← Back to the rankingInternational School of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland · est. 1963 · Private
Illustration · Helsinki
The International School of Helsinki (ISH) is a private, fee-paying international day school in Ruoholahti, Helsinki, for students aged 4 to 19. It was founded in 1963 as a British Preparatory School; in 1973 it moved to Espoo as the British School, in 1976 it returned to Helsinki and took its present name, in 1992 it added grades 11 and 12 and the IB Diploma Programme, and since 1996 it has been in Ruoholahti. It is run by a non-profit Parents' Association that elects the school board; the school operates under licences from the Finnish Ministry of Education and receives grants from the Finnish and US governments. The school says it is the only school in the Helsinki area offering all three IB programmes: the PYP from Discovery to grade 5, the MYP in grades 6-10 and the Diploma Programme in grades 11-12; graduates also receive a High School Diploma equivalent to an American one. The language of instruction is English, as the school states directly. Students represent more than 50 nationalities; 40% have English and 14% Finnish as their home language. The school reports joint CIS and NEASC accreditation and IB authorisation, confirmed in 2020. Middle and high school students travel to CEESA and Nordic international school events.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $14 045–18 763 a year
12 432–16 608 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
4 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Finnish, French, Spanish
Registration fee
≈ $395
350 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027 (basic plus supplementary tuition): Early Years 12432 euro, grades 1-5 13744 euro, grades 6-8 14570 euro, grades 9-10 15384 euro, grades 11-12 16608 euro per year. With the trimester payment option (due end of June, October and February) the total is higher: from 12612 to 16788 euro. A Non-residency Fee is added where applicable; the fee summary does not state the amount. Families of Early Years children with a municipality of residence in Finland are usually eligible for KELA private daycare support, around 500 euro per month on average, paid to the school and credited against tuition.
Admissions The school admits students throughout the year if space is available and it can offer a suitable programme; there are no entrance exams. Documents are submitted online: application form, payment agreement, passport copy, school reports for the past two full years (in English or translated) and teacher references; Upper School applicants also send a letter in English and English and Math teacher references. The application fee is 350 euro. Interviews are held for grades 9-12, for learning support needs and when documents need clarifying. Up to grade 8 the school accepts students with no English and provides language support; grades 9-12 require at least intermediate English, possibly tested. The school states directly that it accepts students from around the world. Students must live with a parent or designated guardian, and enrolment is generally for at least one semester. Age is counted on 1 September: 4 for Discovery, 5 for Explorers, 6 for grade 1.
Stages and year groups Grades Discovery, Explorers, 1-12. Early Years: Discovery (from age 4) and Explorers (from age 5), following the Finnish Early Childhood Education and Care Curriculum within the IB PYP. PYP from Discovery to grade 5, the MYP as a full five-year programme in grades 6-10, the Diploma Programme in grades 11-12; all graduates meeting school requirements receive a High School Diploma, and IB candidates also the IB Diploma. Finnish citizens must by law study Finnish as mother tongue until the end of compulsory education and Finnish Literature in the Diploma Programme.
Address Selkämerenkatu 11, 00180 Helsinki
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationNEASC · accreditationCEESA · part of the associationThe IB register lists the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes at the school. It is accredited by CIS (Council of International Schools) and NEASC and is a member of CEESA, the Central and Eastern European Schools Association.
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 →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 →CEESACentral and Eastern European Schools Association
About thirty international schools in the region. It runs conferences, teacher development and competitions between schools: robotics, football, volleyball, debating. An accreditation from CIS, NEASC, MSA, WASC or Cognia is a condition of entry here, not an outcome.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to the association. CEESA runs no inspection of its own, but a school is not admitted without somebody else's accreditation - so the school holds one, and that is what to look at. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
34 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma, May 2025: 26 diplomas from 28 full candidates (92.9%), average score 34 against a global mean of 30.5, all-candidate average 32.6, median 33, highest score 45 points. All 2025 graduates went on to universities in the UK, US, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland or chose a purposeful next pathway.
Where leavers go: Imperial College London · University of Bath · University of Edinburgh · University of Glasgow · Aalto University · University of San Diego
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
Campus: Since 1996 the school has occupied a building in Ruoholahti, Helsinki; in 2026 the Parents' Association voted to proceed with the ISH Annex extension, and construction began in May 2026. The school runs a hot lunch programme. Lower School students use iPads and laptops, and every Upper School student has a laptop. There is no boarding or accommodation.
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 sizenot stated
What the listings show: at least a Bachelor's Degree in Education (Master's preferred), a teaching licence, at least two years of experience after the degree, a criminal record extract
Teachers must hold at least a Bachelor's Degree in Education, a teaching licence and at least two years of experience, with PYP, MYP and DP experience preferred; all new staff present a criminal record extract. Early Years teachers are trained in both Finnish and IB models. The Head of School holds a PhD from the University of Nottingham and has more than 30 years of experience.
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 training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has its own Child Safeguarding Policy & Procedures, developed with input from CEESA, the US State Department and CIS; all faculty and staff receive child protection training every year. The Child Safeguarding Team (Head of School, school counsellors, city counsellor and Individualised Learning Lead) meets monthly. The social emotional counselling curriculum for all grades covers child protection and anti-discrimination and bullying; the school uses a restorative approach to bullying.
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 data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country