← Back to the rankingInternational School of Bergen
Bergen, Norway · est. 1975 · Private
Illustration · Bergen
The International School of Bergen (ISB) is a private, not-for-profit international day school in Sandsli, 15 kilometres from the centre of Bergen. It was founded in 1975 as the American School, the Little Red School House on the Fjords, with 17 students in Kindergarten and grades 1-3, when oil workers arrived on the west coast of Norway; in the mid-1980s it changed its name and gained international accreditation. Today about 250 children from nearly forty nations attend, aged from one to 16: an Early Childhood Centre (barnehage), a lower school for grades 1 to 5 following the IB PYP and an upper school for grades 6 to 10 following the IB MYP; the school says it was the first in the world authorised to offer the MYP. The language of instruction is English; all students learn Norwegian, as a first or a learned language, from grade 1, and French is added in the upper school. After grade 10 students move on to upper secondary schools elsewhere. The school is recognised as a private school under the Education Act and is funded by fees paid by families and employers; the Early Childhood Centre operates under the Norwegian Kindergarten Act.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $15 486 a year
149 044 NOK
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Norwegian, French
Students per teacher
1 to 7
Class size
15 to 22 students in grades 1-10, 18 on average
About the fees Fee schedule for 2026-2027 (August 2026 to June 2027), annual amounts for grades 1-10. Internationally mobile families living in Bergen Kommune, without a Norwegian passport, in Norway for fewer than three years and not sponsored by a company (Tuition B1): 149044 NOK per year, 145418 NOK if the whole year is paid by 15 August (2.5% discount), or 13550 NOK per month; 25% sibling reduction. Families living outside Bergen Kommune (Tuition B2): 202700 NOK per year, with no sibling reduction. The local fee for Norwegian citizens living in Norway for more than three years and employees of not-for-profit organisations (C1 and C2): 84857 NOK in grades 1-7 and 95935 NOK in grades 8-10. Where the employer pays, the Guaranteed Seat Programme (Tuition A) applies, with fees upon application. The Early Childhood Centre costs the same as Bergen municipal kindergartens: 1200 NOK per month, 13200 NOK per year. The school reserves the right to adjust fees when a place is confirmed.
Admissions Applications for the Early Childhood Centre, lower and upper school are accepted all year through the school's online system; the school wishes to accept all qualified applicants. For the Early Childhood Centre (ages 1 to 6) an application to the central database of Bergen Kommune is also required; the deadline for the main August intake is 1 March, with priority for children with special needs, children of sponsoring companies' employees and their siblings, siblings of enrolled students, other internationally mobile families, and then local families as space allows. For grades 1-10 families submit the school application and two years of school records, and placement follows age; English is not required in advance, as the school supports students who do not speak it. Seats are allocated by tuition category: first families whose seat is guaranteed by a company, then internationally mobile families without a Norwegian passport who have lived in Norway for fewer than three years, then local families and Norwegian citizens. One month's notice is required to leave the school.
Stages and year groups Three sections: the Early Childhood Centre (Preschool 1&2, Preschool 3&4 and Kindergarten, ages 1 to 6) blending the Norwegian Framework Plan for Kindergartens with the IB PYP; the lower school (grades 1-5) following the IB Primary Years Programme with the Grade 5 Exhibition; the upper school (grades 6-10) following the IB Middle Years Programme. The school is obliged to deliver parts of the Norwegian national curriculum and is approved by Udir; Norwegian is taught from grade 1, students sit Norwegian national tests in grades 5, 8 and 9 and the international ISA tests in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9. There is no upper secondary section: students graduate in grade 10 at 16 and go on to IB Diploma programmes, Norwegian videregående skole or UWC colleges. The school does not mention Cambridge programmes.
Address Sandslihaugen 36, 5254 Sandsli
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationNEASC · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years and Middle Years programmes. The school is accredited by CIS. The school is accredited by NEASC.
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: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. 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.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CISCouncil of International Schools
It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
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 →NEASCNew England Association of Schools and Colleges
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Students sit Norwegian national tests in reading and numeracy in grades 5, 8 and 9 (the school is exempt from the English test) and the international ISA tests in grades 3, 5, 7 and 9. The school says its students usually score on or slightly above average in reading in grade 5 and generally well above local averages in grade 9, and that ISA results compare favourably with other international schools; the figures themselves are shown on the website as charts.
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
Also on site: Art studio · Playground
Campus: A single building in a quiet residential area of Sandsli, 15 kilometres from the centre of Bergen, modernised and renovated in 2019; it houses all three sections: early childhood, lower school and upper school. There is a library of about 12500 books, visual arts rooms for the lower and upper school, a well-equipped science laboratory, a gymnasium and a cafeteria. The Early Childhood Centre has its own wing with four classrooms, an art room, a gross motor room with a climbing wall, a performing arts room with a stage, and two enclosed playgrounds with forest paths and a vegetable garden. For swimming and skating the school uses a nearby swimming pool and ice rink. The premises are provided through a long-standing partnership with the City of Bergen. Before and after school supervision: free for preschool children, paid for grades 1-4. It is a day school only, with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Guitar Lessons · Drawing Class · Tech Quest & Math Challenge Academy · YoungCoderz · Chess club · Origami Class · Homework & Study Hub · Kids Art Club · Tech Explorers · Dance Class · Duke of Edinburgh International Award
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
✓Number of teachers60
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: Teachers are qualified both in Norway and overseas and take part in continuous professional development; the school recruits educators locally and internationally.
The school has 60 staff members from 16 countries. It states a teaching ratio of 1 to 7 and class sizes of 15 to 22 students, 18 on average. The Early Childhood Centre follows Bergen Kommune staffing ratios. In job postings the school requires a teaching degree recognised in Norway and police certificates from every country where the candidate lived for more than six months in the last 10 years.
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 policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The school has a child protection policy approved by the Board, a Child Protection Officer and a team of the Director, principals and the school nurse. All staff and trustees take the ECIS Level 2 online course in child protection. Police background checks are kept for all staff, volunteers and after school activity providers. Support services include a school counsellor, an individual educational needs coordinator, English language support teachers and the school nurse; when needed the school works with the municipal PPT and the child and youth psychiatric service BUP. The Early Childhood Centre area is enclosed.
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 data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 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.
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