The ranking holds 15 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 5 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 8. A year of school costs from $2 592 to $32 496. A swimming pool on site is confirmed at 1.
5 schools publish a monthly fee rather than a yearly one and do not say how many payments they charge over a school year. We count such a year as ten payments: that is the number charged by the schools that do state it, and that is how long the school year runs in most countries of the ranking.
We do not take reviews from maps and directories: their terms forbid it, and nobody checks the quality there. Everything below comes from the official registers of the accrediting organisations and from the schools' own sites, and every fact carries its source and the date of the check.
| Cheapest | $2 592 a year | North Zealand International School |
| Median | $6 008 a year | top of the fee range at 9 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $32 496 a year | Copenhagen International School |
| Free | 3 schools | Nørre Gymnasium, European School Copenhagen, Birkerød Gymnasium |
Figures are converted to dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish their fees in their own currency. One-off charges, meals, transport and uniform are not included unless the school says otherwise. Fees for schools in Copenhagen are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
11 of the 15 schools in the ranking are private. The other 4 are state schools, set out below. The type of school does not affect the score: private and state schools sit in one list and are scored by the same formula, and only verifiable data moves the number.
3 schools in Copenhagen teach an international programme with no tuition fee: Nørre Gymnasium, European School Copenhagen, Birkerød Gymnasium. On value for money such schools get the top score, because they sit outside the price range altogether.
4 schools with an international accreditation are funded by the state: Nørre Gymnasium, European School Copenhagen, Birkerød Gymnasium, Solrød Gymnasium. Admission to these schools is usually competitive, and tuition is free or markedly cheaper than at a private school. In the ranking they stand alongside private schools and are scored on the same nine criteria.
Schools in Copenhagen with an IB programme (5): Copenhagen International School, Nørre Gymnasium, International School of Hellerup, Birkerød Gymnasium, North Zealand International School. 2 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP. Authorisation is confirmed against the International Baccalaureate register.
The British Cambridge programme - IGCSE and A-Level - is taught at 8 schools in Copenhagen: Institut Sankt Joseph, Bjørn's International School, Rygaards International School, Lyngby Friskole, North Zealand International School, Solrød Gymnasium, Skt. Josefs Skole, Osted Efterskole.
These schools stand in the suburbs, up to 39 km from the centre of Copenhagen. Each card names the school's own town; they are gathered here because a family in Copenhagen chooses between them as between districts of one place.
A facility counts only when the school names it outright on its own site: a modern campus is not a swimming pool. Swimming pool: 1 school · Boarding: 2 schools.
Comparing schools on a single feature is useless: the most expensive is not the best, and a famous name says nothing about what is backed by documents. The score is therefore built from nine criteria with different weights - from academic programmes and accreditation to facilities, clubs and fees relative to other schools in the country.
A criterion counts towards the score only when there is verifiable data behind it. That is why every score says how many of the nine criteria were counted: at schools in Copenhagen that is 7.8 out of 9 on average. A school with a detailed site and a school with no site cannot earn an equally reliable score, and that is shown rather than hidden.
Ratings and reviews from Google Maps and other map services are not used: their terms forbid aggregation. Only verified reviews left here count. Full methodology →
Published fees run from $2 592 to $32 496 for a school year. The cheapest is North Zealand International School, the most expensive Copenhagen International School. The median for the senior stage is $6 008 a year. Tuition is free at 3 schools: Nørre Gymnasium, European School Copenhagen, Birkerød Gymnasium. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency. 5 schools publish a monthly fee rather than a yearly one and do not say how many payments they charge over a school year. We count such a year as ten payments: that is the number charged by the schools that do state it, and that is how long the school year runs in most countries of the ranking.
Solrød Gymnasium comes first with 80.3 points out of 100, counted from 7 of the 9 criteria. Next come Copenhagen International School (77.8) and Birkerød Gymnasium (77.3). The score is built from data anyone can check: accreditations found in official registers, programmes, facilities and published fees. A place in the ranking is not for sale.
The ranking holds 15 schools: 11 private and 4 state (Nørre Gymnasium, European School Copenhagen, Birkerød Gymnasium, Solrød Gymnasium). Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 5 schools: Copenhagen International School, Nørre Gymnasium, International School of Hellerup, Birkerød Gymnasium, North Zealand International School. 2 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 8 schools: Institut Sankt Joseph, Bjørn's International School, Rygaards International School, Lyngby Friskole, North Zealand International School, Solrød Gymnasium, Skt. Josefs Skole, Osted Efterskole.
The earliest intake starts at 2.83 years old. 7 schools have a preschool section.
The score of every school adds up from nine criteria with different weights: academic programmes, accreditation, facilities, clubs, the fee against other schools in the country, reviews, university destinations, safety and teachers. A criterion counts only when there is data behind it that can be checked, so every score says how many of the nine were counted. Right now that is 7.8 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.