Oslo International School (OIS) is Norway's oldest international school, founded in 1963; it began with 36 students, had around 280 by the end of the 1960s and then introduced British A Level examinations. Since 1989 the school has offered the IB Diploma Programme. Today it is a not-for-profit foundation funded entirely by fees paid by parents or their employers, with no state subsidy; the school is approved under the Norwegian Education Act. About 600 students aged 3 to 18 from more than 50 nationalities attend, about 29% of them Norwegian. Teaching is in English: Pre-School is inspired by the English Early Years Foundation Stage and the International Early Years Curriculum, Primary (Years 1-6) follows the International Primary Curriculum with separate literacy and mathematics schemes, Years 7-10 follow the school's own curriculum, Year 11 is the preparatory Pre-IB year and Years 12-13 the IB Diploma. All students in Years 1-10 learn Norwegian at three levels, and French or Spanish is added from Year 8. The campus is in Bekkestua, in Bærum municipality, 8 km from central Oslo.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $29 997 a year
288 700 NOK
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Norwegian, French, Spanish
Class size
On average 15 students per class in Primary and 17 in Secondary.
Registration fee
≈ $520
5 000 NOK
About the fees The fee for the 2026-2027 school year is 288700 NOK per year for any year from 1 to 13. Pre-School follows Norwegian kindergarten rules: the fee is set by the Storting and is currently 1200 NOK per month for 11 months a year. Fees are paid in two instalments: Term 1 in May and Term 2 in November. Students in Years 11-13 may apply to Lånekassen, the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund, for a tuition grant; the maximum for 2024-2025 was 111974 NOK, and the decision rests with the fund. The school offers no scholarships or financial aid.
Admissions Applications are accepted all year through an online system, with a non-refundable 5000 NOK application fee. The school says it seeks to admit students of all nationalities who can access a curriculum taught in English and that it prioritises international families; it does not discriminate on the basis of nationality. Places are offered after the annual re-enrolment of current students, which starts in March. Required are passports of the child and parents, the last year's reports (two years for secondary) in English or Norwegian or translated, and a teacher questionnaire; for children with diagnoses, full reports. There is no minimum English requirement for Primary; secondary applicants whose first language is not English take a CEFR assessment: A2 for Year 8, B1 for Year 9, B2 for Year 10; there is no EAL support from Year 10. The child must live in Norway with at least one parent: there is no boarding, host family or exchange. Admission may be denied if the child cannot thrive in the programme, English is below the required level or the school cannot provide the support needed.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-School, 1-13. Pre-School for ages 3-5, inspired by the English Early Years Foundation Stage and the International Early Years Curriculum; Primary, Years 1-6, ages 5-11: International Primary Curriculum, Pathways literacy and Stepping Stones mathematics; Lower Secondary, Years 7-10: the school's own curriculum of six subject groups; Upper Secondary: Year 11 Pre-IB, Years 12-13 the IB Diploma Programme, offered since 1989. Graduates receive the IB Diploma and a NEASC-accredited high school diploma. The school does not offer the PYP or MYP.
Address Gamle Ringeriksvei 53, 1357 Bekkestua
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationNEASC · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The school is accredited by CIS. The school is accredited by NEASC.
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 →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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
35 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma 2026: 97% of graduates earned the diploma against 82.6% worldwide, average score 35.0 against 30.8 worldwide, highest score 44 points; over the last six years the school's top score has been 44 or 45. In 2025 98% earned the diploma (100% in the previous five years), average 34.7 against 30.5 worldwide; 32% of graduates earn the Bilingual Diploma. The SAT mean total score is 1273, with 631 in reading and writing and 641 in mathematics. The school stresses that admission is not competitive.
Where leavers go: University of Oslo · Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) · NHH Norwegian School of Economics · BI Norwegian Business School · Copenhagen Business School · Lund University · Delft University of Technology · University of Amsterdam · Utrecht University · Sciences Po (Sciences Po Paris) · IE University · Trinity College Dublin
and others, 17 universities in the school's list in allAlmost all graduates go on to university, some after a gap year; each year more than 95% of graduates are accepted into at least one of their top three choices. The school profile lists universities that made unconditional offers to 2024 and 2025 graduates in Norway, Scandinavia, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Spain, France and other countries.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Football · Basketball · Volleyball · Floorball · Choir · Dance · Theatre · Arts and crafts · Lego Robotics · Science Club · Student Council · Amnesty International
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 sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: More than 80% of teachers and staff hold postgraduate qualifications.
Teachers and staff represent more than 40 nationalities; more than 80% hold postgraduate qualifications. Many teachers lead clubs and sports teams.
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 policynot stated on the website
The school has two full-time School Counsellors, for Primary and Secondary, who contribute to safeguarding, and two School Nurses, one available throughout the school day. Together with the municipality, students are offered vaccinations under the Norwegian immunisation programme and hearing and vision screening. A Health, Safety and Welfare Committee oversees policies, staff training and emergency planning.
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 data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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
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