Verzlunarskóli Íslands

The Commercial College of Iceland is a four-year college on the secondary and junior college level, operating on the basis of a form system.  The students normally enter the college at the age of 15/16 after completing the grunnskóli (“basic school”).  After two years they sit for the so-called verzlunarpróf (Commercial Diploma) and at the end of their fourth year they sit for the stúdentspróf (“Matriculation Examination”).  During the 2001/2002 academic year the student population was 1020.

The Commercial College of Iceland was founded in 1905.  It is an independent non-profit institution which operates under the aegis of the Iceland Chamber of Commerce, partly funded by tuition fees and partly by the state under a special agreement with the government.   The Iceland Chamber of Commerce forms the College Council, appoints a board of 5 governors and hires the principal.

Streaming

The object of streaming is to answer the students’ different interests rather than different abilities.  A new streaming system was introduced in 1997 when a new stream, International Studies, was introduced.  The first-year courses are unstreamed, i.e. the students do not opt for any particular stream until the beginning of their 2^nd year.  Then they can choose between streams focussed on Languages, Science (Mathematics Department) and Business Studies.   At the end of the second year the business program branches into the fields of International Studies, Business Studies  and Economics.  All the streams lead to the Stúdentspróf (Matriculation Examination).

Streaming is intended to increase the variety of study options in the college, giving some students a chance to become candidates for reasonably good positions on the labour market upon graduation and others to enter different university faculties in accordance with their special talents and interest.

The library of the Commercial College of Iceland is intended for the students and staff of the college.

Access to all books and records is open and unrestricted.

The library offers students excellent facilities for studying and assists them in obtaining information and locating sources.

The library’s website is clear and comprehensive with the emphasis on easy access to electronic material. Here you will find convenient links to databases, electronic magazines and books as well as sophisticated search engines.

On the home page of the Commercial College you can consult the library’s electronic catalogue where all computerized data is available any time at the click of a mouse.