About Int. Engelska Gymnasiet Södermalm

Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet Södermalm (IEGS) was founded in 1999 by Ms Barbara Bergström. The school was initially located in Enskede, Stockholm, but moved to its current premises at Allhelgonagatan 4, Södermalm in July 2008.

IEGS was started by Ms Bergström as she sought to build on the success of Internationella Engelska Skolan in Enskede (founded 1993) and offer senior high school students an outstanding education in English.

Ms Bergström, originally from the USA, started both schools with the conviction that it is imperative for young people to be able to use English to an exceptionally high degree.

“We can no longer comfort ourselves as educators that Swedish school children learn to speak English ‘well’,” says Ms Bergström. “We have to ensure that they acquire a total inner security when speaking English and be able to explore and discuss issues in-depth in English.”

Read an interview with Barbara Bergström

Following the nationally approved Swedish curriculum, and fully authorised by Skolverket, IEGS is one of Sweden’s leading independent schools (“friskolor”) with its emphasis on high academic achievement, offering both the Social Science and Natural Science Programmes.

Outstanding Teachers

Since its inception, IEGS has sought to bring English-speaking teachers of the very highest calibre to the school. Almost a quarter of the current teaching staff have doctorates (PhDs) in their field, and the majority of staff have Masters degrees and qualified teacher-status. The current staff of forty is drawn from English-speaking countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa as well as France, Spain, Italy, and Sweden.

IEGS students are pushed to excel in their academic studies during their time at the school. As a result many students have received recognition for their scholastic excellence during their time at IEGS. Since 2004 over twenty students have been awarded places at in the prestigious Karolinska Institute Research Programme in Biomedicine; ten winners from the National Swedish Young Researcher (“Unga Forskare”) have come from IEGS, and over 15 students have attended summer internships at KTH, Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology.

Pursuing excellence in education and outstanding academic achievement is part of the central ethos of the school, and each student is encouraged and challenged to develop to their full potential.

IEGS’s study programmes offer an exciting and diverse pre-university education, giving students the skills to pursue university studies in Sweden or abroad in the natural or social sciences, humanities, business, law, economics and the arts.

Find out about the Student Care Team

Student Success

The majority of IEGS graduates go on to higher education. A recent survey by Högskoleverket revealed that 83% of IEGS science graduates continue to study at university. These figures do not take into consideration the numerous graduates that go on to study in the UK and USA. In recent years students have won places at top universities such as Imperial College (UK), Durham University (UK), Edinburgh University (UK), Nottingham University (UK), the London School of Economics (UK), as well as KTH, Uppsala University and Stockholm University.

The current school principal Dr Margret Benedikz has held this post since 2005.

“At IEGS we take an holistic approach to education,” says Dr Benedikz. “Emphasis is placed on learning to actively develop academically, socially, and personally.”

“IEGS students come from all walks of life. We are proud of the generous spirit and group cohesion that students demonstrate creating a unique IEGS spirit.”

Internationella Engelska Skolan AB

Internationella Engelska Skolan AB, the company founded and sole-owned by Ms Bergström, is headquartered in Täby and currently runs two primary schools, eleven junior high schools (“grundskolar”) as well as the gymnasiet in Södermalm.