Frequently Asked Questions

There is no minimum English language requirement for applicants to the Primary School.

Prospective Secondary students whose mother tongue language is not English take a Common European Framework of Reference for Languages assessment (this assessment is sometimes abbreviated as CEFR or CEF or CEFRL). Completed under the supervision of the applicant’s current school, the results of the assessment are used to evaluate suitability for our programme and determine whether English support at OIS is warranted.

To enrol at OIS, students must meet or exceed the following levels in an CEF assessment:

• Year 8: A2 level
• Year 9: B1 level
• Year 10: B2 level

Students in the Primary and Lower Secondary who meet our admission requirement but are in need of English language support will receive support from our English as an Additional Language (EAL) teachers.

OIS does not offer EAL service to students from Year 10-IB2, where academic proficiency is required.

All OIS students in Years 1-10 study Norwegian, which is the language of our host nation.

For native speakers, we offer Norwegian language A (language and literature).

For learners of Norwegian as a foreign language, we offer Norwegian B (language acquisition).

OIS has a 2-year beginner's course, Norwegian C, to prepare our students completely new to Norwegian, for later entry into Norwegian B. 

In the IB program, our students may choose to continue their Norwegian studies in either Language A or B classes.

We see studying Norwegian as an essential element to social integration into our host nation, no matter the duration of your stay.

OIS receives and evaluates applications on a holistic basis. We evaluate the whole child, as explained in this website's Admissions Process.

OIS does reserve the right to test any student applicant whom we feel may need additional language (non-native English) or special needs support. 

This approach is taken to ensure that both the school is capable of providing additional services required, matched with its resource/programmatic capabilities. 

Further, in the event that there may be an accelerated student applicant, OIS will also consider possible advancement interviews that guarantee we are appropriately meeting their learning level.

OIS organises a bus service to predominantly cover the Oslo, Bærum Kommune, and Asker areas. Parents who choose to utilise this service should submit a completed School Bus Request Form to the main office after they are offered and accept a place at OIS.

2023-24 Bus fees are: round-trip 21,000 NOK per year; one-way 12.300 NOK per year.

Please note that students at OIS are not eligible for public funding to cover school transportation. 

Parents should be aware that space may be limited on some buses, in which case seats will be allocated on a first come first served basis and a waiting list will be created. 

OIS prides itself on providing personalised attention to each and every student. Nobody is ever a number at our school and we love to ensure that this pastoral care is at the heart of everything we do.

To that end, you may expect that the average class size for Pre-School and Primary School is 14-15 students per class and 17 for Secondary School students.

OIS does not receive any tuition subsidies from the Norwegian government, but we are approved under the Norwegian Education Act § 2-12.

As such, OIS students are not covered by the right to special education (‘PPT’ services), special language training, education in Sami, or school transportation.

OIS does not have formal scholarship or financial aid programmes, but we do admit some students at a reduced rate, which we define as Category 3 applicants in the OIS Admissions Policy. 

OIS's primary mission is to serve the children of foreign nationals who are temporarily living and working in Norway (Category 1) and internationally minded repatriating and permanent resident and Norwegian families (Category 2) at OIS’s full standard tuition rate.

After OIS has both re-enrolled and accepted new Category 1-2 families, OIS may choose to offer a limited number of reduced tuition places to children of internationally minded Norwegian families (one parent must be a Norwegian citizen or permanent resident at the time of application). 

Applicant families who apply for Category 3 must submit a completed application prior to the 1 March deadline for August enrolment. Category 3 applicant families should be aware that decisions on their applications will not be given until 1 June.

Currently enrolled students may not retroactively apply for a reduced rate.

Yes, OIS students in PreIB-IB2 (Years 11-13) can apply for a tuition fee grant from Lånekassen (the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund). The responsibility for granting or denying financial support rests fully with Lånekassen. 

The maximum amount a student can be granted for 2022-23 is NOK 100,818. If approved, the grant is paid out to the student’s own bank account in two instalments, the first after the application is processed and the second in January. Students apply for one school year at a time, the application deadline is November 15 (for an entire school year) and March 15 (for the spring semester only). 

Please see the information on Lånekassen’s website or call +47 21 49 60 00 if you have any questions regarding their rules and regulations. 

OIS is not a broker or agent for (and is independent of) Lånekassen. Students and/or Parents/Legal Guardians - not OIS - are responsible for making arrangements with (and applications to) Lånekassen, independent of school fees, which must be remitted on or before stated due dates, regardless of loan arrangements. 

No. It is both an application condition and condition of acceptance to our school that every student applicant lives in Oslo with their parent(s) or legal guardian(s). 

OIS does not offer boarding services.

As a full time day school in compliance with Norwegian residency law, all students at our school must reside in the country with a permitted expatriate parent or legal guardian, or be a citizen of, Norway. Therefore OIS does not offer student exchanges or fellowships for academics, athletics, or activities.