← Back to the rankingSenja videregående skole
Finnsnes, Norway · est. 2012 · State
Illustration · Finnsnes
Senja videregående skole is a Troms county upper secondary school in Finnfjordbotn near the town of Finnsnes, at the 69th parallel above the Arctic Circle. The present school was formed in January 2012 when Finnfjordbotn vidaregåande skole and Senja videregående skole were merged; the Gibostad site traces its history to 1914, when the agricultural school Troms Amts Landbruksskole opened there. The school offers the general academic programme studiespesialisering (including elite sports), natural resources, restaurant and food, sales, service and tourism, technology and industry, and ambulance training, as well as an introductory class for newcomers and adult education. Since 2007 the school has run the IB Diploma Programme - it calls itself the first IB school in the Arctic; it replaces the last two years of studiespesialisering and all subjects are taught in English. The main programmes are taught in Norwegian. The school is public and has boarding: its boarding house takes about 70 students, with priority for IB students. Tuition is free; boarding and meals are paid.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Norwegian, English
Languages taught
Spanish, German
About the fees Tuition is free: it is a Troms county school, and the website names no tuition or IB fee. Only boarding and meals are paid (see fees). Students can receive Lånekassen grants: a living-away-from-home grant when home is more than 40 km away and an equipment grant.
Admissions The IB Diploma Programme admits students after Norwegian Vg1 studieforberedende, after MYP year 5 or, with a foreign education, from age 17. Applications go online through VIGO and directly to the school on its form; the school selects students together with the county admissions office, assesses each applicant as a whole and may invite them to an interview. Residents of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark counties can apply for the IB; students from outside Troms need a guest student guarantee from their own county. The school says it welcomes students from all backgrounds, and international students need a valid student visa (under UDI rules) before starting. The brochure also addresses children who have recently moved to Northern Norway from elsewhere in the country or from abroad, including refugees. A boarding place requires a separate application by 1 June. Admission to other programmes is through vigo.no under the general rules of Norwegian videregående.
Stages and year groups Grades Vg1-Vg3. A Norwegian upper secondary school (Vg1-Vg3, grades 11-13) following LK20 with the vitnemål diploma: studiespesialisering with a focus on sciences or languages, social sciences and economics (electives: chemistry, physics, biology, two mathematics profiles, elite sports, media, law, sociology, psychology, economics; level III Spanish and German through the online school), natural resources, restaurant and food, sales, service and tourism, technology and industry, ambulance training, an introductory class and adult education. International track: the IB Diploma Programme in the second and third years (2IB and 3IB) in place of the last two years of studiespesialisering, in English, with Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS and external exams at the end of the second year. IB subjects: Norwegian A (literature), English A (language and literature), self-taught Language A in the mother tongue, Norwegian B and English B, History, Global Politics, Environmental systems and societies, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Mathematics (applications); no arts subjects are offered, so students take an extra subject from group 2, 3 or 4 instead of group 6. The IB Diploma is treated as equal to the Norwegian vitnemål for admission to Norwegian universities.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs inside a Norwegian upper-secondary school: after a preparatory year (pre-IB) in Vg1 comes the Diploma in Vg2-Vg3; alongside it runs the Norwegian studiespesialisering programme.
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 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 hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field
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 school does not give the number of teachers. The English IB page speaks of highly qualified teaching staff, and the IB brochure of experienced and qualified teachers who teach in English and act as mentors to students. The IB programme is led by an IB coordinator.
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 policy
School nurses hold scheduled hours at both sites: physical, mental and sexual health, problems at home or with friends, grief and crises. Student support includes counsellors, an attendance team, the follow-up service, the PPT educational psychology service and special education. All staff must intervene in bullying and report to the principal, who draws up an action plan; if needed, a student can contact the Troms county anti-bullying ombudsman or the Statsforvalteren. Wardens are on duty at the boarding house around the clock. The school is tobacco-free.
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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country