← Back to homeSt. Gilgen International School
St Gilgen, Austria · est. 2008 · Private
Illustration · St Gilgen
St. Gilgen International School is a private international day and boarding school in the village of St. Gilgen on the Wolfgangsee, 35 minutes from Salzburg Airport. It was founded in 2008 by the architect Alexander Serda and since 2026 has been part of the Cognita education group, with the school foundation remaining a minority shareholder. About 225 students from around 35 countries, roughly 60% day students and 40% boarders. The school teaches grades 4-12: a primary phase, the IB Middle Years Programme in grades 6-10 and the IB Diploma in grades 11-12. The language of instruction is English: "Instruction is in English"; German, Spanish and French are taught as subjects. Strengths the school highlights itself: outdoor education led by a mountain guide, sport, music, theatre and art; 30% of students receive a scholarship.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $37 055–85 634 a year
32 800–75 800 EUR
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, Spanish, French
Registration fee
≈ $362
320 EUR
Summer camp
Yes, open to all
About the fees Annual fees for 2026/2027. Boarding: 67500 EUR (grades 7-8), 74200 EUR (9-10), 75800 EUR (11-12). Day students: 32800 EUR (grades 4-5), 35400 EUR (6), 42000 EUR (7-8), 48300 EUR (9-10), 50300 EUR (11-12). Fees cover tuition, curriculum trips and activities, lunches for day students, and accommodation and all meals for boarders.
Admissions The school admits students of every background: "We warmly welcome students of all races, nationalities, and ethnic backgrounds". Selection is careful: the school looks at motivation, potential, English and fit with its values. Required: application form, reports for the last three years (translated into English), passport copy, motivation letter, recommendation from the current school and the application fee; then a trial day with an interview with the Head of School, English and mathematics placement tests and attendance in classes (boarding applicants stay overnight). Beginner English learners are supported in the primary and middle phases; from grade 10 strong English is expected. Admission is rolling, and placement is usually by age. Students without an EU passport apply for an educational visa at an Austrian embassy, which can take up to three months.
Stages and year groups Grades 4-12. Three phases: Primary (grade 5; the fee schedule also lists day students in grade 4, and the German home page states "4 - 12 Klasse"), the Middle Phase with the IB Middle Years Programme in grades 6-10 ending in the Personal Project, and the Senior Phase with the IB Diploma in grades 11-12. Alongside the IB, graduates receive the StGIS Diploma, which the school describes as accredited by the Council of International Schools (CIS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). The site lists no Austrian Matura or Cambridge. IB Diploma subjects: English A, German A or self-taught mother tongue; English, German, French or Spanish as acquisition languages; Economics, Geography, History, Global Politics, Psychology; Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Design Technology; two mathematics courses; Music, Theatre, Visual Arts.
Address Ischlerstraße 13, 5340 St. Gilgen
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationACS WASC · accreditationCognita · school is part of the networkThe IB register lists the Middle Years and Diploma Programmes at the school. The school is accredited by CIS and ACS WASC. Since 2026 it has been part of the Cognita group.
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: MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19). 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 →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 →ACS WASCAccrediting Commission for Schools of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges
An American regional accreditation of the institution, working since 1962 and covering some 5,500 schools in California, the Pacific and Asia. It judges the whole school: a self-study, then a team visit. It gives the same status to supplementary and virtual programmes, so the category of an entry is worth checking separately.
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 →Cognitaschool network
A group of schools launched in 2004; the legal entity in the footer of the site is Cognita Holdings Limited. The site names 90 schools in 21 countries, 14 curricula and more than 22,000 staff, and the numbers agree on all the pages read. The section on a school joining the group speaks of working with the owners of schools and of integrating the school, but does not say outright whether the school passes into ownership; the word "franchise" does not appear on the site. The majority owner of Cognita itself is named as Jacobs Holding AG.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
32 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma 2023: 94% of graduates earned the diploma, average passing score 32, highest 42. The school publishes no later results on its site.
Where leavers go: Harvard University · University of Oxford · IE University · Paracelsus Medizinische Privatuniversität · Università Bocconi · Rijksuniversiteit Groningen · London School of Economics · King's College London · University of St Andrews · Imperial College London · Stanford University · Parsons School of Design and others, 13 universities in the school's list in all
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
✓School transport
✓Boarding
Also on site: Art studio · Makerspace
Campus: A historic lakeside campus on the Wolfgangsee; boarding in three former village hotels a few minutes from campus.
Clubs and activities: Football · Volleyball · Basketball · Golf · Tennis · Ski racing · Touch rugby · Table tennis · Boxing · Ultimate frisbee · Yoga · Horse riding · Sailing · Rock climbing · Mountain biking · Ski touring · Choir · Jazz · Orchestra · Guitar club · Drama · Fashion design · Creative writing · TEDx
Summer camp: the school runs its own camp and takes children from outside as well
Summer camps on campus for children aged 10-15 from around the world, two-week sessions with accommodation in the boarding houses. Mornings: English or German (levels A1-B2), creative arts, sustainability, or robotics, coding and AI (from age 12 with English at B2); afternoons: hiking, climbing, kayaking, canyoning or focused sailing, golf and horse-riding groups. Free transfers from Salzburg Airport and train station.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers50
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
About 50 teachers, 5 students per teacher, average class size 12-15. The school publishes its full teaching staff list with subjects and nationalities: most are British, with teachers from the USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain and other countries. Teachers leading outdoor activities hold lifeguarding, rock climbing, skiing, mountain biking and powerboating certificates.
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
A medical office with nurses is open on weekdays during school hours; visiting therapy and psychological support specialists come twice a month, and a school counsellor is on staff. Each student has a Mentor Tutor, and boarders have Houseparents. The school has an agreement with the private Rudolfinerhaus hospital in Vienna. The Child Protection Policy is published on the site.
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%)88 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 data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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