The Rankings — 2026/27
Next update in 363d 22h 31m 09s
Independent · Unpaid · Editorial
World's Top Schools, Ranked.
Every ranked and candidate school in the directory, one continuous list from #1 down. Use this view when you want the full picture without switching between tiers.
This ranking is locked. The next ranking update will be on September 1, 2027. How the ranking cycle works · Why this ranking exists
Penny's picks
Denmark · Zealand
Sorø Akademi
A former Cistercian monastery turned 1586 boarding school, pairing lakeside tradition with a modern natural science centre.
72.1
Score
Denmark · Capital Region of Denmark
Copenhagen International School
On Copenhagen's harbour edge, an IB campus wrapped in 12,000 sea-green solar tiles powers half its own classrooms
71.2
Score
Denmark · Capital Region of Denmark
Rygaards International School
Denmark's oldest international school, pairing Catholic roots with the British National Curriculum amid Hellerup's parkland campus.
61.6
Score
Denmark · Capital Region
Ordrup Gymnasium
Founded in 1873 as a pioneer of coeducation and outdoor learning, now pairing IB with Danish stx in leafy Charlottenlund.
57.5
Score
Denmark · Zealand
Herlufsholm
Founded in 1565 on a Benedictine monastery site by the River Susaa, pairing Danish national rigor with an English-taught IB Diploma.
53.4
Score
Denmark · Hellerup
Bernadotteskolen
Named for wartime Red Cross rescuer Folke Bernadotte, this Hellerup reform school pairs Danish grundskole roots with IB pathways.
53.1
Score
Denmark · Central Denmark Region
Aarhus International School
PYP through MYP under one Aarhus roof, where 34 nationalities share a single Dalgas Avenue campus built for inquiry-based learning
51.7
Score
Denmark · Central Jutland
International School of Billund
Born of the LEGO Foundation in Denmark's toy capital, pairing IB rigor with a Harvard-researched pedagogy of play.
50.8
Score
Methodology
How we rank
Our composite weights eight categories. Each is scored 0–100 by our editorial panel and audited against 30 sub-criteria drawn from school records, university placement audits, alumni surveys, campus visits and parent interviews. Schools cannot pay for placement or preview scores.
Weighting
- Academic Outcomes20%
- University Placement17%
- Prestige & Heritage13%
- Alumni Network13%
- Facilities13%
- Transparency & Communications8%
- Peer & Industry Review10%
- Admissions Selectivity & Demand8%
Score key
Reading the scores
Bands out of 100
Every category, sub-criterion and composite total across this issue uses the same six-band editorial palette. Bands are calibrated against the full 300-school cohort — a "Distinguished" mark is meaningfully harder to earn than a "Strong" one.
- Exceptional90–100
Top of cohort
- Distinguished80–89
Elite tier
- Strong70–79
Consistently high
- Solid60–69
Reliable performer
- Average50–59
Room to grow
- Below par< 50
Underperforming
The same colour bands are used inside each school profile, on category chips, radar charts and the annual score-history line — so a colour glimpsed on the Rankings page always means the same thing everywhere else.