BISS Sentrum is a private international day school for children aged 6 to 16 in central Stavanger, opened in 2019 as an independent school under Norwegian law. It is the youngest of the three BISS organisations, successors of the British school in Stavanger founded in 1977. Since 2022 it has been an IB World School offering the Primary Years Programme in grades 1-6 and the Middle Years Programme in the next five years, matching Norwegian grades 1-10. Lessons are taught in English, Norwegian is compulsory for everyone at two levels, and secondary students add one more language. There is one class per year group. Students and staff come from nearly 60 countries; the three BISS schools together have more than 700 students and more than 120 staff. After a fire in 2024 the school is in temporary premises in the centre, and from the 2027-2028 school year it will move to the BISS Gausel campus. The school is funded by state subsidies and parent fees.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $4 655 a year
44 800 NOK
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Norwegian, French, Spanish
About the fees Fees for calendar year 2026 are 44800 NOK per year, the same in primary and secondary; they are invoiced in 11 monthly instalments of 4073 NOK. Fees are set by the school board based on rates set by Utdanningsdirektoratet, and changes are published in December. Fees cover instruction during the school day, educational supplies, exercise books and the loan of textbooks; school uniform is paid separately. From 2026 a reduced fee is available on application for low-income households.
Admissions Applications are handled by the central BISS admissions office through an online portal; families must reapply for every school year, and admissions for 2026-2027 are open. Year group is set by Norwegian rules, by calendar year of birth: in 2026-2027 children born in 2020 enter the first primary year and those born in 2010 the fifth and final secondary year. If there are more applicants than places, priorities apply: current students of the school, siblings of students, children from the oldest group of BISS Preschool, children of permanent staff and board members, applicants with a demonstrable interest in the IB curriculum, applicants from schools and preschools with an international curriculum in Norway and abroad, then students transferring from BISS Gausel; with equal priority, a lottery decides. The school says that because of the volume of applications and limited places it does not host individual visits before a place is offered. The admissions office issues a letter confirming attendance for UDI appointments. The school names no entrance examinations or language requirements; children who need it receive additional English language support. On accepting a place, one month's fee is paid.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-10 (PYP1-PYP6, MYP1-MYP5). The primary school follows the IB Primary Years Programme, years PYP1-PYP6 (ages 6-11); the secondary school follows the IB Middle Years Programme, years MYP1-MYP5 (ages 11-16), with a personal project at the end and eight subject groups; in MYP years 4-5 mathematics is standard or extended. The years match Norwegian grades 1-10. Norwegian teaching is also aligned with the Norwegian curriculum LK20 (Kunnskapsløftet); students take the Norwegian national tests in PYP5, MYP2 and MYP3. There is one class per year group in primary and secondary. The school does not offer the IB Diploma; after the MYP students go on to a Norwegian videregående skole or to the IB Diploma at another school.
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 transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Campus: The school is in central Stavanger. After a fire in 2024 at its former building in Misjonsmarka it is temporarily located at Tanke Svilands gate 73, and from the 2027-2028 school year it will move to the BISS Gausel campus at Gauselbakken. The primary school has specialist lessons in Norwegian, music and library. After school care for grades 1-5 runs from 7:30 to 16:30, with excursions in the holidays. There is no school bus; the school is reachable by public bus. School uniform is compulsory. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: I'M A MUSICIAN · Young Coderz · Dessine-moi un Mouton (French club for French-speaking children) · 1st Stavanger Scout Group · PUMA's Taekwon-do 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 mentions a highly educated staff and specialist teachers: in the primary school separate teachers for Norwegian, music, library; in the secondary school specialist subject teachers and learning support staff. The three BISS schools together have more than 120 staff. The school does not publish teacher qualifications or class sizes; the about, programme, admissions and careers pages were reviewed.
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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
BISS schools work under section 12 of the Education Act: students are entitled to a safe and good school environment, and the school keeps a documented internal referral system that tracks all staff concerns, including matters arising outside school. A concern about bullying or a child's safety can be registered through a form on the website; it goes to the Lead Designate for Safeguarding and may lead to a section 12 action plan. The school distinguishes verbal, physical, digital and indirect bullying. A municipal public health nurse works at the school; a physiotherapist, occupational therapist, psychiatric nurse, psychologist and doctor are called in when needed, and vaccinations and check-ups follow the Norwegian programme. There are SEND and EAL staff, weekly SEND meetings, PSHE lessons on wellbeing and a student council; the primary school has a playground buddy system.
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 data70 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 data73 "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
Stavanger, Norway · est. 2019 · Private