The best international schools in Ho Chi Minh City, 2026

The Ho Chi Minh City school context

Ho Chi Minh City has been one of the fastest growing expat family postings in Asia for a decade. The drivers are familiar to anyone tracking corporate relocation trends, namely the manufacturing and supply chain shift out of China, a rising consumer middle class and the continued expansion of Korean, Japanese and Singaporean operating bases in the south of Vietnam. Schools have followed the demand. Where the city had eight serious international schools in 2010, it now hosts around forty, with a clear top tier of six or seven, a credible mid tier of twelve to fifteen, and a long tail of bilingual schools and value tier providers.

The market is unusual in one respect compared to Bangkok or Jakarta. Two distinct expat catchments, Thao Dien in District 2 and Phu My Hung in District 7, sit on opposite sides of the city centre and operate almost as separate school markets. Most families choose their housing area before their school, then narrow to the schools that sit inside a workable bus radius. Choosing the school first and the area later is also possible, but commute realities make this the harder path. We have written separately on moving to Ho Chi Minh City with kids if the broader relocation picture is also live.

The headline curricula on offer are American, British, IB and Australian, with French, Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese schools meeting their specific national communities. The IB Diploma is the dominant senior pathway at the top tier; the British IGCSE and A Level pathway sits closely behind. The American track, with AP qualifications and a US style transcript, is anchored by SSIS in District 7 and continues to attract families on American payrolls or those certain to return for US university.

How we rank

Our Ho Chi Minh City ranking weights five factors. Academic outcomes across the past three years, including IB Diploma averages, A Level grade distribution, AP scores and university destinations. Faculty stability and qualifications, measured by tenure of senior leadership and the proportion of teaching staff holding a relevant national qualification. Cohort balance and depth, since a school with a thirty student Diploma cohort delivers a richer subject choice than one with eight. Parent satisfaction from our verified review database, which weights long term parents over new arrivals. Physical infrastructure, including specialist science, music, sport and library provision.

We do not weight fees in the academic ranking and treat them separately. We also do not weight marketing spend, billboard count, or the reputation a school is trying to build. A flagship campus opened in 2023 with three Diploma graduates is not yet a Tier 1 school, however polished the website. Schools sitting outside the top 10 may still be the right fit for specific children. Use this list as a starting point and walk the campus before committing.

The 2026 top 10

Outside the top 10 but worth a tour

Several schools sit just outside our top 10 and warrant consideration depending on your circumstances. Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) for a bilingual Vietnamese and English pathway with Cambridge IGCSE at the senior end, useful for mixed Vietnamese and foreign families. Saigon Star International School for primary only families in District 2 wanting a smaller, more village like setting. Lycée Français International Marguerite Duras for French baccalauréat families, anchoring the francophone community. Korean International School and Japanese School of Ho Chi Minh City for their specific national communities. Renaissance Primary at Binh An for primary only families wanting Renaissance schooling closer to Thao Dien. Saigon Pearl International School for younger families in the Binh Thanh catchment.

For the bilingual question, our piece on IB schools in Ho Chi Minh City goes into the comparison between full international schooling and the better bilingual options. Most expat families on relocation packages default to the full international tier; long term families and Vietnamese foreign households often prefer a credible bilingual option.

Fees and the full cost of place

Headline tuition figures published by Ho Chi Minh City schools understate the true cost of place by 12 to 18 percent. The standard loading covers a capital or building fee on enrolment, the school bus contract, lunch where it is not packed, uniform, books or device, exam entries in IGCSE, AP or Diploma years, and the residential and overseas trips that are part of the senior school programme. The capital fee deserves particular attention. SSIS, BIS HCMC, ISHCMC and AISVN all charge a one time capital or development fee of USD 6,000 to 12,000 per child on enrolment, mostly non refundable. This is meaningful and should be factored into the first year cash flow alongside the housing deposit and the relocation package.

For the 2026 to 2027 cycle the realistic budget at the top tier is USD 32,000 to 42,000 per child all in, with capital fee amortised across the placement. At Tier 2 schools, USD 18,000 to 26,000 per child all in. For families with two or three children, this dominates the monthly burn and is the main reason expat employer packages here are increasingly negotiated on an education allowance basis. Our dedicated international school fees in Ho Chi Minh City piece works through the full fee landscape, currency exposure and sibling discount structure. For the practical cash flow modelling, the cost calculator is the best starting point.

Neighbourhoods that match the schools

Ho Chi Minh City's expat family housing concentrates in two main areas, each with a distinct character, and a smaller emerging cluster in Thu Thiem. The school catchment usually decides the area rather than the other way round, but the two main areas are worth understanding on their own terms.

