← Back to the rankingVardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole
Varde, Denmark · est. 1960 · Private
Illustration · Varde
Vardeegnens Gymnasieforberedende Efterskole (VGE) is a small efterskole, a boarding school with a strong academic focus and creative lines, by the forest a few kilometres from Varde. It opened in 1960 as Vardeegnens Ungdomsskole and has had its current name with ministry approval since 2005. Students are in grades 8, 9 and 10 (for 2026-2027 the school plans for 85 students, with a maximum of about 100), and each year 5-10 students stay for a second year. Compulsory subjects follow the Danish curriculum towards the FP9 and FP10 exams, and students build the rest of their timetable themselves: up to three of seven lines (dance, ceramics, IT and technology, creative writing, art, music, musical and theatre) and many electives, including Cambridge English with the IGCSE English as a Second Language exam, Spanish, French, Chinese, philosophy, psychology, e-sports and archery. During the year everyone goes to Berlin, and in spring students choose between a ski trip to Norway, a trip to a European city or an exchange with a French school; the highlights of the year are the school musical and the VGE Live spring concerts. The school is proud of its academic results: in a CEPOS study it ranked third of 187 efterskoler for how much it raises the attainment of grade 9 students.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
Danish
Languages taught
English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Latin
Students
about 85 in 2026-2027; the school mentions a maximum of 100 students, and the about page says 125
Class size
contact groups of 10-12 students, small classes in grade 9 pupils
Registration fee
≈ $151
1 000 DKK
About the fees An efterskole charges one combined fee for tuition, accommodation, meals, teaching materials and all the year's trips, with no extra bills during the year. In the 2027-2028 school year the weekly price is 3100 DKK before the state subsidy is deducted, and the year lasts 42 weeks, i.e. 130200 DKK for the year before the subsidy. All families receive the subsidy, which depends on household income in the calendar year two years before the start; the school applies for it and deducts it from the fee, and there is a calculator on the website. The fee is paid in 10 monthly instalments, the first at the beginning of July. In addition: a 1000 DKK enrolment fee, two deposits of 2000 DKK each (1 September and 1 January before the school year, offset against the last instalment in May) and a 2500 DKK starter pack (school clothing, songbook, timetabling) on 1 April. Families in difficulty can apply for local support from the school.
Admissions Registration is only possible after a visit to the school, where the student and parents have a tour and an information meeting with the head; a registration without a visit is not valid. Students register on the website for the chosen school year (open up to 2030-2031), and registration becomes binding once the 1000 DKK enrolment fee is paid within 14 days; illnesses and medication must be reported. There are no caps on the number of girls or boys, on year groups or on lines, there are free places for 2026-2027 and no waiting lists for later years. Top grades are not required, only a wish to learn and develop.
Stages and year groups Grades 8-10. Efterskole for grades 8, 9 and 10 with a 42-week school year (2026-2027: from 9 August 2026 to 26 June 2027). Compulsory subjects follow the Danish curriculum: Danish, Mathematics, English and others, with FP9 and FP10 exams; grade 9 has 29 compulsory lessons a week and up to 44 in total with lines and electives; in grade 10 one of the electives Bioteknologi, Projektledelse or SoMe is compulsory, with German, Physics/Chemistry and History and Social Studies as options. Cambridge: the school is certified as a Cambridge school and teaches the elective Cambridge English, a Cambridge IGCSE English as a Second Language course, 2 lessons a week in 2026-2027, with the IGCSE exam at the student's choice; the school has an IGCSE exams officer. There are no other Cambridge programmes.
Address Gellerup Skolevej 10, 6800 Varde
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre: an elective in English as a Second Language with an optional Cambridge IGCSE exam. The main curriculum is Danish, with the folkeskole exams.
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
CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: IGCSE (ages 14-16). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary 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
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
✓Boarding
Also on site: Art studio
Clubs and activities: Dans (dance) · Keramik (ceramics) · IT & Tech · Forfatter (creative writing) · Kunst (art) · Musik (music) · Musical og Teater (musical and theatre) · Cambridge English · Gaming/eSport · Rytmisk kor (rhythmic choir) · Sangskrivning (songwriting) · Bueskydning (archery) · Yoga · Basketball · Beachvolley (beach volleyball) · Kostumedesign (costume design) · Knivmageri (knife making) · Filosofi (philosophy) · Psykologi (psychology) · Magic Cards · Så bliv dog voksen! (everyday adult life skills)
Summer programme away from campus: . The school runs no camp of its own on campus
The school does not mention a summer camp. Every spring during the Easter holidays there is a free overnight VGE Camp for students in grades 6, 7 and 8 considering a year at VGE: in 2027 from 23 to 24 March, with an overnight stay in students' rooms and taster sessions on all seven lines.
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 sizein the key facts above
The staff page lists about 20 teachers; the lines are taught by professional teachers (musicians, ceramicists, writers). Students are split into contact groups of 10-12 with their own contact teacher, and each student has at least two education guidance sessions a year. From Monday to Thursday two teachers are on duty from 18:00 to 23:00, and at night the head or a teacher is on duty.
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 roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
House rules: no alcohol or drugs at school or on the way to and from school, no smoking, snus or e-cigarettes, and breaches can lead to being sent home. Supervision is round the clock: duty teachers in the daytime, two evening duty shifts and the head or a teacher on night duty, with a duty phone. There is a student well-being committee working with the head, a homesickness group and contact teachers.
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%)72 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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median83 "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 7 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