Internationella Engelska Skolan

Internationella Engelska Skolan (IES), or the International English School, is a Swedish corporation made up of independent schools (or “free schools”). IES was founded in 1993[1] by American teacher Barbara Bergström. IES schools are based on the idea of bilingual education, with up to half of the classes being taught in English.

Internationella Engelska Gymnasiet Södermalm, an upper secondary school in Stockholm run by Internationella Engelska Skolan

The majority owner of the company is Paradigm Capital, a private-equity firm registered in Luxembourg, which bought the corporation from the American equity fund TA Associates in December 2020. TA Associates, which bought IES from Barbara Bergström in 2012, had made more than one billion SEK (US$100,000,000) from the company since acquiring it.[2] It has been listed on Nasdaq Stockholm but was deregistered by the new owners in 2020.[3]

According to a government report in 2020, based on information from Statistics Sweden and Skolverket, IES has systematically been hiring teachers without a Swedish teaching degree, which makes it possible for them to keep wages down.[4]

In 2020-21, IES operates 39 schools in Sweden with 28,000 students, mainly primary schools with grades 4-9, in Bromma, Borås, Enskede, Eskilstuna, Falun, Gävle, Gothenburg (Krokslätt and Johanneberg) , Halmstad, Helsingborg, Hässelby, Hässleholm, Huddinge, Järfälla, Jönköping, Karlstad, Kista, Landskrona, Liljeholmen, Linköping, Lund, Länna, Nacka strand, Skellefteå, Skärholmen, Sundbyberg, Sundsvall, Södertälje, Tyresö, Täby, Upplands Väsby, Uppsala, Umeå, Älvsjö, Årsta, Örebro and Östersund. The organisation also owns several schools in Spain and runs a school in the United Kingdom.

The schools are funded by tax money and are part of the national voucher system for education, which enables students to apply to attend schools outside their immediate area.

The company has around 2,900 employees. Its headquarters is located in Täby, just north of Stockholm.

See also

References
  1. Internationella Engelska Skolan website, accessed July 2020.
  2. Zachrisson Winberg, Johan; Lagerström, Kristina (20 December 2020). "Amerikanska riskkapitalister tjänade en miljard på Engelska skolan". SVT Nyheter. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  3. Letmark, Peter (9 December 2020). "Därför köpte han friskolornas kronjuvel – och avregistrerade bolaget från börsen". Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. Letmark, Peter (17 December 2020). ""Friskolorna gör vinst genom att minska kostnaderna för lärare"". Dagens Nyheter. Retrieved 21 December 2020.

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