International school landscape

International school landscape in 13 relocation hubs

For relocating families, schooling is often the binding constraint on the move. Each guide below maps the curricula commonly available, the cost bands, and where to find the current school list — without naming specific schools or quoting tuition that goes stale within a year.

What these guides do and don't do

Each guide is a landscape map — categories, languages, cost bands, decision framework. The actual school shortlist requires current research via the directories linked from each guide. Tuition and admissions status change year-over-year and are not safe to summarize editorially.

United Arab Emirates

Dubai

Dubai has one of the world's largest international school markets — British, American, IB, Indian and Arabic curricula. Landscape and cost bands.

Singapore

Singapore's international school market is premium-priced and competitive: British, American, IB, Australian, Indian and others. Waitlists are real.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong's international school market is segmented by curriculum and tied to debenture schemes: British, American, IB, Canadian, French, German.

Madrid

Madrid has a substantial international school sector serving diplomatic, corporate and Spanish-bilingual families. Landscape, cost bands, framework.

Barcelona

Barcelona's international school market overlaps with the Catalan bilingual context. British, American, IB, Lycée Français, German Schule, others.

Amsterdam

Amsterdam combines an established international school market with a Dutch international-stream public option (DENISE) that is uniquely affordable.

Berlin

Berlin's international school market spans IB, British, American, JFK bilingual public school, and German state schools with English streams.

Munich

Munich has a substantial international school market driven by its multinational corporate base, plus strong German state schools for the long term.

London

London has the world's deepest school market: free British state schools, fee-paying independents, US and IB schools, the French Lycée, German Schule.

Paris

Paris hosts a deep international school market alongside the strong French state and private system. IB, British, American, bilingual French sections.

Vienna

Vienna has a strong international school market driven by UN / OPEC / diplomatic presence. Plus high-quality Austrian state schools for long-term families.

Zurich

Zurich hosts premium international schools serving its banking and pharma expat community, plus strong Swiss state schools for long-term families.

Tokyo

Tokyo's international school market is segmented by curriculum, with strong British, American, IB, French and German schools. Premium, limited capacity.

City not listed? The international school cluster starts with the cities where family-relocation queries are highest. The family-friendly cities cluster covers the broader decision space.