When international travellers arrive in Iceland they land at the countries only international airport, Keflavik International Airport, located in Reykjanesbær on the Southern Peninsula of the country. There you will also find Keilir Academy, just a short 5 minute drive away.
Why Iceland?
Iceland is a great destination for international students and a fantastic place to live. Located in the North Atlantic Ocean right close to the Arctic pole, Iceland is a highly developed country with a world-class higher education system. Although Iceland is not a member state of the European Union, it signed the Schengen Agreement. If you plan to study in Iceland, you will benefit from its membership to the Schengen area as you will be able to freely move within Europe.
Iceland is known for its astonishing nature, with landscapes full of geysers, glaciers, volcanoes covered by snow, and geothermal sources. A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the Iceland hotspot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through the island. This combined location means that the island is highly geologically active and has many volcanoes. Dettifoss, located in northeast Iceland, is the largest waterfall in Europe in terms of volume discharge. The Vatnajokull glacier is the biggest in Europe.
The country ranks highly in the global peace, safety and happiness indexes annually, and has in fact been rated as the most peaceful country in the world for 13 years running by the Institute for Economics and Peaces Global Peace Index.
The official language of Iceland is Icelandic. A nordic/germanic language that has not much changed since Icelands settlement in 874 AD. It gained a bit of a reputation for hard to pronounce words during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull (island mountain glacier) and Fimmvörðuháls (five cairn ridge) in 2010, and again in 2021 with the eruption in Fagradalsfjall (beautiful valley mountain). Understandably learning the language seems daunting at first but with some practice it becomes less and less daunting and its rules become quite obvious and intuitive. But if languages are not your thing there is no need to worry, English is spoken fluently and widely across Iceland.
Students' Residence permits
Students’ residence permits are granted to full time univeristy students, doctorate students collaborating with an Icelandic university, exchange students from acknowledged exchange student organizations, interns, graduates seeking employment as well as students in technical studies and recognised workplace studies at higher education levels. Residence permits for students are not granted to individuals intending to study at Icelandic secondary schools (except for approved exchange programs), attending courses in the Icelandic language or who study at foreign universities and stay in Iceland.
Practical information