Thao Dien, District 2. The established expat family village. Walkable streets, cafes, international supermarkets, small parks and a closely knit foreign community that has been here for two decades. Most Tier 1 primary schools sit inside Thao Dien or within a fifteen minute drive, and the school run is among the easiest in the city. Housing is a mix of villa compounds and modern serviced apartment blocks. Rents have risen materially since 2020 and the area now sits at a premium to Phu My Hung for equivalent space.

Phu My Hung, District 7. The planned community south of the centre, with broad tree lined boulevards, large lakeside parks, golf and a sense of suburban order that contrasts with the rest of the city. SSIS sits at the heart of Phu My Hung and most families with children at SSIS, Renaissance or Canadian International choose Phu My Hung housing for the simple commute. AISVN is a short drive south in Nha Be. Phu My Hung housing offers larger villas and more modern apartment stock than Thao Dien, often at a slightly lower rent for equivalent space.

Thu Thiem, District 2. The emerging cluster across the river from District 1, anchored by EIS and AIS Saigon secondary. New build apartment towers with full facilities and the most modern stock in the city. Suits families wanting a current spec apartment and an emerging neighbourhood feel. The trade off is that Thu Thiem is still developing and the daily amenity set is thinner than Thao Dien or Phu My Hung.

Admissions timing

Tier 1 schools in Ho Chi Minh City run waitlists for popular year groups, particularly Reception, Year 1, Year 7 and IB Diploma entry. The waitlist at SSIS and BIS HCMC for these year groups typically runs 6 to 15 months. ISHCMC waitlists run 4 to 12 months at the same year groups. The mid tier schools largely have rolling availability and can confirm a place inside 4 to 8 weeks of the application, with assessment usually completed remotely for international applicants. If you are committing to a Tier 1 school, submit the application by January or February for the August intake the same year. For a Diploma start, file by the previous September.

The application sequence at most schools follows a familiar pattern. Submit the online application with previous school reports, copies of passport and visa documents and the application fee of USD 200 to 400. Sit a remote or in person assessment, which usually covers English literacy and mathematics. Receive a decision letter within two to four weeks. Accept the place and pay the capital fee plus first term tuition within the deadline, typically 4 to 6 weeks. For more on the broader admissions cycle across Asia see our admissions timing by city guide.

University destinations

University outcomes are the cleanest way to read a senior school over time. SSIS sends a meaningful share of leavers to the US, with regular placements at top fifty US universities and a steady flow into Canadian top tier universities, alongside UK Russell Group and Dutch university placements through the Diploma cohort. BIS HCMC and ISHCMC lean more heavily toward the UK, with recent placements at Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh, Warwick and University College London. Oxbridge offers are infrequent but not unknown and have appeared in most recent cohorts.

The Australian pipeline runs through AIS Saigon and the Diploma cohorts at SSIS and BIS HCMC, with regular placements at Melbourne, Monash, Sydney, New South Wales and Queensland. Asian university outcomes have grown materially; NUS, NTU, the University of Hong Kong and several Korean and Japanese top universities now appear in destination reports each year. For curriculum comparisons see the IB curriculum hub.

How Ho Chi Minh City compares to the region

On academic outcomes the top tier in Ho Chi Minh City sits broadly in line with the top tier in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur and one notch below the top tier in Bangkok and Singapore. The depth of the second tier is thinner here than in Bangkok, where the bilingual sector and the larger British schools provide more credible Tier 2 options. On fees, Ho Chi Minh City sits below Singapore and Hong Kong, broadly in line with Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, and slightly above Jakarta at the Tier 2 level once capital fees are included. Families with genuine optionality often choose Ho Chi Minh City when the corporate role is here, the housing budget is constrained or the family wants a quieter Asian city.

SEN, language support and the bilingual question

Specialist support in Ho Chi Minh City international schools has improved materially over the past five years but remains thinner than in Bangkok or Singapore. SSIS, BIS HCMC, ISHCMC and AIS Saigon all have formal learning support departments with a small team of specialists, typically covering mild to moderate dyslexia, ADHD and English as an Additional Language. Most schools will assess on a case by case basis and may charge a supplementary fee for direct intervention work. For more complex needs, including significant autism spectrum support or moderate learning difficulty, the city has limited provision and families with these specific requirements often consider Singapore or Bangkok instead.

English as an Additional Language support is strongest at BIS HCMC, ISHCMC and AISVN, where dedicated EAL teachers run small group withdrawal sessions for new arrivals. Most Tier 1 schools have a cap on the proportion of new arrivals admitted as full EAL students and assess applicants on this basis. The bilingual sector, anchored by VAS and BIS Vietnam, offers a Vietnamese and English pathway that is increasingly popular with mixed marriage families and long term expats wanting their children to develop genuine Vietnamese fluency alongside an international qualification.

Related guides

• International school fees in Ho Chi Minh City
• IB schools in Ho Chi Minh City
• Moving to Ho Chi Minh City with kids

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