Kanalskolan is one of four municipal upper secondary schools in Skellefteå, in the town centre. The school describes itself as warm, inclusive and inspiring with an international character. It has three tracks: the Business Management and Economics programme (Ekonomiprogrammet) in Swedish, the IB Diploma Programme with a Pre-DP preparatory year in English, and the introductory individual programme (Introduktionsprogram, individuellt alternativ). The school is an authorised IB World School; in the IB programme all subjects are taught in English, and from the second year students choose a social science or natural science profile. Three IB year groups currently attend, but there will be no admission to the IB programme for the 2027-2028 academic year. The municipality's upper secondary schools take part in Erasmus+ and international exchanges.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
English, Swedish
About the fees Kanalskolan is a municipal upper secondary school of Skellefteå, and tuition is free, as in all Swedish municipal schools; the school has no separate fees page. Government study allowance (studiehjälp) is paid by CSN up to age 20.
Admissions Two groups may apply to the IB programme (the Pre-DP year). The first is students finishing Swedish compulsory school: Swedish grades and eligibility for the arts, social science or economics programmes are required; students new to Sweden do not need a grade in Swedish. The second is students planning to move to Sweden or who arrived within the last 2-3 years: they must have completed schooling equivalent to 9 years of Swedish compulsory school giving eligibility for a university preparatory programme, have transcripts for the last two years in English or Swedish, be at least 15 years old (or turn 15 in the autumn term of entry) and pass an English entrance test. Pre-DP applications go through the common upper secondary admissions (gymnasieantagningen), DP1 applications directly to the school. There is no IB admission for the 2027-2028 academic year.
Stages and year groups Grades 10-12. Upper secondary school, three years (ages 16-19). IB: the Pre-DP year combines courses from the Swedish social science and natural science programmes (English, history, mathematics, natural sciences, social studies, Swedish or Swedish as a second language, physical education or a modern language, artificial intelligence); then two years of the Diploma Programme: six subjects, three at Standard and three at Higher Level, plus Theory of Knowledge, CAS and the Extended Essay; grades are mainly based on external final exams, a maximum of 45 points, converted for Swedish university admission. DP subjects: language and literature (Swedish, English or a school-supported self-taught language), language acquisition (Swedish B, English B or Spanish ab initio), Business and Management or Global Politics, Biology, Chemistry or Physics, two mathematics courses, Visual Arts. In addition, Ekonomiprogrammet (Swedish national programme, gymnasieexamen) and Introduktionsprogram, individuellt alternativ.
Address Bäckgatan 2, 931 34 Skellefteå
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs inside a Swedish upper-secondary school; there will be no intake to it for 2027/2028.
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
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: A municipal upper secondary school in central Skellefteå with good transport links; the website offers a virtual tour of the building. Lunch follows the municipal school menu. Students living far from school can get a bus card, a boarding allowance (inackorderingstillägg) or travel compensation from the municipality. It is a day school with no boarding.
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 lists its student health staff: a counsellor, a school nurse and two special education teachers; each IB year group has two or three mentors. The IB programme has a coordinator. The school does not publish teacher qualifications 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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The municipality's upper secondary schools must actively counter discrimination, harassment and degrading treatment and investigate and document every case; there are action plans against bullying and an equal treatment plan. Each class in years 2 and 3 has trained student representatives (kamratombud) who report bullying to staff. A counsellor, school nurse, school doctor, special education teacher, careers adviser and school host (skolvärd) are available.
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 data75 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Skelleftea, Sweden · State