Imatran yhteislukio is a municipal upper secondary school (lukio) of the city of Imatra, founded in 1908, with more than 400 students. It operates in the Mansikkala school centre, which the city calls the largest wooden school building in Finland. Besides the general day line, the school runs the IB line Etelä-Karjalan IB-lukio (South Karelia IB World School), an adult line, a double degree with the vocational college Saimaan ammattiopisto, a sports academy and an academy of culture (music and dance). The IB line lasts three years: a Pre-IB preparatory year, in which most national curriculum courses are taught in English, and two years of the IB Diploma Programme. Original: 'The language of teaching and examination is English.' The IB line operates on two campuses, in Imatra and at Lappeenrannan Lyseon lukio in Lappeenranta, but all its students are enrolled at Imatran yhteislukio. The general line studies in Finnish: the school does not state the language directly; this is inferred from the Finnish lukio curriculum with the ylioppilastutkinto and from the school describing specifically the IB line as English-language. Students of 20 nationalities study on the IB line. The upper secondary section of the Finnish-Russian school Itä-Suomen koulu also operates in the same building.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Finnish, English
Languages taught
Swedish, Spanish, Russian
About the fees For students with a municipality of residence in Finland the school is free. Original: students from EU or EEA countries without a registered municipality of residence in Finland are 'not eligible for free upper secondary education'. From 1 August 2026, students from outside the EU and EEA pay 15000 euros per year, including IB education, daily school meals, all study materials and a personal laptop. EU and EEA students without a municipality of residence in Finland pay a learning materials fee of 1850 euros for the full three-year programme. The card shows what a family that moves to Finland and lives here pays: tuition is free; the fee above applies to students who come alone on a student residence permit.
Admissions Applicants from Finnish schools enter the IB line through the joint application (yhteishaku) based on the average of academic subjects on the grade 9 certificate, minimum 7.8; besides the Opintopolku application, a separate form for the IB coordinator is required. Applicants without a Finnish basic education certificate apply as discretionary applicants. Foreign students are accepted: they first contact the IB coordinator, who checks the criteria. Original: 'good academic performance, a legal guardian, and a valid residence permit in Finland'; the guardian must live with the student in the South Karelia region. Eligible candidates are invited to an on-site entrance exam in mathematics and English in Imatra; it cannot be taken online. When places are free, continuous admission is open, including direct entry to IB1 for strong candidates of the right age. In the 2025 admission the general line had 120 places with an average entry threshold of 7.0.
Stages and year groups Grades upper secondary after grade 9, 3 years. Finnish lukio curriculum (at least 150 credits) with the ylioppilastutkinto on the general line; a double degree (lukio and a vocational qualification) and an adult line. IB line: Pre-IB preparatory year and two years of the IB Diploma Programme (IB1, IB2) with IB final exams. The school names no other IB programmes.
Address Koulukatu 2, 55100 Imatra
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school; it runs as a separate English-language line with a preparatory year alongside the Finnish upper secondary programme and the ylioppilastutkinto matriculation exam.
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 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:
Clubs and activities: Etelä-Karjalan urheiluakatemia (South Karelia sports academy) · Kulttuuriakatemia (culture academy: music and dance) · CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) · Opiskelijakunta (student council)
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 has about 40 teachers. The IB line website lists the teachers of both campuses with their subjects; the IB coordinator has an assistant coordinator on the Lappeenranta campus.
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
A school nurse, a school social worker (kuraattori) and a psychologist are provided by the South Karelia wellbeing services county Eksote, and visits are free. The school has a special education teacher, a student wellbeing coordinator and a school social worker.
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 data60 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data70 "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
Imatra, Finland · est. 1908 · State