← Back to homeLandakotsskóli
Reykjavik, Iceland · est. 1896 · Private
Illustration · Reykjavik
Landakotsskóli is an independent school in central Reykjavík, on Túngata. It was founded in 1896 and was a Catholic school until 2005, when it became a non-profit foundation (sjálfseignarstofnun) governed by a board of parents and supporters. The school describes itself as Iceland's oldest private education institution. Its motto reads 'one school, two departments'. The Icelandic Department (almenn deild) teaches in Icelandic to the national curriculum, Aðalnámskrá, from the 5-year-old class to grade 10. The International Department, added in 2015 for expatriate, diplomatic and returning Icelandic families, teaches in English to the Cambridge curriculum supplemented by AERO, from Kindergarten to grade 10; the school is an authorised Cambridge school and a Cambridge exam centre. According to the school's agreement with the city, in 2025 it had about 380 students, about 40% of them in the International Department. Each department has one class per year group. The City of Reykjavík subsidises the school and fees cover the gap between the subsidy and costs. The language of instruction is stated directly by the school: Icelandic in one department and English in the other.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $3 323–5 832 a year
40 300–70 723 ISK a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE · National programme
Admits from
5 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
Icelandic, English
Class size
In the Icelandic Department usually about 20 students and no more than 24; in the International Department 14 to 20 students per class.
About the fees Fees are monthly, school year 2026-2027, for families resident in Iceland. Icelandic Department: grades 1-10 40300 ISK per month for 10 months; 5-year-old class for Reykjavík residents 52223 ISK per month for 10 months, including meals and care up to 8 hours and a 12500 ISK school fee for extra services. Lunch is free in grades 1-10. International Department: Kindergarten 52223 ISK per month (after subsidies, 8-hour stay), grades 1-10 48300 ISK per month after subsidies, plus a monthly Cambridge and Resourcing fee of 18500 ISK in every grade; in total 70723 and 66800 ISK per month. Extra: English support 8000 ISK per month as needed, after-school care for grades 1-4 26528 ISK per month, IGCSE exams 15000 ISK per subject. Fees for non-resident students are higher and given on request. Sibling discounts: 20% for the second child, 50% for the third, further siblings free.
Admissions Icelandic Department: residents of Iceland apply for grades 1-10 through Ísland.is and for the 5-year-old class through Vala. International Department: 'We offer placements to all students with legal residence in Iceland, providing there is sufficient space in the class.' Children without Icelandic residence are also accepted: 'Non-resident students (children from diplomatic families or those on short term visas that do not grant residency) are also admitted, subject to space in the class'; they use a separate online form and pay higher fees. August places are allocated in March, usually first come, first served; where there is a waiting list, siblings take priority. There is no minimum standard of English, but non-native speakers may be required to join the paid English support programme. Families of younger children can register interest in advance.
Stages and year groups Grades 5 ára bekkur / Kindergarten - 10. bekkur. Icelandic Department: 5-year-old class (5 ára bekkur) and grades 1-10 under the national curriculum Aðalnámskrá, taught in Icelandic; after grade 10 students move on to Icelandic upper secondary schools (framhaldsskóli). International Department: Kindergarten for 5-year-olds and grades 1-10, taught in English to the Cambridge International Curriculum supplemented by AERO in core subjects. Cambridge stages: Cambridge Early Years / Lower Primary for the youngest, Cambridge Primary, Cambridge Lower Secondary in grades 6-8, Cambridge Upper Secondary in grades 9-10 (ages 14-16) with IGCSE courses: Coordinated Sciences (double award), English as a First Language, English as a Second Language, French, Computing, Global Perspectives, History, Mathematics, Physical Education, Sociology; all grade 10 students are encouraged to sit IGCSE exams. Also Cambridge Checkpoint/Progression tests, MAP tests and Icelandic national tests. From August 2026 all International Department students study Icelandic at beginner or intermediate/advanced level; French is in the primary and lower secondary programme and among IGCSE courses. As an exam centre the school also accepts external candidates for IGCSE and AS/A Level. Neither department awards an upper secondary diploma: schooling ends at grade 10.
Address Túngata 15, 101 Reykjavík
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeNEASC · candidateThe Cambridge register names the school as a Cambridge centre. In the NEASC register the school's International Department is listed as a candidate for accreditation; the school's website does not mention it.
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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: Primary (ages 5-11), Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge. Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
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 is a candidate for accreditation by this organisation: the route has been started but not completed. Candidacy speaks of an application made and a file accepted for consideration, not of the outcome of an inspection, and the organisations themselves usually require schools to say that it does not guarantee accreditation. The candidacy is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
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
Exam results In spring 2026 every grade 2 student in the Icelandic Department reached age-appropriate reading; the school says it was the only school in Reykjavík with this result. In the national Matsferill tests in March most year groups from grade 4 to grade 9 performed well above the national average. The school does not publish the International Department's IGCSE results.
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: Main building at Túngata 15 in central Reykjavík with a cafeteria and a hall; grades 9 and 10 of the International Department are taught in the school's second building, Stýrimannaskólinn. Lunches are provided by Krúska for a range of dietary needs. After-school care (frístund) for grades 1-4 runs until 16:30.
Clubs and activities: Chess · Cooking · School newspaper · Homework club · French club · Hljóðfæranám (instrumental music lessons) · Drama · Art · Outdoor education
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 sizein the key facts above
The school is led by Principal Sigrún Birgisdóttir and Assistant Principal Jenny Mckeown; each class has its own homeroom teacher, and four instrumental music teachers work at the school. The school does not publish teacher qualifications.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
A nurse from the Capital Area Health Service is at the school 2.5 days a week for routine vaccinations and check-ups. The school counsellor provides personal counselling and runs the student welfare council (nemendaverndarráð), the anti-bullying team and the prevention team. The website has a page for reporting bullying with the definition from Icelandic law. The school reminds parents it is legally obliged to report physical punishment to child protective services.
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 data70 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 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country