← Back to the rankingSt. Olav videregående skole
Stavanger, Norway · est. 1921 · State
Illustration · Stavanger
St. Olav videregående skole is a Rogaland county upper secondary school in central Stavanger and, by its own account, the largest school for general and business studies in the Stavanger region, with places for about 950 students. Its history begins in 1921 with Stavanger handelsgymnasium; it took its present name in 1976 and in 1996 merged with the neighbouring Ledaal videregående skole. The school offers the studiespesialisering programme with science and with languages, social sciences and economics tracks, a technology and research specialisation in cooperation with the University of Stavanger, an accelerated pathway and an international Vg1 class, as well as introductory classes for teenagers who do not yet speak Norwegian. The international track is the two-year IB Diploma Programme in the second and third years (2IB and 3IB): all lessons, textbooks and exams are in English, except mother tongue and foreign languages. The school's main working language is Norwegian. The school's motto is open doors to the world. Tuition is free.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Norwegian, English
Languages taught
French, German, Spanish
About the fees Tuition is free: it is a Rogaland county school, and the website names no tuition or IB fee. Textbooks are lent under county rules, and school breakfast is free. Students buy their own laptop, with a county subsidy. Students taking a self-taught Language A pay for a tutor in their language themselves, and private Norwegian courses for beginners are also at their own expense.
Admissions Applications for the IB Diploma are due by 1 March through vigo.no to the Rogaland county admissions office and on the school form, with grades sent to the school by post. The school says admission is open to students of all nationalities, but the conditions are a residence permit for Norway and an address in Rogaland county (those moving may receive a conditional offer), English at level B2 or higher, adequate mathematics (for example 1T, IGCSE, MYP5), Norwegian at level A2 or higher for the Norwegian B course (except those taking a self-taught Language A) and places available in the requested subjects. Students are admitted after Vg1 in general studies, music, dance and drama, sport or art, after MYP5, IGCSE or an equivalent education of at least 10 years. If places are short, an admissions committee reviews applications; the school may require an interview or an entrance test in mathematics, English and Norwegian. Admission is formally approved by the county. Vg1 and the international class are entered through vigo.no based on lower secondary grades. The introductory class admits young people aged 16-24 with a residence permit and an address in Rogaland.
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 science (realfag) and languages, social sciences and economics (SSØ) tracks, a technology and research specialisation (Technology and Design courses at the University of Stavanger), an accelerated pathway, an international Vg1 class (the same Vg1 with some topics in English and a Critical Thinking subject taught in English) and introductory classes. International track: the IB Diploma Programme in Vg2-Vg3 (2IB, 3IB) with Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and CAS; each student has a personal tutor. IB subjects: Norwegian and English as Language A (literature or language and literature) and as Language B, self-taught Language A in the mother tongue, Psychology, History, Economics, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Global Politics, two mathematics courses, and French, German and Spanish B (one-year standard level courses). The Norwegian Education Act rules on subjects, exams and assessment do not apply to the IB - they are set by the IB.
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
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school is in central Stavanger, close to the city's main public transport hub. It is being rebuilt: the old parish building at Wessels gate 35 has been demolished and a three-storey building connected to the rest of the school by a sunken link is under construction, the gym is being extended and the outdoor areas upgraded; handover is planned for October 2027, and during the works some lessons are held in temporary premises at Kannikgården. There is a canteen with sandwiches, salads, baked goods and a hot meal on Fridays, and free breakfast is served to students every morning. The library is open on weekdays from 8:00 to 15:30, runs courses on using sources and gives access to Britannica. Students can play table tennis and basketball in the schoolyard. Students use their own laptops, with a county subsidy towards the purchase. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Teatergruppe (drama group) · Skolekor (school choir) · Creative Evening with IB · Juleball (Christmas ball) · Maisha Mema-prosjektet (charity project for children in Kenya) · Fagkonkurranser (subject olympiads) · Bordtennis (table tennis) · Basketball
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 history page speaks of able and committed teachers; each IB student has a personal tutor who is also their CAS adviser; the IB programme is led by a coordinator, and a separate head is responsible for IB sciences. Teachers run support for Norwegian beginners and extra English classes.
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
A Stavanger municipality school nurse is available four days a week and can refer students to a doctor and psychologist at the youth health station. The school has an action plan to prevent and handle bullying, a report bullying button on the home page, a substance use team, a substance abuse prevention plan, the VIP mental health programme, counsellors, the follow-up service and the PPT educational psychology service.
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 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