Nairobi nursery and preschool fees (2026/27)

Nursery and preschool is where many families relocating to Kenya first choose an international school, often before the rest of the household has even landed. Nairobi has a broad early years field across British, IB and American settings, and the spread between the value and premium ends is wide. The headline tuition tells you less than the tier a setting sits in, so start from the bands below and then read what pushes a place up or down within them. For the full multi stage picture, our Nairobi international school fees guide runs from the early years through to sixth form.

Schools set and bill fees in Kenyan shillings, and annual increases have tracked broadly with inflation over recent intakes. The dollar figures here are conversions at roughly 130 shillings to the dollar and will move with the exchange rate, so families paid from a home currency should budget for that drift across the year. You can shortlist by curriculum and suburb on the Nairobi international schools hub.

Nursery and preschool fee bands

The table bands annual early years tuition by setting tier, drawn from our Nairobi fees research and from published school offers. Nursery and preschool places sit at the lower part of each school's range, with fees stepping up through primary and on into secondary and sixth form. Figures are tuition only; one off and recurring extras follow below.

School names illustrate each tier and are not endorsements or exact quotes. Nairobi International School publishes a nursery place from around KES 585,000 and Crawford International an early years entry from around KES 486,000; premium bands reflect that dedicated nursery places sit at or below each school's reception fee. Confirm current figures directly with each school.

Registration, deposit and other costs

Tuition is only part of the early years bill. The line items below are indicative bands for the Nairobi market and should be confirmed with each school, as policies vary and some waive individual charges for the youngest children.

Bands above are indicative industry ranges, not school specific quotes. Always confirm figures in a school's current fee schedule before budgeting.

What drives the cost

Session length is the first lever, and it matters more in the early years than at any later stage. A full day nursery place costs meaningfully more than a morning only or half day session, and some settings only move to full days at reception. Ask exactly how many hours the fee buys before you compare one school with another, because two headline figures can describe very different amounts of care.

Curriculum and staffing do the rest. Established British and IB settings that recruit early years specialists from overseas sit at the top of the range, while Cambridge and value tier nurseries that mix Kenyan and international staff come in lower. Campus matters too. The Karen, Runda and Gigiri sites carry large purpose built grounds and dedicated early years wings, and those capital costs feed into tuition and levies. Newer or smaller settings with leaner facilities can deliver warm, well run early years at a materially lower price, which is why the value tier is worth a proper look rather than a glance.

Hidden costs nursery parents miss

Transport is the cost families underestimate most. Nairobi's traffic and the distance between the leafy school suburbs and where many expats live mean a bus place is close to essential even for the youngest children, and it is a real recurring line rather than a rounding error. Some parents choose to drop off themselves in the early years, which trades the bus fee for time in traffic.

Beyond transport, expect charges for the settling in kit, spare clothes, nap and rest provision at some settings, and the occasional class outing. Uniforms are lighter at nursery than later but still a line item, and lunch or snack plans add a few hundred dollars a year where meals are served. Registration and a refundable deposit fall due before your child starts, so the first year cash outlay is always higher than the annual tuition suggests.

To weigh Nairobi against another posting, the international school fee calculator totals tuition plus living costs, and the school comparison tool lines up three schools side by side. When your shortlist is ready, read across to Nairobi primary fees so there are no surprises as your child moves up.

Frequently asked questions

Nursery and preschool international school fees in Nairobi run from about KES 450,000 a year at the value tier to roughly KES 1.6 million at the premium British and IB campuses. Many established early years places fall between KES 550,000 and KES 900,000 before transport and extras.

Cambridge and value tier early years settings are the most affordable, often in the KES 450,000 to 750,000 band. Crawford International and the youngest years at Nairobi International School and Aga Khan Academy sit here, while the premium British and IB flagships are the most expensive.

Some do. A number of Nairobi settings run half day and morning only nursery sessions for the youngest children, billed at a lower rate than full day places. Availability and pricing vary by school, so confirm session length and the matching fee before you budget.

Expect an application fee, a refundable deposit of about one term, a possible development levy at larger campuses, plus recurring costs for the school bus, activities, uniforms and trips. These can add a meaningful amount to the headline tuition figure.

Usually yes. Dedicated nursery and preschool places sit at or a little below a school's reception fee, especially where sessions are part time. Where a school starts at reception, the reception figure is the youngest published price and there is no cheaper nursery tier.