The ranking holds 25 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 12 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 7. A year of school costs from €4 458 to €51 105. A swimming pool on site is confirmed at 1.
We do not take reviews from maps and directories: their terms forbid it, and nobody checks the quality there. Everything below comes from the official registers of the accrediting organisations and from the schools' own sites, and every fact carries its source and the date of the check.
| Cheapest | $5 036 a year | European School Brussels II |
| Median | $27 124 a year | top of the fee range at 21 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $57 735 a year | International School of Brussels |
Figures are converted to dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish their fees in their own currency. One-off charges, meals, transport and uniform are not included unless the school says otherwise. Fees for schools in Brussels are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
19 of the 25 schools in the ranking are private. The other 6 are state schools, set out below. The type of school does not affect the score: private and state schools sit in one list and are scored by the same formula, and only verifiable data moves the number.
6 schools with an international accreditation are funded by the state: Lycée français Jean-Monnet, European School Brussels II, European School Brussels III, European School Brussels I, European School Brussels IV, Hellenic School of Brussels. Admission to these schools is usually competitive, and tuition is free or markedly cheaper than at a private school. In the ranking they stand alongside private schools and are scored on the same nine criteria.
Schools in Brussels with an IB programme (12): International School of Brussels, British Junior Academy of Brussels, Montgomery International School, Bogaerts International School, BEPS International School, Agnes School, Bogaerts International School North Campus, International Montessori School, The British School of Brussels, The Courtyard International School of Tervuren, St. John's International School, European School of Bruxelles-Argenteuil. 4 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP. Authorisation is confirmed against the International Baccalaureate register.
The British Cambridge programme - IGCSE and A-Level - is taught at 7 schools in Brussels: British Junior Academy of Brussels, Brussels International Catholic School, ACE of Brussels International School, International School of Flanders (ISF Waterloo), The British School of Brussels, Musica Mundi School, École Internationale Le Verseau.
These schools stand in the suburbs, up to 23 km from the centre of Brussels. Each card names the school's own town; they are gathered here because a family in Brussels chooses between them as between districts of one place.
A facility counts only when the school names it outright on its own site: a modern campus is not a swimming pool. Swimming pool: 1 school · Boarding: 2 schools · School transport: 14 schools.
Comparing schools on a single feature is useless: the most expensive is not the best, and a famous name says nothing about what is backed by documents. The score is therefore built from nine criteria with different weights - from academic programmes and accreditation to facilities, clubs and fees relative to other schools in the country.
A criterion counts towards the score only when there is verifiable data behind it. That is why every score says how many of the nine criteria were counted: at schools in Brussels that is 7.8 out of 9 on average. A school with a detailed site and a school with no site cannot earn an equally reliable score, and that is shown rather than hidden.
Ratings and reviews from Google Maps and other map services are not used: their terms forbid aggregation. Only verified reviews left here count. Full methodology →
Published fees run from $5 036 to $57 735 for a school year. The cheapest is European School Brussels II, the most expensive International School of Brussels. The median for the senior stage is $27 124 a year. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency.
The British School of Brussels comes first with 80.2 points out of 100, counted from 8 of the 9 criteria. Next come International School of Brussels (79.1) and St. John's International School (79.0). The score is built from data anyone can check: accreditations found in official registers, programmes, facilities and published fees. A place in the ranking is not for sale.
The ranking holds 25 schools: 19 private and 6 state (Lycée français Jean-Monnet, European School Brussels II, European School Brussels III, European School Brussels I, European School Brussels IV, Hellenic School of Brussels). Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 12 schools: International School of Brussels, British Junior Academy of Brussels, Montgomery International School, Bogaerts International School, BEPS International School, Agnes School, Bogaerts International School North Campus, International Montessori School, The British School of Brussels, The Courtyard International School of Tervuren, St. John's International School, European School of Bruxelles-Argenteuil. 4 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 7 schools: British Junior Academy of Brussels, Brussels International Catholic School, ACE of Brussels International School, International School of Flanders (ISF Waterloo), The British School of Brussels, Musica Mundi School, École Internationale Le Verseau.
The earliest intake starts at 3 months old. 22 schools have a preschool section.
The score of every school adds up from nine criteria with different weights: academic programmes, accreditation, facilities, clubs, the fee against other schools in the country, reviews, university destinations, safety and teachers. A criterion counts only when there is data behind it that can be checked, so every score says how many of the nine were counted. Right now that is 7.8 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.