Arendal International School (AIS) is a private English-language primary and middle school for children aged 6-16, grades 1 to 10, in Arendal municipality. It was set up by a foundation founded by local maritime and offshore companies together with the University of Agder. The school runs two IB programmes: the Primary Years Programme in grades 1-6 and the Middle Years Programme in grades 7-10; it gained MYP authorisation in summer 2011. Under Norwegian law AIS is recognised as a school with an alternative pedagogy, so the Norwegian curriculum Kunnskapsløftet is present but not taught explicitly, and there are no final external exams; grade 10 results are converted to the Norwegian scale for admission to videregående skole. All lessons are in English apart from Norwegian and Spanish; everyone studies Norwegian, at first-language or acquisition level, and most middle school students also study Spanish. Children from more than 40 countries attend; the school is approved for up to 330 students, with up to 24 per class. Students can continue the IB in the Diploma Programme at Arendal videregående skole on Tyholmen.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $2 800–2 982 a year
26 950–28 700 NOK
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Norwegian, Spanish
Class size
up to 24 students per class, up to 23 in grades 1-3 pupils
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year: 26950 NOK per year in grades 1-6 (PYP) and 28700 NOK in grades 7-10 (MYP). Families with more than two children at the school receive a discount. Fees can be paid in one annual instalment or in ten monthly instalments; they are indexed each August to the consumer price index by decision of the Board.
Admissions The school is open to Norwegian and international students and accepts children aged 6-16 with a residential address in Norway; families may apply from abroad, and a residence or work permit is not required to apply, but a school place does not help in obtaining a visa. There are no entrance tests and any level of English is accepted. Admission runs to several deadlines a year; the main deadline for grade 1 and for grades 2-10 for the next year is 1 December. When applications exceed capacity the order is: children of AIS staff, students of Grimstad International School moving from grade 6 to grade 7, former students returning from abroad, international students (at least one parent born with a non-Norwegian passport, a non-Norwegian passport, a non-Norwegian mother tongue or no permanent residency), siblings of current students, and Norwegian children returning after schooling abroad; ties are settled by gender balance and a draw. An extra place in a full class may be opened for children of new hires of the founding companies. Admission is an individual administrative decision (enkeltvedtak) that can be appealed, with Statsforvalteren in Agder as the final instance. The grade is determined by the child's year of birth.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-10. IB Primary Years Programme in grades 1-6 and IB Middle Years Programme in grades 7-10 (MYP authorised in summer 2011). MYP subjects: English, Norwegian, Spanish, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, arts, design, physical and health education; a group community project in grade 9 and the Personal Project in grade 10. The school is recognised as a school with an alternative pedagogy and is exempted from the Norwegian curriculum Kunnskapsløftet and its assessment standards: the curriculum is partly covered, mainly in Norwegian lessons, and there are no final external exams. MYP grades on the 1-7 scale are converted in grade 10 to the Norwegian 1-6 scale for upper secondary applications. The school year runs from mid-August to late June; lessons run from 8:35 to 14:10 in grades 1-6 and to 14:15 in grades 7-10 (to 15:15 on Wednesdays).
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years and Middle Years programmes.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A day school with no boarding. The library has books and magazines in English, Norwegian and Spanish, computers, iPads, a media room for film and audio work and a reading corner; it is staffed by librarians, and primary students have a library lesson once a week. SFO after-school care for grades 1-4 (grades 5-6 if places allow) runs from 14:00 to 16:30 with a snack, plus five days of summer SFO before and after the school year. There are no hot meals: students bring lunch from home. The school follows the Norwegian tradition of friluftsliv - children play and learn outside every day in all weather; the school has a school dog. Students from Arendal municipality living more than 4 km away (more than 2 km in grade 1) get a free bus card.
Clubs and activities: Math Club · Beekeeping club · Student Council
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The staff page names 34 people - teachers, assistants, SFO staff and administration together. All Norwegian teachers, the school says, are bilingual in Norwegian and English. The school has a counsellor and SEL teacher, a school nurse, librarians and a support and inclusion team. The school does not publish teacher qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical room
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
All staff are obliged to ensure students have a healthy and supportive environment and to report any incident to the school leadership; students and parents have a school environment concern form. The school nurse delivers the National School Health Programme (check-ups, vaccinations, health talks) and is part of the child development team; the SEL counsellor teaches lessons in primary and works with students individually. SFO staff, like all school staff, must provide a police certificate.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data67 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Arendal, Norway · Private