← Back to homeModel General Lyceum of Heraklion
Heraklion, Greece · est. 1989 · State
Illustration · Heraklion
The Model General Lyceum of Heraklion is a public upper secondary school (grades A, B and C) in Crete. It was opened by ministerial decision in 1989 as an experimental lyceum; in 2011 it ranked first in the school evaluation and became a model experimental school, in 2015 it became experimental again, and under a 2020 law it became a model school linked to the Model Gymnasium of Heraklion. Its students regularly compete at international olympiads: in 2025, bronze at the physics (IPhO), experimental science (EOES) and artificial intelligence (IOAI) olympiads. According to the Ministry (IEP), IB Diploma Programme classes run at the lyceum for grades B and C from the 2026-2027 school year; the available copies of the school's website have no IB page. Language of instruction: the Greek programme is taught in Greek (the whole website, timetable and notices are in Greek), the IB class in English according to the Ministry. As a second foreign language, students choose French or German.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Greek, English
Languages taught
French, German, Latin
Students
237 students in 10 general education classes (about page); since its founding the lyceum has had 1748 graduates.
About the fees The school is public; it does not state any tuition on its pages, including for the IB class.
Admissions The school writes that entrance examinations are held only for the Model Gymnasium of Heraklion, and the lyceum automatically admits all its graduates: "η εισαγωγή μαθητών με εξετάσεις γίνεται μόνο στο Γυμνάσιο, ενώ το σχολείο μας δέχεται αυτοδίκαια όλους τους αποφοίτους αυτού. Εξετάσεις διενεργούνται μόνο για την κάλυψη κενών που προκύπτουν σε οποιαδήποτε τάξη" (exams are held only to fill vacancies in any grade). Before the 2025-2026 school year the lyceum announced a skills test for vacant places in grades A and B. The available copies of the school's website say nothing on how students enter the IB class.
Stages and year groups Greek general lyceum with three grades (A, B, C), the Apolytirio and the Panhellenic exams; in the 2025-2026 school year 10 class sections (three A, three B, four C). According to the Ministry (IEP), IB Diploma Programme classes in English for grades B and C open at the lyceum from the 2026-2027 school year; in the 2025-2026 school year the school was an IB candidate; the Ministry treats the IB Diploma as equivalent to the Greek Apolytirio. The available copies of the website have no IB page.
Address 17, Gianni Kornarou St., Estavromenos, GR-714 10 Heraklion
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school. It is a state school: the IB Diploma class is taught in English in the last two years of the lyceum alongside the Greek curriculum; the ministry treats the IB Diploma as equivalent to the Greek school-leaving certificate.
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's website is closed to automated reading.. We have asked the school for the data directly.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Since 1990 the lyceum has occupied the former Pedagogical Academy building in the Estavromenos district, 6 km from the centre of Heraklion, together with the model gymnasium and other institutions. Ten classrooms, a library, computer, physics-chemistry and mathematics labs, a history room and a PE hall; an amphitheatre and an indoor gymnasium shared with the complex. Interactive whiteboards and computers were donated by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, and every classroom has a projector. Special city bus routes and rented coaches from Malia, Gazi and Vasileies serve the students. The school itself mentions lack of space, no building of its own and no administrative staff.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers31
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
The teacher list for the 2023-2024 school year names 31 people: the head, the deputy head, a theologian, philologists, mathematicians, physicists, chemists, a biologist, teachers of French, English and German, PE, economics and computing; most serve a five-year term after selection for the model school. The school does not give 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 roomnot stated on the website
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
A psychologist from the special scientific staff works at the school and has her own page with support-service contacts. The school's e-safety page collects rules and materials on cyberbullying, sexting, privacy and mobile phone use.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median73 "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 7 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