Denmark · School choice and family costs
A Danish private school often combines public support with parent fees. Start by choosing the teaching language and qualification, then check the funding conditions and the actual school day.
Copenhagen offers IB, British, French and Danish routes. Check the child’s later qualification, actual campus and CPR-related fee rules before comparing schools.
ISH and Rygaards overlap in age but lead to different qualifications. Check the actual campus, the 16–19 plan and the CPR-related fee rules before choosing.
Aarhus International School teaches the IB in English through age 16. Århus Privatskole follows the Danish curriculum through 9. klasse.
Odense International School and Henriette Hørlücks Skole share an organisation and location, but not a curriculum or application. OIS teaches in English through IGCSE at 16. HHS is a Danish private school. Choose by academic language and the next qualification, not by the shared address.
Næstved Gymnasium is a public day school for Danish STX and HF. Herlufsholm combines Danish schooling, Pre-IB and the IB Diploma with day and boarding places. The right choice depends on qualification and residence needs, not simply which campus is better known.
Aarhus International School offers the IB Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes in English from age 3 to 16. All sections now share the Dalgas Avenue campus. It is a useful through-school for international families in Aarhus, but it does not offer the IB Diploma after MYP5.
AarhusÅrhus Privatskole is a small, one-form-entry Danish private day school in Viby. It is not Aarhus International School: teaching is in Danish, the school ends after Year 9, and a 500 DKK waiting-list payment does not guarantee admission.
CopenhagenCIS is Copenhagen’s large, established full-IB day school. Its Nordhavn campus offers the PYP, MYP and Diploma in English, but admission also depends on language readiness, support capacity and a nationality limit whose wording differs between two official sources.
OdenseChoose HHS for a Danish private-school education with languages introduced early. The semi-international English option adds mother-tongue teaching; it is not the English-medium Cambridge programme at Odense International School.
NæstvedHerlufsholm combines Danish day schooling and boarding from the later compulsory-school years through STX, with a separate English-medium Pre-IB and IB Diploma route. Families should assess the boarding culture and continuing regulator follow-up as carefully as the curriculum and campus.
CopenhagenInstitut Sankt Joseph is most distinctive for its Danish–English bilingual route: about half the timetable follows Danish national goals, while maths, English and science follow Cambridge programmes in English. It requires real Danish as children get older.
HellerupInternational School of Hellerup offers the full IB continuum in English across campuses in Hellerup and Østerbro. Its Østerbro high-school site also houses a separate Danish-medium STX programme. The school publishes detailed fees, but its 2026–27 documents contain conflicting years in the CPR-subsidy rules, so families near the deadline should obtain a written fee decision.
FrederiksbergLycée Français Prins Henrik follows the French national curriculum from early childhood to the baccalauréat. Older pupils can pursue the Danish-French baccalaureate, which preserves access to both systems. The 2026–27 rules distinguish the school’s 2 September CPR submission deadline from the fee table’s 5 September subsidy date.
CopenhagenN. Zahles Skole is an umbrella for two Danish private schools and a fee-paying STX gymnasium. Choose the exact unit before applying: their waiting lists, interviews and upper-secondary admissions are not interchangeable.
NæstvedNGH is a public Danish upper-secondary day school, not an international or boarding school. Its useful distinction is choice: ordinary STX and HF sit alongside a three-year supported HF and a small autism-focused STX class.
OdenseOdense International School is the English-medium division of Henriette Hørlücks Skole. It offers Cambridge education from preschool through IGCSE, but not the IB Diploma or boarding. Published 2026–27 prices are unusually detailed, although transport reimbursement depends on a shared subsidy rather than a promised percentage.
CopenhagenRygaards is an English-medium day school for internationally mobile families, sharing a Hellerup campus with a separate Danish school. Its international section runs from Reception to Year 11 and ends with IGCSE, so families must plan the next qualification at age 16.
Cities: Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Hellerup, Næstved
For a family planning to settle in Denmark, the local folkeskole deserves an early visit. It is the municipal primary and lower-secondary school, not a fallback after an unsuccessful private-school search. Compare it with independent schools when a particular teaching approach, bilingual programme or religious education suits your child.
An international curriculum can be the stronger choice when a child is already established in English or French education and another move is likely. The useful question is not “public or private?” alone. It is which language and qualification will serve the child now and at the next transition.
Friskoler and privatskoler fall within Denmark’s independent basic-school sector, frie grundskoler. They can organise education around their own educational or religious principles. Their teaching must be comparable to what is normally required in the folkeskole, though it need not copy its methods. See the ministry’s explanation of independent schools.
These schools commonly combine state support with parent fees. The Danish word friskole does not mean that tuition is free, as it generally is at an ordinary Swedish friskola. Check each Danish school’s admission criteria, teaching language and fee schedule separately.
