An Accredited European School is a type of international school under national jurisdiction and financing, within the member states of the European Union, which have been approved, by the Board of Governors of the international organisation "The European Schools", to offer its multilingual and multicultural curriculum and the European Baccalaureate.[1] An Accredited European School differs from a European School, in that the latter is set up, administered and financed directly by the Board of Governors of the European Schools.
The establishments originated following a 2005 report by the European Parliament, investigating the future of the European School system, particularly in how to "open up" the formerly exclusive establishments to a wider audience.
As of September 2021, there are twenty Accredited European Schools located in thirteen EU countries, with a further five schools engaged in the accreditation process.[2]
Legal status
The accredited status groups together, what were formerly known as "Type II" and "Type III" European Schools, with the only difference being that "Type II" European Schools give priority, for enrolment purposes, to children of staff of the EU institutions and are therefore entitled to receive funding from the European Commission in proportion to the number of such EU staff pupils enrolled.[3]
Locations
As of September 2021, there are twenty Accredited European Schools located in thirteen EU countries, with a further five schools engaged in the accreditation process.[2]
^Board of Governors of the European Schools (January 2013). "Accredited European Schools"(PDF). Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools. p. 3. Retrieved 30 March 2019. In various documents different terms were used to define Accredited European Schools: TYPE II and TYPE III European Schools, European Schooling, and Associate Schools. European Schools established pursuant to Article 2 of the Convention are denominated Type I European Schools, while both Type II and Type III European Schools are schools accredited by the Board of Governors as offering European schooling equivalent to that in Type I European Schools. A distinction was made between TYPE II and TYPE III European Schools on the grounds that, unlike the latter, the TYPE II European Schools give priority for enrolment purposes to children of staff of the EU institutions and other bodies as defined by the relevant EU legislation and are therefore entitled to receive funding from the European Commission in proportion to the number of such EU staff pupils enrolled pursuant to the applicable legislation. However, from the point of view of the European School system, which is exclusively responsible for the pedagogical accreditation, there is no difference between the two. For the sake of simplification and harmonisation, in the context of the pedagogical accreditation it is proposed from now on to use the term "Accredited European Schools", which includes both TYPE II and TYPE III Schools.