Carlforsska gymnasiet is a municipal upper secondary school of Västerås near the city centre and the university. The school describes itself as having delivered good education in economics and business since 1953. It runs university-preparatory programmes (economics with economics and law orientations, arts with visual art, dance, media, music and theatre orientations, social science with a behavioural orientation, the IB Diploma Programme), vocational programmes (business and service, health and social care), introductory programmes and an adapted upper secondary school for students with intellectual disabilities; there are dance and ice hockey profiles and an arts class for students on the autism spectrum. The IB track runs three years: a preparatory first year of Swedish curriculum courses, then two Diploma years; the whole programme is taught in English. The other programmes are taught in Swedish. The school is certified as a European Parliament Ambassador School, partners with Amnesty International and runs Erasmus+ exchanges.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Swedish, English
About the fees Tuition is free: this is a municipal upper secondary school of Västerås.
Admissions Year 1 admission is through the joint Västmanland upper secondary admissions service by year 9 grades; applying to IB is the same as to any other programme. After 1 September, and for years 2 and 3 at any time, applications with grades go directly to the school. Recent arrivals in Sweden without a Swedish year 9 can join IB through entrance tests in mathematics and English. Conditions for the preparatory year: arrival in Sweden within the past 2 years, living with parents in the Västmanland region with registration and a Swedish personal ID number, at least 9 years of schooling at home, transcripts for the last two years in English or Swedish, age 16 by August, both tests passed; strong candidates may join later. Direct entry to the second year (first Diploma year) requires 10 years of schooling, good grades in IGCSE or equivalent in 8 or more subjects, age 17 and passed tests in the chosen subjects as agreed with the IB coordinator.
Stages and year groups Swedish gymnasieskola, three years, leading to the gymnasieexamen. National programmes: Ekonomiprogrammet (Ekonomi, Juridik), Estetiska programmet (Bild och formgivning, Dans, Media, Musik, Teater, a separate AST class), Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet (Beteendevetenskap), Försäljnings- och serviceprogrammet, Vård- och omsorgsprogrammet; introductory programmes Individuellt alternativ, Fenix, Wegas and Språkintroduktion; an adapted upper secondary school with five programmes; dance and ice hockey profiles. IB Diploma Programme: a Pre-DP preparatory year of Swedish curriculum courses (Swedish, English, mathematics, half courses of biology and chemistry, psychology, physics, social studies, visual art, PE, IB study skills), then two Diploma years: two languages of choice (Swedish A, English A, own mother tongue A, Swedish B, English B), mathematics at standard or higher level, three subjects from biology, chemistry, physics, environmental systems (ESS), psychology, global politics and visual art, plus Theory of Knowledge, CAS and the Extended Essay. On other programmes students can continue a modern language from compulsory school (Moderna språk 3 and 4); the school does not list the languages.
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 hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Clubs and activities: Skol-IF Carlforsska (school sports club: gym, tournaments, ski trip to Romme Alpin) · Hockeyprofil (ice hockey profile) · Dansprofil (dance profile) · UF - Ung Företagsamhet (student enterprises) · Ensemblekonsert (ensemble concerts) · Dressed for success (graduation show) · Ambassadörsskola för Europaparlamentet (European Parliament Ambassador School) · Amnesty International (partner school) · Erasmus+ (exchanges)
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 describes dedicated and knowledgeable teachers and systematic tracking of each student's learning needs. The IB track has a coordinator, and each group of programmes has its own careers adviser. 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
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Student health teams are assigned to groups of programmes: special needs teachers, counsellors, school nurses and careers advisers; the school doctor and psychologist are shared across all municipal upper secondary schools of the city. Every school year the school surveys students on safety and wellbeing; when a student risks not meeting requirements, extra adaptations and an action plan are introduced.
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 data65 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 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
Vasteras, Sweden · est. 1953 · State