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Svenska Skolan i Nairobi

Kenya, Nairobi

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The school at a glance
Instructs in Swedish
Fees Fees not listed
Ages 2 - 18 years
Pupil numbers 170
Type Co-educational, Co-educational (boarding)
Opened 1968
Bus Service No
Academic offering
Curriculum Swedish Curriculum
Taught languages Swedish, English, French, Spanish, Swahili
Typical class size 12
Stages Preschool, Primary School, Secondary School, Sixth Form
Introduction

Svenska Skolan i Nairobi (SSN) is a Swedish overseas school in Nairobi (Kilimani/Makindi Road) offering education from preschool and förskoleklass through grundskola to gymnasium for students aged about 2–18. The school follows the Swedish national curriculum and is approved and inspected as a Swedish utlandsskola; instruction is given primarily in Swedish while English is strengthened across the programme (years 0–2 have an English‑speaking resource teacher) and modern languages such as French or Spanish are offered from later primary years. SSN publishes information about day places and an internat: it operates boarding and host‑family arrangements for gymnasieelever. Notable facilities and resources described on the site include a large schoolyard with play equipment and sports courts, personal computers for pupils, and organised school meals, excursions and residential stays. The school emphasises continuity with Swedish schooling (national tests are held on the same dates as in Sweden) and maintains traditions and cultural programmes for pupils abroad.

The Essentials

Svenska Skolan i Nairobi has 170 pupils, typical class sizes of 12, instruction in Swedish.

Location
Makindi Road, off Ngong Road, between Ngong Road and Riara Road, near The Junction shopping centre, south of the Kileleshwa area, Nairobi, Kenya.

Stages
Preschool; preschool class; primary school; gymnasium (upper secondary).

Type
Swedish international school with boarding facilities, run by the Swedish School Association of Kenya; follows Swedish curricula.

Country affiliation
Sweden; affiliated with the Swedish School Association of Kenya and follows Swedish curricula.

Bus service
School transport is available as a paid service for SSN students.
Diving Deeper

Boarding Arrangements
On-campus boarding on the school's grounds with high walls and guards around the clock for security. Student rooms have basic furnishings including a bed, desk, wardrobe, mosquito net, lighting and a power strip with wireless internet; those sharing a double room each have their own bed and workspace. Laundry is done by school staff, but students hang their laundry to dry themselves. Students can personalize their rooms with photos and decor.

Food Options
All meals are prepared in the on-site kitchen, Bamba Chakula. The menu is international with Swedish influence and Kenyan staples, including a large salad buffet with fresh local produce; vegetarian options are provided on several days and there is always a vegetarian option, but vegan options are not offered. Boarding students receive breakfast, fruit for snacks, dinner and an evening snack in addition to lunch for day students, with weekends featuring brunch. For students with food allergies, this must be documented with a medical certificate; the availability of specialty foods is limited and storage is provided if you bring your own.

Governance and Ownership
Svenska Skolan i Nairobi is governed by The Swedish School Association of Kenya (SSN). The school has existed since 1968 and follows Swedish curricula; the board includes a representative appointed by Skolverket and the school is approved by the Swedish state and inspected by Skolinspektionen. Fees are set by the skolföreningens styrelse.
Fees
Application fees
- An application fee of SEK 975 is charged per application. The application fee is non-refundable.

Tuition fees (school fees) — amounts available
- Gymnasium (annual school fee portion for a guest student): SEK 134,200 per academic year. When paid term-wise the school fee portion is invoiced 50% per term (i.e. SEK 67,100 per term).
- Complete, line-by-line tuition tables for Förskola, Förskoleklass and each grundskoleår are published in the school's official fee schedule. The published materials available here explicitly list the gymnasium school-fee amount and the composite guest-student totals; the full per-year grade table is provided in the school's fee document.

Billing schedule and payment terms
- School tuition is invoiced term-wise. Standard invoicing is 50% of the annual school fee at each term start (autumn and spring). If a municipality (skolpeng) is to pay its share, invoices corresponding to the municipal contribution are issued to the municipality in October and March; families are invoiced for any remaining balance.
- Internat (boarding) fees are invoiced term-wise in connection with each term start; the internat fee is normally paid in full per term. A family may request an alternative split of the autumn internat charge into two payments (august and October) at an added administrative cost of SEK 1,000 (annual total).
- For boarding applications, a reservation payment is required: an advance of SEK 30,000 plus an administrative fee of SEK 1,700 for the student visa is required to confirm a place. That advance is not refundable. Specific interim payment dates and balances for the advance are set out in the internat fee document.

Boarding fees (internat) and combined guest-student totals
- Annual internat fee (cost and accommodation only):
- Single room: SEK 136,600 per year.
- Double room, triple room or placement in a host family: SEK 118,700 per year.
- Composite guest-student (skolavgift + internatavgift) annual totals (all items combined):
- Single-room guest-student total: SEK 270,800 per year.
- Double/triple/host-family guest-student total: SEK 252,900 per year.
- The school-fee portion of the guest-student total (example shown for gymnasium) equals SEK 134,200 per year; the remaining amount is the internat portion.

Other costs and included items
- Items included in the published school fee(s): teaching, learning materials, school lunch, and school-organised pedagogical excursions and field studies (for example kick-off events, safaris and certain study trips). For Förskola and Grundskola the fee also includes afternoon leisure (fritids) activities.
- Items that may be charged in addition to the standard fee(s): voluntary or optional extra activities, some free-time activities if they are offered as fee-based; specially commissioned or extended individual support may incur additional cost if not agreed at application. The internat administration/visa fee (SEK 1,700) is charged in addition to the internat reservation payment.
- No separate uniform charge is specified in the publicly available fee documents accessible here; extra costs for personal equipment, travel to/from home, insurance beyond the school's provisions, or optional trips may apply as indicated in the published fee materials.

