← Back to the rankingGdynia International School
Gdynia, Poland · est. 2013 · Private
Illustration · Gdynia
Gdynia International School (GIS) was founded in August 2013 by Kevin D'Arcy, previously founder and head of British International School Gdansk. It began as an English-speaking preschool and is now a preschool and szkoła podstawowa in one building at ul. Kapitańska 37. It is a non-public school with the rights of a public school: the curriculum is Polish (podstawa programowa), and on top of it, since 2024, the school as a Cambridge International School has taught Cambridge Primary for ages 5-12. The school says it is the only primary school in Trójmiasto with Cambridge status. Teaching is bilingual, English and Polish, with Spanish as a third language; the school promises an international English-language education to Polish and foreign families. Classes have at most 20 students. The school puts strong emphasis on music (piano, orchestra), sport, critical thinking, debate and good manners; children have no phones or social media at school.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $5 617–6 198 a year
2 175–2 400 PLN a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary · National programme
Admits from
2.5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English, Polish
Class size
no more than 20 students per class
Registration fee
≈ $310
1 200 PLN
About the fees Fee list for the 2026-2027 school year. Primary school: 2400 PLN per month from September to June, i.e. 10 months; enrolment fee 1200 PLN; materials 1500 PLN once a year. Preschool: 2175 PLN per month, enrolment fee 1200 PLN, materials 1300 PLN; the fee list does not say for how many months preschool fees are paid. Sibling discounts: 10% for two children, 15% for three, 20% for four or more.
Admissions Children are enrolled at their parents' request: a questionnaire is completed and an education contract signed, and the head decides. Admission may include a language skills test and an interview. Grade 1 takes children turning 7 that year, or at parents' request from 6 with preschool preparation or a readiness opinion from a clinic; the zero class takes children turning 6. Preschool takes children from 2,5 years (Nursery group). The school promises an international English-language education to Polish and foreign families; the school's speech therapist also teaches Polish as a foreign language.
Stages and year groups Preschool: Nursery (2,5-3 years), Reception (4 years), Pre-0 (5 years) and Zero (6 years, the oddział przedszkolny attached to the school). Under its statute the szkoła podstawowa runs the full eight-year cycle on the Polish curriculum (podstawa programowa) with intensive English from the zero class; the website names teachers of grades 1-5. Cambridge International: since 2024 the school has held Cambridge International School status and teaches Cambridge Primary (ages 5-12), with tools for tracking student progress; the website does not specify which subjects follow Cambridge or which exams children take. Literature follows both Polish and British curricula, and children read classics in both languages. Spanish is taught by a native speaker trained at the Instituto Cervantes. Under the statute the language of instruction for the Polish curriculum is Polish; the school describes its teaching as bilingual, English and Polish.
Address ul. Kapitańska 37, 81-249 Gdynia
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Primary.
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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: Primary (ages 5-11). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge.
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 hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
·Librarynot stated on the website
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The preschool and primary school operate in one building at ul. Kapitańska 37 in Gdynia. Meals are optional through a caterer: about 18 PLN per day at school, and full-day meals in preschool about 30 PLN per day, with dietary options. The school teaches musical instruments, especially piano, and supports the school orchestra and ensembles; breaks are spent outdoors. Children have no phones or social media at school. Textbooks and exercise books stay at school, so a student brings only a lunchbox. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Chess · Ball Fun · Theatre Classes · Ceramics · Tinkering · Social Skills Training · Little Athletes Club · Sensory Play in Motion · Judo · Theatre of Emotions · Spanish Club · Lego Robotics
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 sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: Head Kevin D'Arcy holds a BSc in physics and an MPhil from the University of Wollongong and a postgraduate qualification in education from University College Dublin; he previously led British International School Gdansk and the secondary section of British International School Wroclaw and taught mathematics at the British School in Warszawa. Teachers include master's graduates in biology and psychology from Uniwersytet Gdański, graduates of Akademia Sztuk Pięknych, a Spanish teacher trained at the Instituto Cervantes, a doctor of musical arts, a former professional footballer with a UEFA Pro licence, and English teachers with Cambridge methodology certificates.
The preschool and school pages introduce 26 people by name with biographies: the head, the deputy head, an administrator, class and group teachers, assistants, subject teachers, two psychologists and a speech therapist.
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 roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Two psychologists and a speech therapist work in the school and preschool. The school publishes child protection standards (Gdyńskie Standardy Ochrony Małoletnich). Children have no phones or social media at school. The school teaches conflict resolution through mediation and assertiveness training.
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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data60 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