“International” describes a curriculum or language offering, not one uniform funding model. Independent international schools can also receive public subsidies. Denmark additionally allows municipal international basic schools with tuition-free teaching and separate after-school-care charges. Their main intake is children of foreign workers staying temporarily; other resident children may be admitted where capacity allows.
An efterskole is different again: a residential school for teenagers, commonly offering Years 8–10 and particular interests alongside general education. It is not an IB Diploma college merely because pupils board. Check its examination offering, teaching language, weekly cost and eligibility for state pupil support. The ministry’s efterskole guidance is a useful starting point.
Children normally begin børnehaveklasse, also called 0. klasse, in August of the year they turn six. This is the first compulsory education year, not the same as børnehave, or preschool. It is followed by Years 1–9. Denmark requires ten years of education, rather than attendance at a particular school. The ministry’s school-start guidance explains the rule and alternatives.
After Year 9, pupils can take an optional Year 10 or move to an eligible upper-secondary or vocational programme. For the current system, the main academic options are:
| Programme | Main focus and usual length |
|---|---|
| STX | Broad general academic education, usually three years. |
| HHX | Business, economics and languages, three years. |
| HTX | Technology and natural sciences with general subjects, three years. |
| HF | A two-year general programme, with different further-study possibilities depending on the chosen structure and any supplementary study. |
These are Danish qualifications, not alternative names for the IB Diploma. The ministry’s upper-secondary overview explains them. A reform involving the new EPX programme is planned for 2030. Families with younger children should check the reform information when their application year approaches.
International year names need translating by age, not number alone. The IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) precede the two-year Diploma Programme (DP). Cambridge IGCSEs are normally taken around 16; they are not a completed upper-secondary university-entry qualification.
Your home address normally determines a distriktsskole, the district school to which your child is entitled. Parents can apply to another municipal school, including in another municipality, if it has space and an appropriate provision. Special educational or substantial Danish-language needs can affect placement. See the ministry’s school-choice rules.
If you choose another school, do not assume an unconditional right to return to the district school later. The ministry identifies capacity and local rules as relevant to a return. Ask the municipality about both the immediate placement and your alternatives before declining a place.
Independent schools set their own admission criteria. A waiting-list registration, payment or sibling connection may improve a position without guaranteeing admission. Ask when the school starts accepting applications, how priorities work and whether the application stays active automatically.
For a mid-year move, contact the municipality while investigating preferred schools. Some international schools admit throughout the year; others have specified intake months. A carefully prepared application cannot create a vacancy in a full class.
For current Danish upper-secondary entry, the standard deadline for STX, HHX, HTX, HF and pre-IB is 1 March at noon through Optagelse.dk. Schools may also require their own form or assessment. The official admission guidance explains this distinction. The ordinary 2026 deadline has passed; late applicants should contact the relevant school and admissions authority.
Use the Copenhagen guide and Hellerup guide to compare locations alongside programmes. Hellerup, Østerbro and Nordhavn do not make the same daily journey. The Hellerup school hub provides the individual profiles.
Copenhagen International School, or CIS, in Nordhavn offers the IB sequence through the Diploma. Its current admissions page says no nationality may exceed 25% of the schoolwide population. An older policy applies the limit by grade. Ask how the rule affects your child’s application; it is a school policy, not a Danish national limit.
CIS also assesses whether it can support an applicant’s English and learning needs. Its DKK 3,000 application fee and DKK 40,000 registration fee are separate from tuition. A published statement about available places does not override the individual review or nationality policy.
International School of Hellerup, or ISH, offers both an IB continuum and a separate Danish-medium STX. Younger pupils study in Hellerup; MYP5, DP and STX are on the Østerbro campus. The STX programme has its own admissions and fees. Access to English-medium IB does not establish readiness for Danish STX.
ISH’s main-school fees are generally spread over twelve months, including July; DP2 is an eleven-month exception. Subsidised fees depend on timely registration and the applicable CPR rules. The published documents contain inconsistent deadline years, so get the date for the relevant grade confirmed in writing. Also price any additional learning support separately.
Rygaards International School offers English-curriculum schooling through IGCSE at about 16. It shares an organisation and address with a Danish department, but it does not offer the IB Diploma. The next upper-secondary school therefore belongs in your plan from the outset.
Rygaards’ 2026/27 fee documents distinguish pupils with qualifying CPR or diplomatic status by 5 September 2026 from those without it or joining later. Tuition is charged over eleven months. Reception has its own private-childcare pricing, and older pupils have supplements. Do not apply one headline monthly rate to every age.