Refunds and cancellation
- Application fee: non-refundable.
- Internat reservation payment (advance) and other prepayments noted in the boarding documentation are stated as non-refundable; paid advance amounts remain with the school even if the student does not commence or discontinues studies. Cancellation after a term has started normally results in full-term payment liability.
- Deadlines to avoid full-term liability are specified: for retaining or cancelling an internat place the school's published deadlines are 1 June for start of the autumn term and 1 November for start of the spring term; for cancelling the school place the deadlines shown in the fee documents are 31 May for the autumn term and 31 October for the spring term — missing these deadlines ordinarily leaves the family liable for the full term fee.

Fee payment options and invoicing
- Invoices are issued to the email address given in the application; where a municipality pays part of the fee the school issues the corresponding invoice to that municipality in October and March and invoices the family for the residual balance. Specific payment methods (for example bank transfer, card or other payment channels) are not itemised in the publicly posted fee documents available for 2025/26; invoices and payment instructions are provided on the school's issued invoice.

Notes on the scope of the figures given above
- The amounts above are drawn from the school's published fee documents for the 2025/26 academic year and the school's dedicated internat fee information. The guest-student totals, the gymnasium school-fee figure, the internat annual fees, the application fee and the internat payment/cancellation rules are explicitly set out in those publications. The school's complete per-grade tuition table for Förskola, Förskoleklass and each grundskoleår is published in the school's fee schedule document; the gymnasium, internat and composite totals listed above were explicitly verifiable in the 2025/26 fee materials.
Academics

Svenska Skolan i Nairobi teaches Swedish Curriculum for students aged 2 to 18.

Curriculum
Swedish curricula are followed at Svenska Skolan i Nairobi. The school offers preschool through year 9 education in accordance with the Swedish curriculum, with instruction in Swedish. In the gymnasium, three national university-preparatory programs are offered: Economics, Natural Science, and Social Science, along with a guest-student program in which around 95 Swedish students can study at SSN with on-site accommodation or in host families. The school has approximately 170 students.

Higher Education Progression
Graduates are prepared for higher education with a smooth transition to further studies when returning home to the Nordic countries.
Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
The school maintains a student welfare team (Elevhälsa) consisting of the principal, the school nurse, and a counselor. The team meets several times a month to identify needs and to design adjustments and supportive measures for students.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)
The student welfare team identifies needs and designs adjustments and support for students, providing ongoing assistance through the school's welfare framework.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)
Teaching is conducted mainly in Swedish, while English is reinforced so that students become confident in both languages.

Mental Wellbeing
Mental wellbeing is supported by the Elevhälsa team, with the school nurse and counselor providing access to care; the nurse is primarily available for boarding students but also assists other students in acute situations, and the team meets regularly to plan appropriate support.

Safeguarding
Boarding rules emphasize safety and wellbeing; the school collaborates with security companies and embassies, and there are documented rules for living on campus that reflect safety considerations and respectful conduct.
Parent Experience

History
The school has existed since 1968, giving it long-standing experience as a Swedish international school. The school follows Swedish curricula and is grounded in democratic values. Many students have studied abroad in other parts of the world; this diversity is a positive strength and makes the school an inspiring place to develop. Studies with us also prepare for a smooth transition to continued studies when returning home to the Nordic countries.

Community
Spring term 2026: Purchase of food and basic supplies for a Maasai village in Mashuru; staff collected funds and students in the East Africa Culture course traveled to Boma to deliver the gift, visiting a school, a maternity clinic, and a church, and helping plant trees. Spring term 2025: Floods in Kenya affected nearly 200,000 people, with many losing lives, homes, livestock and crops, and several schools were closed to serve as temporary centers for families. SSN's fundraising totaled 187,572 KES, and the donations were sent to the Kenya Red Cross.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
The Swedish School in Nairobi is run by a Kenyan school association with roots dating back to 1968. The association was registered in 1975 and is governed by The Society Act. The association holds an annual general meeting each year, where the annual report is presented and the outgoing board is discharged. A new board and office bearers — chair, treasurer, and secretary — are elected, with members drawn from those living in Nairobi. The board hires a principal who leads the educational program and day-to-day school operations. The association has no membership fee, and all parents and guardians of SSN students are eligible for membership.
Facilities

Facilities Overview
The school has a campus with a large outdoor area. The grounds include swings, sandboxes, playhouses, and bikes, with football, basketball, and volleyball facilities. The school has a large pool used for physical education and after-school activities. Classrooms are equipped with projectors and there are iPads, and older students use school computers; Google is used as a platform for teaching and parent communication. The home economics kitchen supports Swedish and Kenyan culinary education, and the school library offers a selection of classic and popular Swedish children's and youth literature.

Sports Facilities
The school has outdoor sports facilities including football (soccer), basketball, and volleyball courts on the large school grounds. There is a large pool used for physical education and after-school activities.

Academic Facilities
The school has IT integrated into teaching. Each classroom is equipped with a projector for videos and other digital media. There are iPads, and older students use computers in lessons. Google is used as the platform for teaching and for communication with parents. The home economics kitchen supports Swedish and Kenyan culinary education, and the library contains classic and contemporary Swedish children's and youth literature.

Extra Curricular Facilities
After-school activities include programming, acrobatics, swimming, baking, and ball sports. Drama is offered, and some activities run into the late afternoon. The school grounds encourage active breaks with play and sport during recess.
School Events
The school has not added events
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