← Back to homeMiina Härma Gümnaasium
Tartu, Estonia · est. 1906 · State
Illustration · Tartu
Miina Härma Gümnaasium is a gymnasium in Tartu, founded in 1906 and marking its 120th anniversary in 2026. It is named after Miina Härma (1864-1941), the first Estonian woman composer, organist and conductor, who taught here in 1917-1929, when the school was the world's first Estonian-language gymnasium; in 1939 she became the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from the University of Tartu. Today the gymnasium runs grades 1 to 12 across two buildings: Puiestee 62 (primary school and part of basic school) and Liivi 4 (grades 6 to 12 together with the IB Diploma Programme). Alongside the regular Estonian-medium classes, admitted by competition, the school runs an English-medium stream - grades 1 to 9, Pre-IB, 11DP and 12DP - organised under an administrative agreement between the Ministry of Education and Research and the city of Tartu (2016-2021); admission to these classes follows the agreement's target groups, and the school also accepts foreign children temporarily living in Estonia. Since 2013, grades 1 to 3 have held sessions of the Finnish KiVa anti-bullying programme twice a month, involving both teachers and parents. The school marks its 2026 anniversary with two events: a graduates' celebration on 18 April at the school building and a concert on 16 October at the Vanemuine concert hall in Tartu.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Languages of instruction
Estonian, English
About the fees As a public gymnasium, tuition is free. School meals in the 2026/2027 school year are supplied by Baltic Restaurants Estonia AS: lunch for grades 1-4 costs 2.46 euros (of which 1.06 euros is the parental share), for grades 5-9 it costs 2.92 euros (parental share 1.49), an enlarged lunch for grades 5-9 costs 4.30 euros, lunch for grades 10-12 costs 3.28 euros, and breakfast porridge costs 1.10 euros; payment goes through the city's ARNO system.
Admissions Admission to Estonian-medium classes is competitive: city-wide across Tartu for primary and basic school, nationwide across Estonia for the gymnasium stage. Admission to the English-medium stream (grades 1-9, Pre-IB, 11DP, 12DP) follows the target groups of the administrative agreement between the Ministry of Education and Research and the city of Tartu for 2016-2021. The school also accepts foreign students temporarily living in Estonia. The school's site does not describe Estonian-language requirements or entrance tests.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-12. Teaching takes place in two buildings: Puiestee 62 (grade 1 through the start of basic school) and Liivi 4 (grades 6-12 and the Diploma Programme). Alongside the Estonian-medium classes there is a parallel English-medium stream: grades 1-9, Pre-IB, 11DP, 12DP.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeschool 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
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Classes are held in two buildings, Puiestee 62 and Liivi 4, the latter also housing the IB Diploma Programme.
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 contact page names part of the staff: teachers of English and German, mathematics (including Diploma Programme mathematics), physics, chemistry, and Diploma Programme history; the site does not give a total teacher count or a student-teacher ratio.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
✓Staff training
✓Anti-bullying policy
Since 2013 the school has run the Finnish KiVa anti-bullying programme (developed by the University of Turku for Finland's Ministry of Education, used in more than 20 countries): grades 1-3 hold sessions twice a month, a trained team handles bullying cases, and parents are involved. The programme covers the whole school community and is not a one-off project.
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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