Commercial College of Iceland

Verzlunarskóli Íslands
Address
Ofanleiti 1 Reykjavík 103 Iceland
Information
School type	Private Business school
Motto	Hæfni, Ábyrgð, Virðing, Vellíðan
Established	1905
Principal	Ingi Ólafsson
Headteacher	Þorkell H Diego
Staff	110
Gender	Mixed
Age range	16-20
Pupils	1200
Language	Icelandic
Hours in school day	8
Classrooms	48
Song	Kepp ötul fram, vor unga stétt
Nickname	Verzló
Rival	Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík
National ranking	3rd
Newspaper	Viljinn
Yearbook	Verzlunarskólablaðið
Tuition	162.000kr a year
Graduates	Approximately 300 per year
Website	http://www.verslo.is/english/

Verzlunarskóli Íslands (English: The Commercial College of Iceland) is an Icelandic gymnasium. It was founded in 1905 and is the oldest private school in Iceland. The school is located in Reykjavík and has more than 1200 students. The Commercial College of Iceland is a four-year senior high school / college for students 15 years + who have completed the Icelandic ‘grunnskóli' or grades 1-10.

The College serves the whole of Iceland and has a student population of over one thousand students. It is organised on the basis of a form system, all students in the same form having the same timetable. Students are in college full-time from 8:15 – 15:40, Monday - Friday.

The school year consists of two semesters, fall and spring. Each semester students take a full-time load of courses worth two or three credits each. Over four years, they take a total of 140+ credits and matriculate with an Icelandic ‘stúdentspróf' (matriculation exam) which is the standard prerequisite for university admission in Iceland. This qualification is also accepted for admission to universities around the world.

In their first year all students follow a common curriculum. They then opt to specialise in one of four streams: business, science, social science or languages. However, in all streams during the first two years there is a strong focus on practical business courses like accounting, economics and computer studies. These courses qualify students for the Commercial Diploma (‘verzlunarpróf') at the end of their second year. In terms of the students' age and academic standard, the Commercial Diploma corresponds roughly to A-levels in the United Kingdom and the High School Diploma in the United States.

During the remaining two years of their four-year programme, students complete their ‘stúdentspróf'. These two years could be considered comparable to two years of study at an academic college, for example equivalent to two years of university- level foundation courses in an American junior college.

The Commercial College of Iceland was founded in 1905 by the Store and Office Workers´ Union and the Retailers' Association in Reykjavik. Since 1922 it has operated under the aegis of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. The original objective was to give young people the opportunity of a basic commercial education. The school has steadily grown and developed since its inception. In 1996 the course offering was revised, leading to a reorganization of the streaming system and an increase in the number of courses offered. The revised streaming system was implemented in the fall of 1997.

The Commercial College of Iceland is a non-profit organization operating under Charter No. 272/ 15 June 1993. According to this charter the main objectives of the college are to promote the competitiveness of Icelandic industry, both internally and internationally, by providing and furthering education in general and business education at secondary and tertiary levels in particular.

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