Institut Sankt Joseph is a Catholic independent school with Danish and bilingual departments. The bilingual programme combines Danish educational requirements with Cambridge study in English, leading to IGCSEs. Its language expectations become more demanding in later years; it is not a general beginner-English programme.
The school’s published admission information says bilingual 0. klasse for 2026/27 is full. Its English fee page still carries a 2025/26 heading. Ask for a current written quote before using those figures in a 2026/27 budget.
N. Zahles Skole is a Danish-medium alternative with two basic schools and a private STX gymnasium. Its 2026/27 tuition is DKK 26,400 annually, collected as eleven DKK 2,400 payments. SFO is another DKK 19,800 annually; trips and other expenses are separate. There is no sibling discount. Apply to the correct department rather than treating the shared name as one admissions process.
Bernadotteskolen is also worth investigating for its English-speaking section within a Danish independent school. The ministry’s international-school list confirms that section. Its main website could not be retrieved during this review, so current fees and admissions need direct confirmation.
Lycée Français Prins Henrik in Frederiksberg follows French education through the baccalaureate. Its Danish-French baccalaureate route, DFB, has distinct requirements and pricing. A child entering from outside the French system takes an assessment from CP, the first French primary year.
The 2026/27 financial regulations quote annual elementary tuition of DKK 31,650 with subsidy and DKK 87,320 without it. The enrolment page requires the CPR information by 2 September, while the fee document refers to the 5 September count date. Follow the earlier administrative requirement and ask for written confirmation if registration is delayed. Admission and subsidy eligibility are not the same decision.
Aarhus International School, or AIS, teaches PYP and MYP in English at Dalgas Avenue. It ends around age 16, without an IB Diploma programme on campus. Its Danish provision includes different proficiency levels; ask whether the child will take Danish leaving examinations and what that enables next.
The 2026/27 fees and terms set tuition at DKK 3,540 monthly for PYP4–8 and DKK 4,380 for MYP1–5. Both are paid for eleven months, not July. The DKK 4,680 confirmation fee and DKK 4,680 capital fee are separate one-time charges; MYP5 is exempt from the capital fee.
The funding conditions include a Danish-address CPR registration and physical presence by 5 September. A missing qualifying registration may result in a surcharge. The admissions page gives a separate 12 September 2026 deadline for income-related school-fee assistance. A subsidy application is not an award, and kindergarten assistance follows a different municipal process.
Århus Privatskole in Viby is a Danish-medium 0.–9. klasse alternative. Its price page dated 1 January 2026 lists DKK 2,023 monthly for the first child. Payments run for twelve months in Years 0–8 and eleven in Year 9. Fees are adjusted by calendar year, so that date is not equivalent to a fixed 2026/27 quotation. Compare both schools with the local municipal option using the Aarhus guide.
Odense International School, or OIS, is the English-language Cambridge department of Henriette Hørlücks Skole. It serves children through about 16 and prepares them for IGCSEs, not an IB Diploma on campus. New pupils normally enter in August or January. The school says English must be the pupil’s academic language.
The 2026/27 fee schedule charges a first child DKK 4,200 monthly in P1–P4 or DKK 3,980 in P5–S11, for eleven months. Third and later children receive free tuition in P1–S11, but their P1–P4 after-school care costs DKK 1,680 monthly. “Third child free” therefore does not mean every service is free.
Application and deposit payments are separate. Withdrawal normally requires three months’ notice, with July excluded from the notice period. The school specifies 31 March as the deadline to avoid charges for the next academic year.
Henriette Hørlücks’ Danish department has a different curriculum, application and fee schedule. Its published fee page remained labelled 2025/26 during the review. Families considering both departments must submit separate applications and application fees. The Odense guide explains why sharing a location does not make the two programmes interchangeable.
Herlufsholm offers day and boarding education, with basic schooling from Year 6, Danish STX, pre-IB and the IB Diploma. Its admission information requires the school’s own application even when applying through Optagelse.dk. Pre-IB and IB applications are considered on a rolling basis; applying before 1 June is a recommendation, not an absolute closing date.
Fees are billed quarterly. The public pages describe what is included but do not provide a usable current tuition table. Request a quote for day or boarding status, the programme and additional expenses. For boarding, ask about supervision, safeguarding, weekend arrangements and how pupils raise concerns independently of their immediate residential staff.
Næstved Gymnasium og HF is the public day-school alternative for STX or HF, without boarding. It follows the ordinary Optagelse.dk application timetable. The Næstved guide compares these choices without treating residential provision as an academic qualification.
Choose a Danish-medium school if local educational continuity is the priority and the school can support the child’s language development. Choose an international programme when it preserves important subject progress or prepares for a likely next move. For a teenager, settle the qualification and next-stage admission requirements before choosing between attractive campuses.
Friendly orientation, not formal admissions advice. Always confirm dates with the school.