A City of Helsinki upper secondary school in the city centre, founded in 1891 as Helsingin Suomalainen Reaalilyseo and regarded as one of the oldest Finnish-language upper secondary schools; the nickname Ressu became the official name. The school runs two programmes in two buildings: the Finnish-language national lukio programme leading to the ylioppilastutkinto, with a science emphasis since 2008, and the English-language Ressun lukio IB World School, authorised by the IB in autumn 2002, with a preparatory PreDP year and the two-year IB Diploma Programme. "Either of these examinations gives general university entry qualifications." According to the school page there are approximately 900 students and 60 teachers; according to the 2025 school profile, about 600 students in the Finnish programme and about 300 in the IB section. Students can take the official DSD German and DELF French language exams. The school has exchanges with France, Germany, Estonia, Italy, Greece and Sweden, Erasmus+ accreditation and the Vihreä lippu (Green Flag) certificate. Language of instruction stated by the school: Finnish in the national programme, English in the IB section.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Finnish, English
Languages taught
Swedish, French, German, Latin
About the fees Tuition is free: "The school is run by the City of Helsinki and does not charge for tuition." "School study materials, meals and the health services are free." From 1 August 2026 the city charges tuition to students arriving from countries outside the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland: 10600 EUR per academic year in the national programme and 14000 EUR per academic year in the IB Diploma Programme (VAT 0%); the fee covers instruction, meals, learning materials, the first five ylioppilastutkinto or IB exams and student support services. Exempt are third-country citizens permanently living in the EEA, exchange students and persons under temporary protection.
Admissions Admission only through the national joint application yhteishaku (Opintopolku). The Finnish programme and the IB pre-year admit applicants from Finnish schools by grade point average; "There is no entrance examination." In spring 2025 the 95 applicants with the best GPA were admitted to the IB pre-year; the 2026 minimum average for the IB line was 9.08. "Maximum 25 study places are reserved for applicants applying from outside Finnish comprehensive schools" (including the European School and international schools); they apply through discretionary selection (harkinnanvarainen valinta) with the application form, the appraisal form and the latest school report, and "We usually have over 100 applicants for the max 25 places available." The school admits foreigners who live in Finland with parents or a guardian: "Priority is given for applicants who can show that they are living with their parents in the greater Helsinki region"; it does not admit students moving to Finland alone or exchange students, and "The school cannot arrange accommodation or visas!" Direct entry to DP1 is possible only for vacant places, usually 1-5 a year. From 1 August 2026 tuition is charged to students from countries outside the EU, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (see price).
Stages and year groups Grades three upper secondary years: Finnish national programme leading to the ylioppilastutkinto; IB section: PreDP and IB Diploma Programme (DP1-DP2). Two parallel programmes in one school. The Finnish national lukio programme takes three years (two to four possible) and ends with the ylioppilastutkinto, taught in Finnish. IB section: the preparatory PreDP year follows the Finnish curriculum but is taught in English (except Finnish), followed by the two-year IB Diploma Programme in English: six subjects, three or four at Higher Level, plus Theory of Knowledge, CAS and the Extended Essay. No other IB programmes (PYP, MYP, CP) appear on the website.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmePASCH · takes part in the programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school; it runs as a separate English-language line with a preparatory year alongside the Finnish upper secondary programme and the ylioppilastutkinto matriculation exam. The school is listed in the PASCH network as a school offering the German language diploma DSD.
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 →PASCHSchools: Partners for the Future, an initiative of the German foreign ministry
More than two thousand schools in about 120 countries. A school cannot apply for itself: participants are chosen by German agencies in agreement with the embassy. Very different schools sit under one mark - full German schools abroad, and ordinary national schools that simply teach German well.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to a German support programme. By itself the mark means neither a German curriculum nor the right to award a German certificate: of the two thousand PASCH schools, about seventeen hundred hold no such right. Look for a ZfA status next to it - that is the one that is about this. The entry 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
Where leavers go: Aalto University · University of Helsinki · Karolinska Institutet · Copenhagen Business School · University of Tartu · University of Amsterdam · Delft University of Technology · Sciences Po · Trinity College Dublin · University of Oxford · University of Cambridge · London School of Economics (LSE)
and others, 23 universities in the school's list in allAccording to the 2025 school profile, "Approximately 90 % of our students continue their studies at university level in Finland or abroad." The list in the profile refers to IB graduates and also includes universities in Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Lithuania, Monaco, Italy, Cyprus, Australia and the USA.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: Two buildings in central Helsinki: the main building of 1892 on Kalevankatu with special classrooms and gyms, and the separate IB building on Ruoholahdenkatu, a former tobacco factory of 1913, where the IB side moved in autumn 2020. The IB library operates in two locations: science books on Ruoholahdenkatu, fiction on Kalevankatu.
Clubs and activities: Debate Club · Model UN · Math Club · Coding Club · Chess club · Board Game club · Band Club · RESSU Football club · Volleyball Club · The Art Club · Photography Club · Fashion Designing Club · Cooking Club · Asian Film Club · TTRPG club · VERSO (IB line magazine) · Pärskeitä (school magazine) · Student Council
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
✓Number of teachers60
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
What the listings show: The 2025 school profile states that all faculty members hold a Master's degree or PhD; the student counsellors hold Master's degrees and teaching qualifications.
According to the school page, approximately 60 teachers; the 2025 school profile gives 80 teachers. Three student counsellors: one works full-time with IB, two split their time between IB and the Finnish programme; there is a special educational needs teacher.
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 nurse is available every day at both sites, a doctor by appointment. There is a school psychologist, a school social worker (curator), three student counsellors and a special needs teacher; each student has a group tutor for the whole course. The city student welfare plan, the equality and non-discrimination plan and the guide for preventing sexual harassment apply; the learning environment is inspected every three years.
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 data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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
Helsinki, Finland · est. 1891 · State