← Back to the rankingInternational School of Helsingborg
Helsingborg, Sweden · State
Illustration · Helsingborg
The International School of Helsingborg (ISH) is a municipal international school of the city of Helsingborg for students aged 2 to 19, tuition-free for families. It teaches IB programmes in English: Early Years, the PYP, the MYP and the Diploma Programme, the full IB Continuum. Under the Swedish ordinance on international schools, PYP and MYP students are taught and assessed only on the IB curriculum: the school does not teach the Swedish curriculum or use Swedish grades, but it teaches Swedish to all students, and those proficient in it are taught and graded on the Swedish curriculum in MYP1-MYP4. The upper secondary track lasts three years: a foundation year, then two years of the IB Diploma Programme; it is a gymnasium programme also open to grade 9 leavers from Swedish schools. About 825 students attend, about 140 of them in the Diploma Programme; students and teachers come from almost twenty countries. The school was created to educate children of international families who have moved to the Helsingborg region temporarily or expect to move abroad.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Swedish, French, Spanish
About the fees Tuition is free: the school describes itself as 'a tuition-free school' 'funded by the city of Helsingborg'. Only the Fritids after school centre is paid, with fees based on family income.
Admissions The school is tuition-free but does not admit everyone: Early Years, PYP and MYP (ages 2 to 16) admit children who meet the criteria of the Swedish Education Act. These are children of international families moving to Helsingborg for a limited time; children who have attended an international school abroad for most of their education; children living in Helsingborg who will attend an international school abroad within one year; and children permanently living in Helsingborg whose mother tongue is English and who can follow lessons in it. Due to limited places, the first two groups currently have priority. Children from other municipalities in northwestern Skåne are admitted under the municipal agreement, with Helsingborg residents prioritised. Early Years children must be diaper-free. The school offers no modified programmes or special education. Applications to the Diploma Programme go through the Skånegy portal (grade 9 students in Swedish schools) or the school's online application (applicants from abroad); a foreign student must obtain a Swedish personal identity number and prove the right to live and study in Sweden before admission. All Diploma Programme applicants take entrance tests in mathematics and English (in March, for late applicants in May and August) and an interview.
Stages and year groups Grades Early Years, PYP 1-6, MYP 1-5, DP 1-2. IB programmes in English: Early Years (from the year the child turns 3 until 5), PYP (primary, ages 6-12), MYP (ages 11-16; covers Swedish compulsory school, grundskola), Diploma Programme (upper secondary, ages 16-19). The upper secondary track lasts three years: the first year builds a foundation and develops English (for MYP students this is MYP5); in the second and third years students choose six IB Diploma Programme subjects, three at higher and three at standard level, plus TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS. For admission to Swedish universities the school advises taking Swedish A in group 1. The school does not teach the Swedish national curriculum Lgr22.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes.
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), DP (ages 16-19). 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. 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
✓Library
✓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
Teachers, like students, come from almost twenty countries. The school does not publish teacher qualifications, staff numbers or class sizes.
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
All students have access to a school nurse and school physician: health visits in PYP 1, 3 and 5 and MYP 2 and 5, and vaccinations under the Swedish national programme. The school has counsellors (one for PYP and MYP, one for the Diploma Programme), a school psychologist and a career guidance counsellor. The school rules and consequences plan aim at a safe and inclusive school.
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%)95 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 data65 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.
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