equality (e.g. Sandsør et. al, 2023), intergenerational mobility (e.g. Mastekaasa & Birkelund, 2022), teacher mobility (e.g. Falch, 2011) and the effect of schooling on later life outcomes (e.g. Reme, Bøgeberg & Torvik, 2024). However, improved infrastructure for conducting electronic surveys has made it easier to link and augment data from independent research studies with data from the registers to address a wider selection of questions of relevance for educational research (e.g. Zachrisson et. al, 2023).

Falch, Torberg (2011). Teacher Mobility Responses to Wage Changes: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment. American Economic Review, 101(3), 460–65. Magnus, P., Birke, C., Vejrup, K., Haugan, A., Alsaker, E., Daltveit, A.K., … & Stoltenberg, C. (2016). Cohort profile update: the Norwegian mother and child cohort study (moba). International Journal of Epidemiology, 45, 382–388. Mastekaasa, A., & Birkelund, G. E. (2022). The intergenerational transmission of social advantage and disadvantage: comprehensive evidence on the association of parents’ and children’s educational attainments, class, earnings, and status. European Societies, 25(1), 66–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616696.2022.2059542 Reme, BA., Røgeberg, O. & Torvik, F.A. (2024). School performance and the social gradient in young adult death in Norway. Nature Human Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-02053-w Sandsør, A. M. J., Zachrisson, H. D., Karoly, L. A., & Dearing, E. (2023). The Widening Achievement Gap Between Rich and Poor in a Nordic Country. Educational Researcher, 52(4), 195-205. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221142596 Statistics Norway (2024). Access to microdata – SSB Zachrisson, H. D., Dearing, E., Borgen, N. T., Sandsør, A. M. J., & Karoly, L. A. (2023). Universal Early Childhood Education and Care for Toddlers and Achievement Outcomes in Middle Childhood. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 17(2), 259–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/19345747.2023.2187325