Åsa Lundkvist, director of the children and education administration in Västerås municipality, confirms that they intend to close the school. According to SVT Nyheter, the school board has flagged its intention to close from autumn 2026. Parents and students were to be informed about the plans during the week, and Västerås municipality has begun looking into how to provide places at municipal schools for the affected children.
The exact timeline for when a formal decision on closure will be made remains unclear. The school started in Västerås on the initiative of, among others, Northvolt and Hitachi Energy, together with the principal behind ABB Gymnasium. It follows the International Baccalaureate (IB) system, with instruction in English and a term fee that was 25,000 SEK per term four years ago, though the current term fee and how it has changed are unknown.
Parents and staff have not given up, and according to SVT Västmanland, they are inviting both Västerås municipality and companies to the negotiating table. Whether the school will definitively close or if negotiations with companies and the municipality will succeed in keeping it open is uncertain. Several reasons exist for the situation, including that several companies have stopped financing the school operations.
Northvolt's contribution disappeared with the battery manufacturer's bankruptcy, but the exact reasons why companies like Northvolt stopped financing the school, beyond the general mention of bankruptcy, are not detailed. How many other companies besides Northvolt have withdrawn financial support and their identities are also unknown. Meetings are being held with several companies like Hitachi and ABB in hopes of new financial support.
Inga Näslund, CEO of Mälardalen International School, has declined to comment at present.