News | 14 January 2026
Safety and literacy provide the foundation for student success
Today, Internationella Engelska Skolan (IES) publishes its annual quality report for the 2024/2025 academic year. The report highlights how systematic work with IES’ core principles – a safe and calm school environment, high academic expectations, and commanding the English language at a high level – continues to deliver academic results significantly above the national average.
This year's report places a particular focus on the link between safety and academic achievement, as well as the school's role as a bridge-builder in society. With a higher proportion of students from a foreign background than the Swedish national average – 52 per cent compared to 27 per cent – IES has a key role to play in integration.
“We are as convinced today as we were when IES began that the success of our students rests on safety, a calm learning environment, and high expectations for every student. Alongside the development of our systematic quality work, the 2024/2025 academic year also involved intensified security measures, including training staff to prevent and manage serious incidents,” says Lars Jonsson, CEO of IES.
“Safety and academic results go hand in hand. For us at IES, it is a fundamental prerequisite that students feel safe in order to absorb knowledge. By building strong relationships between students, teachers, parents, and other support functions, we create an environment where every student feels confident in their surroundings and can reach their full potential,” says Robin Kirk Johansson, head of education at IES.
Focus on reading and early intervention
The report also highlights IES' ongoing work to strengthen students' literacy skills. By expanding operations to include preschool classes and primary school at several IES schools, students' needs can be identified early, whether they require extra challenges or additional support. During 2024/2025, IES developed systematic support for schools regarding special needs education. Through robust routines for extra adjustments and the creation of action plans – covering 13.9 per cent of our students during the academic year – IES creates the conditions for every student to benefit from their education.
Top-tier academic results
Quality statistics show that IES students continue to perform at a high level:
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Upper secondary eligibility: 91 per cent of IES students were eligible for upper secondary school, compared to the national average of 84 per cent. Furthermore, during the 2024/2025 academic year, 80 per cent of all IES students graduating from year nine achieved a passing grade in all subjects. The corresponding figure for the entire country was 72 per cent, including IES – which means that IES students contribute to raising the national average.
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Fair grading: Statistics from the Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) once again confirm a higher degree of correlation between national test results and final grades at IES than the national average, a testament to the work for fair and accurate grading.
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International competence: Our bilingual environment equips students with language skills that are crucial for social and cultural understanding in a globalised world. As Sweden's largest authorised Cambridge organisation, IES can also offer many of our students the opportunity to take Cambridge IGCSE exams. This is an academically demanding, globally recognised qualification where IES students are among the best in the world.
High level of teacher qualification
The proportion of qualified teachers within IES stands at 85 per cent, which is significantly higher than the average for Swedish compulsory schools, where 68 per cent hold a teaching degree. In total, IES has approximately 3,800 employees.
The full quality report is available at https://engelska.se/quality