German curriculum in Hanoi: one anchor school
Hanoi has a single fully accredited German curriculum school: Internationale Deutsche Schule Hanoi, known across the German community as IGS Hanoi. The school holds the Excellent German School Abroad seal awarded by the German Foreign Office and the Standing Conference of Education Ministers, the Kultusministerkonferenz, the highest official recognition for a German school abroad. Because there is no second German-medium school in Hanoi, this hub is framed as a practical guide for German, Austrian and Swiss-German families considering the city, rather than as a ranking. Families who want a German language overlay alongside an English or bilingual programme will find a much more limited offer in Hanoi than in Singapore, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City. For the wider Hanoi market see our Hanoi city hub and the global German curriculum hub.
IGS Hanoi in detail
Internationale Deutsche Schule Hanoi sits on a single campus in An Khanh in the western Hoai Duc district, in a purpose-built complex shared in part with the broader European school footprint at the western city edge. The school was founded in 2012 with German Embassy and German business backing, and grew from a small kindergarten and Grundschule into the full progression from Klasse 1 to Klasse 12 it runs today. IGS Hanoi delivers the German national curriculum to the standards of the German state of Thuringia, which sponsors the school as part of the federal German Auslandsschulwesen framework. The school awards the Deutsche Internationale Abitur, the DIA, the German baccalaureate accepted by every German university and by most European, UK, US and Australian universities through their international admissions pathways.
Deutsche Internationale Abitur and bilingual progression
The DIA awarded at IGS Hanoi is examined under the same standards as the German Abitur taken in Germany, with a final-year cohort of around 12 to 18 students each summer. Subject choices follow the standard German upper school structure, with mathematics, German, English and one further core subject taken at higher level. The school also offers the optional Deutsches Sprachdiplom, the DSD, at level B1 and C1, recognised by German universities as proof of German language proficiency for students whose home language is not German. Around 30 percent of the IGS Hanoi cohort sits the DSD route, allowing the school to serve a wider Vietnamese and bilingual German family base than a strictly Abitur-first cohort would support.
IGS in An Khanh, or a bilingual route?
Take our 5 minute school finder quiz. We shortlist Hanoi schools based on your child's Klasse, your German language preferences and your likely length of posting.
Fees, Auslandsschulwesen support and corporate schemes
IGS Hanoi runs at roughly EUR 6,500 a year in kindergarten, EUR 9,500 across the Grundschule grades, EUR 11,500 across Sekundarstufe I and EUR 13,500 in the Abitur years of Klasse 11 and Klasse 12. Capital and entrance fees of around EUR 2,500 fall at first inscription. In Vietnamese dong terms the range is roughly VND 170 million to VND 350 million. The school receives German federal government subsidies through the Auslandsschulwesen budget, which keeps headline fees below the comparable English-medium fees at BIS Hanoi or Concordia Hanoi. German corporate relocation packages for senior expat hires posted to Hanoi by Bosch, Siemens, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, GIZ, KfW and the smaller German Mittelstand footprint typically budget to the IGS fee schedule in full, and German Embassy posted families have their fees met under the Auslandschuldienst framework. For the wider Hanoi fee picture see our Hanoi school fees guide.
Who chooses the German route in Hanoi
The IGS Hanoi family base mirrors the German-speaking footprint in Vietnam. The largest single cohort is children of German Embassy, GIZ development agency, KfW development bank and German Mittelstand corporate families posted to Hanoi for three to five year terms. A second strand is Austrian and Swiss-German families posted to Hanoi by their own diplomatic missions and corporates, who value the shared German-language Abitur route. A third, smaller strand is Vietnamese families with strong German connections, including Vietnamese alumni of German universities and Vietnamese-German heritage families returning from Berlin, Munich or Frankfurt. The cohort skews more public-sector and Mittelstand than the large multinational corporate base that fills Concordia Hanoi or BIS Hanoi.
Where German families live in Hanoi
German families in Hanoi cluster around two anchors that mirror the school geography and the German Embassy footprint. The German Embassy itself sits in Ba Dinh District, a short drive south of Tay Ho, and many German Embassy and GIZ families live in Ba Dinh or in Tay Ho along West Lake. Tay Ho villa stock around West Lake runs USD 2,500 to USD 5,500 a month for a four-bedroom villa, with serviced apartments at USD 1,800 to USD 3,500. Because IGS Hanoi is across the city in An Khanh in the west, a second German family cluster lives in the western Ha Dong and An Khanh districts close to the school, where larger villa stock comes in at USD 1,800 to USD 3,500 a month and morning commutes are short. The IGS school bus network bridges the two clusters with morning and afternoon routes across the city.
Admissions, calendar and university outcomes
IGS Hanoi admissions open in January for the following August intake, with priority for German Embassy and Auslandschuldienst-posted families, for siblings and for German-language speakers entering the Grundschule years. Vietnamese law applies the same Decree 86 quota to IGS as to other foreign-invested international schools in Hanoi, capping Vietnamese students at 50 percent of total enrolment at primary and at 50 percent at lower secondary, though in practice IGS runs well below this quota at upper grades because of the German-language entry filter. The DIA awarded at IGS is accepted by every German university through the standard Hochschulreife admissions route, by Austrian and Swiss universities, and by UK, US, Canadian and Australian universities through their international admissions pathways. For sibling-cluster context see our Hanoi IB hub and Hanoi French curriculum hub.
Frequently asked questions
How many German curriculum schools are there in Hanoi?
Hanoi has one fully accredited German curriculum school: Internationale Deutsche Schule Hanoi, in An Khanh on the western city edge. It holds the Excellent German School Abroad seal awarded by the German Foreign Office and the Kultusministerkonferenz, and is the only school in Hanoi delivering the full Klasse 1 to Klasse 12 German programme.
Does IGS Hanoi offer the Deutsche Internationale Abitur?
Yes. IGS Hanoi awards the Deutsche Internationale Abitur, the DIA, examined under the same standards as the Abitur taken in Germany. The final-year cohort sits at around 12 to 18 students each summer, with mathematics, German, English and one further core subject typically taken at higher level.
How much do German schools in Hanoi cost?
IGS Hanoi runs at roughly EUR 6,500 in kindergarten, EUR 9,500 in Grundschule, EUR 11,500 in Sekundarstufe I and EUR 13,500 in the Abitur years. In Vietnamese dong terms that is roughly VND 170 million to VND 350 million. Capital fees of around EUR 2,500 fall at first inscription. Auslandsschulwesen federal subsidies hold fees below comparable English-medium schools.
Can my child attend IGS Hanoi if we are not German nationals?
Yes. IGS Hanoi admits children of all nationalities, with German language proficiency as the practical admissions filter at higher grades. At kindergarten and early Grundschule the school accepts non-German-speaking children, who acquire the language through immersion within the first two years. From upper Grundschule onwards, working German is expected.
Is the German Embassy posted family allowance accepted at IGS Hanoi?
Yes. The Auslandschuldienst framework that funds German Embassy and GIZ posted family education in Hanoi covers IGS Hanoi fees in full. German Mittelstand and corporate relocation packages from Bosch, Siemens, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam and KfW typically budget to the IGS fee schedule when negotiating Hanoi assignments.
Where do German families live in Hanoi?
German families in Hanoi cluster in Tay Ho and Ba Dinh near the German Embassy and the wider expatriate district around West Lake. A second cluster of German families lives in the western Ha Dong and An Khanh districts close to the IGS Hanoi campus, where larger villas come at lower rents and morning commutes to school are short.
