The International School of Boden (ISB) is a municipal international school in Boden, just south of the Arctic Circle, for children aged 6 to 19. It serves a growing international community linked to the green industrial transformation of northern Sweden. All teaching is in English following IB programmes: the PYP for ages 6-11, the MYP for ages 12-16 and the IB Diploma Programme for ages 16-19. The school is an authorised IB school for the Diploma Programme and a candidate for authorisation for the PYP and MYP. The stages are housed in three Swedish municipal schools, with shared facilities and joint activities with Swedish peers. Swedish is taught as a foreign language from beginner level, and when five or more pupils request it the school aims to provide mother tongue lessons.
Key facts
Languages of instruction
English
About the fees The school is municipal, run by Boden municipality, and under Swedish law a municipal school is free for students. A cooked lunch is served every school day.
Admissions The school admits children of international families moving to Boden for a limited period and children who have attended an international school abroad as their main schooling; an international preschool is not required. Children registered as residents of Boden municipality have priority; if there are more applicants than places, the municipality may deny admission even when criteria are met. PYP and MYP applications are accepted all year, Diploma Programme applications in January and February; late arrivals should contact the school. The Diploma Programme requires good grades from compulsory school and good English: students in Norrbotten apply through the regular upper secondary admissions, students from other regions of Sweden through their local counsellor, and international students through the IB Coordinator at Björknäsgymnasiet. Application forms are in Swedish only.
Stages and year groups IB Primary Years Programme (ages 6-11, candidate for authorisation) at Torpgärdsskolan, with the Exhibition in the final year. IB Middle Years Programme (MYP 1-5, ages 12-16, candidate for authorisation) at Stureskolan: eight subject groups every year (English language and literature, language acquisition in English and Swedish from beginner level, individuals and societies, mathematics, sciences, physical and health education, arts, design), grades on a 1-7 scale, a Personal Project in the final year. IB Diploma Programme (ages 16-19, authorised) at Björknäsgymnasiet: six subject groups, TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS, at least 24 of 45 points for the full diploma. Students without an MYP 5 background first take a Pre-DP preparatory year: English, Swedish, mathematics, social sciences, natural sciences, physical education, TOK and modern languages or Young Entrepreneurship. All teaching is in English.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. For the PYP and the MYP the school is a candidate.
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 →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
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
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 says teaching is by internationally trained and experienced teachers; mother tongue lessons, when requested, are taught by native or near-native teachers.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 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 data55 "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
Boden, Sweden · State