Viktor Rydberg Gymnasium 2.4

Viktor Rydberg Gymnasium is a group of three gymnasium in Stockholm, Sweden named after the famous Swedish author Viktor Rydberg. The three upper secondary schools are VRG Djursholm, VRG Odenplan and VRG Jarlaplan, run by the Viktor Rydberg Schools Foundation. The foundation also runs two secondary schools, Viktor Rydbergs samskola Djursholm and Viktor Rydbergs skola Vasastan.All three upper secondary schools are bilingual and about one third of the tuition is given in English by native speakers. This also means that course materials are both in Swedish and English. The schools have students attending from all over the greater Stockholm region, making admission highly competitive. Admission to the natural sciences program with natural sciences orientation at VRG Odenplan is especially competitive; in 2009, 2010 and 2012 all admitted students had perfect grades.HistoryThe first Viktor Rydberg gymnasium was established in 1994, soon after the 1992 “Free School Reform”. The reform enabled private actors to run publicly funded schools, in a way similar to charter schools. Such a free school was started by the two parents Louise Westerberg and Louise Andersson in the halls of Djursholm Samskola’s eastern wing. After three years the number of applicants had risen so drastically that a new school was started at Odenplan in central Stockholm. In its first year, a large number of students and 580 teachers applied to the school. In 2003, a new school was started at Jarlaplan in order to provide an option for students who wanted to pursue artistic activities more fully.