Vasa övningsskola is a Swedish-language teacher training school (normaalikoulu) in central Vaasa, 'maintained by Åbo Akademi University since 1974'. It arranges supervised teaching practice for class teachers, special education teachers and subject teachers and is linked to research at the university's education faculty. About 950 children and young people study there and about 120 staff work there. The school covers grades 1 to 9 and upper secondary school. Since 1991 the comprehensive school has had an English Department where, using CLIL, some subjects are taught in English, with the share of English growing from grade 1. The upper secondary school has about 380 students from 30 countries: the Swedish-language national programme with the matriculation exam and visual arts and music lines, and the English-language IB Diploma Programme. The IB line starts with a preparatory year on the Finnish national curriculum, followed by the two-year Diploma. The school is part of the UNESCO Associated Schools Network. The language of instruction is stated directly: Swedish in the comprehensive school and national upper secondary programme; on the IB line 'All courses are conducted in English' except mother tongue and the second national language.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
Swedish, English
Languages taught
Finnish, German, French
About the fees The school is public (maintained by Åbo Akademi); it states no fee for students entitled to free education. According to the IB booklet for 2025-2026, students without a permanent home municipality in Finland pay 'a fee of 700 € per school year', which 'covers for all material, such as computer, calculator and books' as well as final-year exam fees. The IB admission page says non-EU nationals without an applicable residence permit pay 14500 EUR a year, and international students without the right to free upper secondary education pay a term fee covering a laptop and books; no year is given for these prices.
Admissions Upper secondary applicants use the national joint application on studieinfo.fi and also fill in the school's selection card; the visual arts and music lines hold skills tests in April. For the IB preparatory year, applicants from Finnish schools apply through the joint application, a grade average of at least 7 is required from schools in Finland, with English and Mathematics weighted double; 'There are no entrance tests for this category of applicants.' Applicants without a Finnish compulsory school certificate send a motivational letter and their latest school report and may be invited to an interview and tests in English and Mathematics; for 2027 applications run from 16 February to 16 March. Diploma Programme (second year) applicants are selected on a motivational letter and report card, with possible interviews and tests. International applicants are accepted: 'We require that international applicants live with their families in the Vaasa region.' Non-EU nationals without an applicable residence permit pay 14500 EUR a year. The website does not describe admission to the comprehensive school (grades 1 and 7, English Department).
Stages and year groups Comprehensive school: grades 1-9, organised in work units 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 and 7-9; taught in Swedish under the Finnish national curriculum (perusopetus); in each grade some pupils study in the English Department using CLIL, where all subjects except mother tongue and Finnish can be taught in English. Upper secondary: the Swedish-language national programme with the ylioppilastutkinto (studentexamen), visual arts and music lines, German and French as options. IB Diploma Programme in English: a preparatory year (about 30 courses on the national curriculum, national grades), then DP1 and DP2, six subjects (three HL, three SL) plus TOK, CAS and the Extended Essay, with exams in May of the second year. DP subjects: group 1 - Finnish or Swedish mother tongue, School Supported Self-Taught Language A SL, English A; group 2 - French and German ab initio SL; group 3 - economics, history, psychology; group 4 - biology, chemistry, physics; group 5 - mathematics in two courses; group 6 - visual arts SL. Moving from DP1 to DP2 requires at least 24 points in six subjects and at least 70 CAS hours.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school; it runs in the upper secondary school as a separate English-language line alongside the Swedish-language programme and the ylioppilastutkinto matriculation exam. It is the teacher-training school of Åbo Akademi University, with grades 1-9 and an upper secondary school.
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 hallnot stated on the website
·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
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
Leading principal Mats Borgmästars, comprehensive school principal Emmi Herler-Westeråker, upper secondary principal Moja Ladvelin, IB DP Coordinator Henrik Lindgren, IB guidance counsellor Pia Lustig. About 120 staff in total. As a university training school, it hosts student teachers on supervised practice.
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 policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The comprehensive school has a nurse, a psychologist and a school welfare officer; the upper secondary school has a nurse, a school psychologist (appointments through the nurse), two school welfare officers, a school coach and a special education teacher. Student tutors and the student council support new upper secondary students.
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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median95 "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
Vaasa, Finland · State