Åva gymnasium is the only municipal upper secondary school in Täby, north of Stockholm. It offers university preparatory programmes in Swedish (Business, Natural Science, Social Science, Technology), vocational programmes (Electricity and Energy, Restaurant and Food, Health and Social Care), an introductory programme and the International Baccalaureate in English: a Pre-DP preparatory year following the Swedish curriculum with an IB focus, then two years of the IB Diploma Programme. There are sports and music profiles. The school is Erasmus accredited and works with schools across Europe, has been a certified UN school since 2018, is a European Parliament Ambassador School, and in 2025 received the Skolornas fredspris for its work on democracy and values. It has 17 lead teachers (förstelärare) responsible for developing teaching. Education is free for IB students as for all others.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Swedish, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish
About the fees Tuition is free: the admissions policy says 'there are no tuition fees for students enrolled in the IB programme' and that all costs are covered by the student's registered municipality. Lunch at the rÅVAra training restaurant, booked in advance, is at a reasonable price.
Admissions Applications to the Pre-DP year go through Gymnasieantagningen for the Stockholm region (for 2027 from 14 January; for 2026 the deadline was 12 May). Applicants need nine years of schooling with passing grades in social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics and languages; a Swedish grade is not required. All take entrance tests in English and mathematics at the school (17 March for 2027), and admission is based on the tests and grade 9 results; applicants living abroad take the tests online. Non-Swedish grades are assessed separately by the Täby municipality admission officer. Those moving to Sweden must register in the Swedish population register before final admission; a Swedish personal number is required before enrolment. The school reserves some places for families arriving after the admissions period, and in mid-year admissions priority goes to applicants relocating from abroad. About 10-15 external students a year are admitted directly to DP 1 based on tests, an interview and grade 10 results; no new students are admitted after mid-October. Transfers to DP 2 from other IB schools are possible if the subject combination matches. All students take the full IB Diploma; individual courses are not offered.
Stages and year groups Grades Upper secondary years 1-3 (Pre-DP, DP 1-2). Swedish upper secondary school, gymnasieskola: national programmes leading to the gymnasieexamen - Ekonomi, El och energi, Naturvetenskap, Restaurang och livsmedel, Samhällsvetenskap, Teknik, Vård och omsorg, Introduktion, with sports and music profiles. IB: a Pre-DP preparatory year (English, history, mathematics with IB preparation, a modern language - French, German or Spanish, biology with chemistry preparation, physical education, Swedish, social studies) and the two-year IB Diploma Programme - six subjects, three at higher and three at standard level: group 1 - English A, Swedish A, self-taught literature in the mother tongue; group 2 - English B, French B, German B, Spanish B, Swedish B, Swedish ab initio; group 3 - Economics, Global Politics, Psychology; group 4 - Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Systems and Societies; group 5 - Mathematics (analysis and approaches, applications and interpretation); group 6 - Visual Arts or a subject from groups 1-4. Plus TOK, CAS and the Extended Essay.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs inside a Swedish upper-secondary school, alongside the Swedish national 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: DP (ages 16-19). DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
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
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Art studio · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Elevkåren (student union) · ÅSKA (chess club) · Åvas bokklubb (book club) · FN-föreningen (UN association) · Åva Tech (tech club: programming, CAD, 3D printing) · Spelklubben (board games club) · Amnesty group · Film club · Debate group
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 sizenot stated
The school has 17 lead teachers (förstelärare) responsible for developing teaching; it stresses teachers' deep subject knowledge and high expectations. The school does not publish staff numbers or class sizes.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Student health services: four counsellors (help with stress, anxiety, conflicts, bullying, high absence) and two school nurses (health talks, vaccinations, first aid, referrals to doctors, psychologists and other specialists), assigned to programmes; there are also special education teachers and career counsellors. On enrolment families sign a computer use policy and an expectations document.
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%)82 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 data60 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 data78 "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
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