The Danish gymnasium offers a 3-year general academically-oriented upper secondary programme which builds on the 9th-10th form of the Folkeskole and leads to the upper secondary school exit examination. This qualifies a student for admission to higher education Preparatory, subject to the special entrance regulations applying to the individual higher education programmes. Colloquially, gymnasium refers to what is formally called STX.

Gymnasium is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term preparatory high school or the British term grammar school. Before the 20th century, the gymnasium system was a widespread feature of educational systems throughout many European countries.