Blindern videregående skole is a municipal upper secondary school in northern Oslo, next to the main campus of the University of Oslo; it is owned by Oslo municipality. It has nearly 1000 students in three departments: the general programme studiespesialisering, the International Baccalaureate and a special education department. The school aims to prepare students for university and has long held university school status in partnership with UiO. Its predecessor, Berg upper secondary school, was authorised to teach the IB Diploma in 1978, and the school calls itself the oldest IB school in Norway, the oldest public DP school and the first public MYP school. The IB line is taught in English and spans four years, from grade 10 of lower secondary to Vg3: MYP 4-5 followed by the Diploma Programme; the Norwegian line is taught in Norwegian. Education is free. Students on the Norwegian line can spend Vg2 abroad on exchange.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · MYP, DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Norwegian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish
About the fees Education is free: the school is municipal, and no tuition is charged on either the Norwegian or the IB line. From the 2026 DP cohort, the school covers all IB textbooks under the Norwegian principle of free education, except literary works for the literature courses.
Admissions Norwegian programmes: admission through vigo.no by 1 March, allocated by the Oslo education agency admissions office by grades; transfers during the year only for strong social or medical reasons and if a place is available. The IB line is open only to students registered in Oslo municipality: a valid residence permit for Norway and an official address in Oslo are compulsory; those not yet moved must add an explanation and the moving date, and the move cannot depend on admission. The school seeks students of diverse backgrounds and any first language, but proficient in English. DP requires a completed first year of Norwegian upper secondary, MYP 5, IGCSE or an equivalent 10 years of general schooling, plus satisfactory English and mathematics; MYP 4 requires completed grade 9 or MYP 3, MYP 5 grade 10 or MYP 4. Without evidence of English and mathematics, an entrance examination is set. Students completing MYP 5 at the school have priority for DP, others are ranked by previous grades; if places are short, priority goes to Oslo residents with good grades, then to those whose English is stronger than their Norwegian. The form on the website: for DP and MYP 5 by 1 March 2026 plus a vigo.no application with IB as first choice, for MYP 4 only the form by 15 April 2026.
Stages and year groups The Norwegian line is studiespesialisering under LK20: in Vg1 all subjects are common, foreign languages German and Spanish levels I and II, French level II; in Vg2-Vg3 the natural sciences track (biology, physics, chemistry, information technology, mathematics R and S) and the languages, social sciences and economics track (English, history and philosophy, psychology, law, politics and human rights, economics and others); the outcome is the Norwegian vitnemål. The IB line in English runs from grade 10 to Vg3: MYP 4 and MYP 5 (equivalent to grade 10 and Vg1) - English and Norwegian Language and Literature or Norwegian acquisition, French, standard and extended mathematics, integrated sciences, individuals and societies, physical and health education, visual arts, service as action and the personal project in MYP 5; then the two-year Diploma Programme. DP subjects: English A Language and Literature, English Literature and Performance, Norwegian A Language and Literature, Self-taught Literature, Norwegian B, French B, History, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Global Politics, Environmental Systems and Societies, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics Analysis and Approaches, Mathematics Applications and Interpretations, Visual Arts; plus Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS. A special education department offers daily-life and work training. The website is contradictory about the future of the MYP after 2025-2026.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · MYP, DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Middle Years and Diploma programmes. The IB track in English runs from Year 10 to Vg3: the Middle Years in Year 10 and Vg1, then the Diploma; alongside it runs the Norwegian studiespesialisering programme. Whether the Middle Years will continue after 2025-2026 is stated differently on the school's English and Norwegian pages.
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: MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). 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. 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
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Blindernrevyen (school revue, the biggest student event) · Elevrådet (student council) · MUN · Operasjon Dagsverk (student charity action) · VIP-makkerskap (buddy programme)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: The school describes highly qualified teachers, several of whom have been IB examiners; teaching is developed in a professional teacher community in partnership with the UiO teacher education institute.
The website names the teaching staff with email addresses and the school leadership. Students are followed up by homeroom teachers, subject teachers, counsellors, social workers, the nurse and leaders.
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
The school aims to be free of bullying and works under the law on students' right to a safe and good school environment: all staff must intervene, report to the principal and investigate. The VIP-makkerskap buddy programme runs in all classes and teaching groups to build an inclusive climate. There is a school health service with nurses (confidential, for physical, mental and sexual health), counsellors, social workers, an IMDi diversity adviser, substance abuse prevention and an IB inclusive education policy.
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%)88 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 data75 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
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