Bergen katedralskole, known locally as Katten, is a public upper secondary school run by Vestland county in central Bergen and one of the oldest schools in the country: it was founded in 1153 by Cardinal Breakspear and for a long time trained future priests. Today it is a general studies school where about 700 students follow the studiespesialisering programme, with six parallel classes in each year. The regular programme is in Norwegian. Since 1988 the school - one of the first in Norway - has offered the IB Diploma Programme in English in Vg2 and Vg3, the last two years of school; for Norwegian students there is a pre-IB class in Vg1 following the Norwegian curriculum but taught in English. Both local students and children of families who have moved to Bergen for work attend. The school also has the Kyrre department for students receiving treatment for mental illness, an introductory course for teenagers with little Norwegian, and adult education. Languages include German, French, Spanish and Latin, and Chinese from scratch in the IB. Education is free; IB students pay an administrative fee of 10000 NOK a year.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Norwegian, English
Languages taught
German, French, Spanish, Latin, Chinese, Japanese
Students
about 700 in the studiespesialisering programme, including the IB
About the fees As a public school Bergen katedralskole charges no tuition: the school states directly that there are no tuition fees. IB Diploma students pay an administrative fee of 10000 NOK per school year in two instalments. Textbooks are lent by the library under a loan agreement.
Admissions The IB Diploma admits students after a Norwegian Vg1 or directly after MYP 5; at least ten years of schooling are required. Conditions: a valid Norwegian residence permit and a registered address in Vestland county by 1 March; those moving with their parents receive a conditional offer and a place once the move is documented, and students whose parents will not live in Vestland are not accepted. Requirements: sufficient English; from Vg1 - mathematics at least 4, English at least 5, a grade average of 4.5; from MYP 5 - 6 or higher in mathematics and sciences, 5 or higher in English or Norwegian language A, an overall average of 5.5 and a completed Personal Project, with at least two years in the MYP. Foreign education documents must be translated into English, and entrance exams and interviews may be required. The deadline is 1 March, with later applications given lower priority; applications go through Vigo, while foreign students, students at international schools and Norwegians living abroad use the school's form. Transfers from another IB school after the first year are accepted if subjects match and places are available. Pre-IB and the regular programme admit through Vigo under county rules.
Stages and year groups Norwegian track: studiespesialisering (a common Vg1, then programme areas in Vg2-Vg3), leading to a vitnemål and generell studiekompetanse under the LK20 curriculum; the Kyrre department - adapted studiespesialisering for students aged 16-24 in treatment; an introductory course for minority language speakers aged 16-20; adult education. IB track: pre-IB in Vg1 (the Norwegian curriculum taught in English) and the IB Diploma Programme in Vg2-Vg3 in English, since 1988. IB subjects: English A: Language and Literature, Norwegian A: Literature, a school-supported self-taught first language, Norwegian B, Chinese ab initio, History, Psychology, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, Visual Arts, plus TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS. Norwegian universities require Norwegian A or Norwegian B HL or a language test.
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 Norwegian upper-secondary school: after a preparatory year (pre-IB) in Vg1 comes the Diploma in Vg2-Vg3; alongside it runs the Norwegian studiespesialisering programme.
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 hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Elevrådet (student council) · Hugin (student society since 1860: celebrations and theme days) · Kattenrevyen (annual student revue) · Aksjonskomite (solidarity day and international day committee) · Katten Målungdom (Nynorsk and dialects club) · Verdens Nasjonaldager (world national days club) · Kattenavisen (school newspaper since 1964) · Katten Bordtennisklubb (table tennis club) · Katten heismaskinromklubb (lift enthusiasts' club) · Natur og Ungdom (environmental organisation) · Aksjeklubben (investment club) · IB-KatFood (IB students' newspaper) · Amnesty International group · Upcycling club
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 speaks of committed teachers; the Chinese course has a native-speaking teacher. There is a staff page, a leadership team, counsellors, two school nurses, a student coordinator and a social educator. The school does not publish teacher qualifications or class sizes; in the Kyrre department groups have 8-15 students.
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
Two nurses of the school health service give free, confidential advice on mental health, stress, nutrition, sleep and sexual health and refer students to a doctor or psychologist; the service is part of the school's resource team and works with the counsellors, the PPT educational psychology service and the BUP child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. The student coordinator and the social educator have an open-door policy. The site has a page on every student's right to a safe and good school environment and the county's central school rules; the IB has policies on academic integrity, assessment, inclusion and language, and a complaints procedure.
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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 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
Bergen, Norway · est. 1153 · State