Why we publish these
Brochures and rankings tell you what a school says about itself. A case study tells you what happened to a family who chose it. We publish these for two reasons: first, the decisions they describe (curriculum, fee tier, neighbourhood, timing of move) are the same decisions every relocating family faces, and watching someone else's working is worth a dozen rankings. Second, the outcome data, even at single-family scale, sharpens the questions you should be asking of any school you tour.
If you'd like to share your own family's relocation as a case study, anonymised or otherwise, get in touch with the editorial team.
Latest case studies
Dubai to London: keeping the IB continuum across two cities
A finance family moves from a Dubai IB school after eight years. The eldest is mid-Diploma, the younger is in Year 7. The IB continuity question shaped every school decision and almost overrode the neighbourhood one.
Hong Kong to Vancouver: choosing between ESF leavers' destinations
A long-term Hong Kong family with three children at ESF schools decides to leave. The route to Vancouver brings curriculum compatibility into focus, plus the question of which of the children's existing IB / British / American pathways the new schools could honour.
Madrid to Bangkok: a mid-year move and the schools that could absorb it
Mid-academic-year moves are common in expat life and brutal on admissions. This family's January relocation forced a very different shortlist from the one they would have built six months earlier.
Singapore to Zurich: choosing between international and Swiss bilingual
A banking family weighs Zurich International School against the Swiss bilingual options. The Swiss Maturité question came down to whether the eldest could realistically transition into German-medium teaching after three years of English.
Dubai to US college: how one family built their own counsellor function
The school's counselling team was overstretched. This family ran a parallel process with an external advisor and a parent who had been through the US admissions system. The combined approach is the focus of the case study.
Share your relocation story
Every published case study helps another family avoid the same mistakes. We protect anonymity by default and verify numbers before publishing.
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