Capital levies, debenture refunds, ESS surcharges, deposit non-refundability. The line items most schools won't show you on a tour.
Long-form journalism on the questions families actually wrestle with. Fee inflation. Curriculum trade-offs. Admissions politics. Visa changes that affect school enrolment. Updated weekly.
We pulled published 2026 fee schedules from 1,200 international schools across 50 cities. The headline: average fees rose 6.4% year-on-year, but the spread between cities is now wider than at any point since 2019. Geneva, New York and Hong Kong have all crossed the $50K-per-year threshold for upper secondary. Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Lisbon remain under $20K for comparable IB programmes. without obvious trade-offs in university outcomes.
The report also flags a structural shift: schools that froze fees during 2020. 2022 are now catching up aggressively, with Tier-1 institutions in the UAE and Singapore announcing 8. 12% increases for September 2026 entry.
Read the full report →Capital levies, debenture refunds, ESS surcharges, deposit non-refundability. The line items most schools won't show you on a tour.
The 80 schools across 30 cities that genuinely discount second and third children. and the schools that quietly removed the policy in 2024.
The IB Diploma, music, sports and merit-based scholarships at top international schools. application timing, evidence requirements, and the subjective tier.
We compiled 5 years of admissions data from 200 international schools. The results challenge a few assumptions about both programmes.
"British curriculum" means different things in Dubai, Bangkok and Madrid. How to read past the brand and identify the schools that genuinely deliver A-level rigour.
The fastest-growing curriculum in international schools. Some are licensed extensions of Finnish municipalities. Others are marketing exercises. Telling the difference.
September entries close 18 months early in Singapore. Dubai is rolling. Geneva is January. The full timing map for the top 50 expat cities.
The schools that quietly favour returning expat families. The waitlists that move in May. What admissions directors say off-the-record about how to position your application.
Most international schools advertise SEN support. Few actually staff for it. The 40 schools across 20 cities with credible learning-support provision.
Idealista in Madrid. PropertyFinder in Dubai. 99.co in Singapore. The local-language portal beats the international relocation agent in every case we tested.
For families moving without a corporate package, a self-pack shipping container can save $8K+ vs. full-service movers. The full guide.
Vaccinations, blood titres, IATA crates, quarantine windows. The countries that take 6 months to arrange entry, and the ones that take 6 weeks.
The 24% tax regime, the 5-year residency path, the children's enrolment process. Everything we've learned from 100+ families who've done it.
From Emirates ID to KHDA registration to first day of term. Why the UAE Golden Visa decouples school choice from corporate sponsorship. and what that opens up.
The NHR tax regime is winding down. What replaces it for families considering a move to Lisbon, Cascais or Porto, and how it changes the school-fee maths.
Dubai now has more international school capacity than expat children. Which schools are differentiating, and which are quietly cutting fees and faculty.
Why Singapore's top international schools have 18-month waitlists. and the second-tier schools quietly delivering equivalent outcomes for half the wait.
Lisbon's international school inventory has tripled since 2020. The new entrants reshaping fees, neighbourhoods and admissions politics across Cascais, Carcavelos and Sintra.
More than 80 articles in the archive across all clusters.
Browse the full archive →Browse the complete A–Z archive (988 articles) →
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