← Back to the rankingDeutsche Schule Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland · est. 1881 · Private
Illustration · Helsinki
Deutsche Schule Helsinki (Helsingin Saksalainen koulu in Finnish, DSH) is a private German-Finnish school in central Helsinki, both a German school abroad and a Finnish comprehensive school with an upper secondary school. Its history begins in 1881, when a charitable society took over a small German school on Unioninkatu; today it is run by the association Kouluyhdistys Pestalozzi-Schulverein Skolföreningen ry. The school calls itself a school of encounter between two cultures. In grades 1-9 students follow the Finnish perusopetus curriculum: German-language classes A and C are taught in German, class B in Finnish with reinforced German. The upper secondary level (grades 10-12, lukio) leads to the Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA): according to the school, it is equivalent to the German Abitur and the Finnish ylioppilastutkinto and gives direct access to universities in Finland and Germany. Students may also take Swedish and Finnish as a second language in the ylioppilastutkinto format, the Latinum, CAE, DELF scolaire and the CertiLingua label. The school runs after-school care, clubs and a music school holding the quality label of the German association of independent music schools; since 2024 the same association has run the Deutscher Kindergarten Helsinki at two sites. The language of instruction is stated on the admissions pages: German-language classes A and C and Finnish-language class B; in upper secondary most DIA subjects are taught in German, with some groups, for example in history, in Finnish.
Key facts
Programmes
German programme · National programme
Admits from
5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German, Finnish
Languages taught
English, Swedish, French, Latin, Russian
About the fees The school is private. Tuition in grades 1-12 is 336.50 euro per semester; the school does not state which year the amount applies to. Families pay for transport to school; students do not receive the city travel subsidy because the school is not a city school. For the pre-school year about 337 euro per half year is paid to the school on a separate invoice. Deutscher Kindergarten Helsinki fees from 1 March 2026 are 1400 euro per month under age 3, 1034 euro at ages 3-5 (including the first pre-school year) and 555 euro per month in the second pre-school year; families entitled to KELA services may receive the private day care allowance and a municipal supplement.
Admissions Grade 1 admission is by entrance test. The Finnish-language class 1B is open to Finnish-speaking children who turn 7 in the year of entry; no German is needed, and the test assesses mother-tongue skills and problem solving. German-language classes 1A and 1C require a completed pre-school year and a minimum score on a German test. With equal scores siblings of students come first, then a lottery decides. German-language classes 2-9 admit children who have attended school in a German-speaking country or speak German at native level; Finnish-language classes require native Finnish and grade-appropriate German; all applicants take an aptitude test, and entry is usually at the start of the school year. Upper secondary (grades 10-11) is not part of the Finnish joint application yhteishaku and admits continuously: applicants need a grade 9 leaving certificate and the Deutsches Sprachdiplom I or equivalent German; students from Finnish schools first visit the school for 2-3 days, and the principal decides. Students from other German schools transfer under the rules for German schools abroad. If the parents do not live in Finland, the school board decides. Exchange students are welcome in grades 10-11 for at least one semester. Entry into grade 12 is usually not possible.
Stages and year groups Pre-school groups (esiopetus) at ages 5 and 6 at the kindergarten sites; primary level grades 1-5 and middle level grades 6-9 follow the Finnish perusopetus curriculum, with parallel classes A and C in German and B in Finnish. Upper secondary (lukio, Oberstufe) is grades 10-12: grade 10 is introductory, grades 11-12 are the qualification phase ending in the Deutsches Internationales Abitur (DIA) exams: written in late January in three subjects and oral in late March in two. The school treats the DIA certificate as equivalent to the German Abitur and the Finnish ylioppilastutkinto. Additional options: ylioppilastutkinto exams in Swedish (two levels) and Finnish as a second language with a separate certificate, the Latinum (Latin from grade 8), CAE, DELF scolaire, CertiLingua. No IB.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ZfA · accreditationWDA · part of the alliancePASCH · takes part in the programmeThe Central Agency for German Schools Abroad (ZfA) lists the school as a German school abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule). Grades 1-9 follow the Finnish curriculum, and the upper school leads to the German International Abitur (DIA). The school is a member of the World Association of German Schools Abroad (WDA) and of the PASCH network.
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
ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →WDAWorld Association of German Schools Abroad
An association of the owners of German schools abroad: in essence an industry lobby and a service organisation. It runs no inspections. The condition of admission is a recognised German certificate, but that recognition is granted by the German state, not by WDA.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to an association of school owners. There is no inspection of its own behind it: the badge rests on a decision of the German state and adds nothing to it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →PASCHSchools: Partners for the Future, an initiative of the German foreign ministry
More than two thousand schools in about 120 countries. A school cannot apply for itself: participants are chosen by German agencies in agreement with the embassy. Very different schools sit under one mark - full German schools abroad, and ordinary national schools that simply teach German well.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to a German support programme. By itself the mark means neither a German curriculum nor the right to award a German certificate: of the two thousand PASCH schools, about seventeen hundred hold no such right. Look for a ZfA status next to it - that is the one that is about this. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
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
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Campus: The school is in central Helsinki, in the Kamppi district. The building has its own kitchen and canteen, an assembly hall, a school library in room 104 with books in German and Finnish, a well-equipped schoolyard for breaks and a school aquarium. After lessons the building hosts after-school care for grades 1-4, clubs and the school's own music school. The kindergarten and pre-school groups are at two separate sites, on Bernhardinkatu and in Lauttasaari.
Clubs and activities: Aqua-Club (aquarium club) · Kuoro / Singknöpfe (choir) · Musikaalikuoro (musical choir) · Oppilaslehti - toimittajakerho (school newspaper) · Kuvataidekerho (visual arts) · Taidehistoria-kerho (art history) · Teatterikerho (theatre) · Shakkikerho (chess) · Svenska klubben (Swedish club) · Pingis (table tennis) · Musiikkikoulu (music school) · Jugend musiziert (music competition) · HELIMUN (Helsinki Model United Nations)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers78
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The staff list for the 2026-2027 school year names 78 teaching staff, including pre-school teachers, special education teachers and music teachers, each with their subjects. The school is led by a principal and a Finnish principal, with a German deputy principal and a deputy principal for student welfare. Upper secondary has two study counsellors: a German one for universities abroad, especially in Germany, and a Finnish one for universities in Finland.
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 policy
The school has a student welfare group: the deputy principal, school nurses, a school social worker (kuraattori), a school psychologist, coordinators, special education teachers and study counsellors. Conflicts are handled by the Verso programme: trained student mediators from grades 4-9 and adult mediators; parents are always informed of bullying cases, which the class teacher and the Verso team investigate. A community educator works on class spirit.
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 data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "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 7 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