10 questions to ask before choosing an international school

Why these 10 questions

Open days reward enthusiasm, not scrutiny. The head of admissions has done this hundreds of times; you are doing it for the first or second time. The questions below are designed to push past the marketing surface and surface the operational reality of the school. Each one has a generic prepared answer the school will offer, and a specific answer that tells you what you actually need to know. You learn to listen for the second.

Take notes. The single most useful habit on a school tour is to write down the headline answer to each question on the day, before memory fades. By visit three, parents who do not take notes routinely confuse one school's answer with another. For broader context see our pillar piece on how to choose an international school.

Question 1: Who thrives here, and who does not?

This is the most useful single question you can ask. It forces the head of admissions to describe the school's actual culture in terms of the children it serves well and the children it does not. Vague answers signal a school that has not thought about its niche. Crisp answers signal a school that knows itself.

A good answer sounds like this. "We are strongest with academically ambitious children who are also comfortable with the social pressure that ambition brings; we are less good for highly anxious children who need a slower pace, and we have lost a handful of those children over the years and would not pretend otherwise." The willingness to name a weakness is what you are listening for.

The follow-up question is what the school did about the children who did not thrive. Schools that pretend nobody leaves are lying or oblivious. Schools that describe what they learned from the leavers are usually the strongest pastoral environments.

Question 2: What is your faculty retention rate?

Faculty turnover is the single best leading indicator of school health. A school with 5 to 10 percent annual teacher turnover is normal and stable. A school with 20 percent or higher turnover has a leadership or culture problem; ask why. International schools that recruit on two-year contracts often have higher numbers, and that is acceptable if the school can describe the pattern and the senior staff are stable. The numbers you want to ask about specifically are the head of school's tenure, the heads of primary and secondary, and the department heads in maths, English and science.

A useful follow-up question is how many of last year's leavers were planned departures versus mid-year resignations. Mid-year resignations are a serious signal. See also our article on class sizes at international schools for the structural picture.

Question 3: How do you handle a struggling student?

This question separates schools that have systems from schools that have intentions. A good answer describes how struggle is identified (early-warning data, teacher referral, parent flag), what happens in the first 10 days (named pastoral lead, plan agreed with parents), and how progress is reviewed. A weak answer talks about caring teachers and small class sizes without describing the actual process.

Probe the specifics. Who is the named SEN coordinator and what is their qualification? How many learning support staff does the school employ for the size of the cohort? Is there an additional fee for learning support, and at what threshold does it begin? Schools that cannot answer these questions on the spot do not have a robust system. See our article on SEN support at international schools for what good looks like.

Question 4: How do you extend a child working above grade level?

The mirror question to Question 3, and equally important. International schools talk a lot about differentiation; few do it well at the top end. Strong answers describe named programmes (extension maths, scholars' programmes, pull-out enrichment, accelerated pathways), how children are identified for them and how often participation is reviewed. Weak answers describe individual teacher discretion and curriculum compacting in vague terms.

A child who is significantly ahead in maths is the canary in the coal mine. Schools that cannot describe how they keep that child stretched will probably under-serve them. Ask directly: "Walk me through what happens for a Year 5 child two years ahead in maths". The fluency of the answer tells you what you need to know.

Question 5: What is your behaviour and discipline policy?

Ask for the written policy. Read it before you sign. The published policy should be clear, proportionate and consistent across year groups. Look for clarity on bullying, on phone and social-media policy, and on the steps from minor incident to suspension. Schools that respond with general comments about kindness and respect, but cannot show you a written policy, do not have one.

A useful follow-up is how the school handles the moment a parent disagrees with a disciplinary decision. Strong answers describe a published escalation path: form tutor, then head of year, then head. Weak answers describe a culture in which determined parents can override consequences for their children. That culture corrodes pastoral systems quickly.

Question 6: What does the all-in annual cost look like?

Published tuition figures are misleading at almost every international school. The honest cost is tuition plus capital levy, plus transport, lunch, uniform, books, exam fees and trips. Add 25 to 35 percent to tuition for a realistic number. Ask the head of admissions for an itemised list of all charges in the year. Reasonable schools will provide it; schools that resist this question often have hidden fees.

The other fee questions worth asking are sibling discount policy, annual fee inflation expectation (most schools raise fees 4 to 8 percent per year), and what happens if you withdraw mid-year. Read our deep-dive on hidden fees at international schools. For city-by-city benchmarking use our fees explorer.

Question 7: What were your university destinations last year?

Most secondary schools publish a university destination list. Read it carefully. A long list of Russell Group or top-50 US universities looks impressive, but the more useful number is the percentage of leavers who went to those destinations, and the academic profile of those leavers. A school sending 15 percent of its cohort to top-50 US universities from a strongly-selected entry is doing less than a school sending 8 percent from an unselected entry.

Ask how many leavers took a gap year (some sit out of the destination data), how many went to apprenticeships or vocational programmes (still vanishingly rare at international schools, but a healthy signal where it appears), and how many went home for university. Multi-country destinations are a useful indicator of careers support quality. See our piece on IB vs AP university outcomes for how to read the data.

Question 8: How do you communicate with parents?

This question reveals the operational discipline of the school. Strong schools have a published communication rhythm: weekly newsletter, half-termly report, two parent-teacher evenings per year, scheduled parent-meetings for any pastoral concern within 48 hours. Weak schools have ad hoc communication that depends on the individual teacher.

Ask specifically about response times. If your child has a wobble on a Tuesday, how quickly should you expect the form tutor to come back to you? 24 hours is reasonable. 48 hours is the upper bound. Longer than that and the system is not designed for partnership. Ask whether teachers are available by email or only by appointment. Schools where teachers are inaccessible by email tend to have parent-relationship problems that build slowly.

Question 9: What has the school changed in the last two years?

A school with no answer to this question is not paying attention. Strong heads can describe several specific changes: a new approach to maths in Year 7, a revised approach to phone-free school days, a new pastoral structure in Year 9, a tighter induction for new families. The detail of the answer reveals whether the leadership is a learning organisation or a maintenance organisation.

Schools that respond with vague accomplishments (we won an award, we built a new building) are pointing to outputs, not inputs. The useful answer is about practice.

Question 10: May I speak with current parents?

Every good school can offer two or three current parents who will speak honestly. Schools that refuse, or that offer only the head of the PTA, are filtering. Ask for two parents in different year groups, including one whose child has had a difficulty (a wobble in Year 3, a learning support issue, a behaviour incident). Call them. Ask the same three questions you asked the head: who thrives, what changed in the last two years, and what you should ask but have not.

Parent endorsements differ from parent answers. A parent who lists features is selling. A parent who describes their own child's journey, including the bumps, is telling you the truth.

When and how to ask

Order matters. Ask the open culture questions (Question 1, Question 10) early, when the head of admissions has time to be expansive. Save the operational questions (Questions 5, 6, 8) for the structured part of the tour where you have access to written documents. Save Question 9 for the head of school directly if you can secure five minutes with them, which is usually possible if you book ahead.

If you are visiting three schools across a fortnight, write up your answers within 24 hours of each visit. Memory degrades quickly and the schools start to merge in your mind by week two. A simple table comparing each school's answer to each question is the best comparison tool we have seen parents use. For broader admissions context see our guide on admissions timing by city.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

• How to choose an international school
• Parent interview questions: a 2026 guide
• Hidden fees at international schools