The ranking holds 20 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 8 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 6. A year of school costs from $3 383 to $34 753. A swimming pool on site is confirmed at 2.
1 school publishes a monthly fee rather than a yearly one and does not say how many payments it charges over a school year. We count such a year as ten payments: that is the number charged by the schools that do state it, and that is how long the school year runs in most countries of the ranking.
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 | $3 383 a year | Österreichisch-Ungarische Europaschule Budapest |
| Median | $14 904 a year | top of the fee range at 18 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $34 753 a year | The British International School Budapest |
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 Budapest are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
19 of the 20 schools in the ranking are private. The other 1 is a state school, 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.
1 school with an international accreditation is funded by the state: Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium. 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 Budapest with an IB programme (8): The British International School Budapest, International School of Budapest, Budapest British International School, SEK Budapest International School, Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium, Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Két Tanítási Nyelvű Baptista Gimnázium, BME International Secondary Grammar School, American International School of Budapest. 1 of them runs 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 6 schools in Budapest: The British International School Budapest, International School of Budapest, Britannica International School, Budapest, Budapest British International Academy, Brit-Magyar School, Creascola.
These schools stand in the suburbs, up to 15 km from the centre of Budapest. Each card names the school's own town; they are gathered here because a family in Budapest 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: 2 schools · School transport: 7 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 Budapest that is 7.9 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 $3 383 to $34 753 for a school year. The cheapest is Österreichisch-Ungarische Europaschule Budapest, the most expensive The British International School Budapest. The median for the senior stage is $14 904 a year. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency. 1 school publishes a monthly fee rather than a yearly one and does not say how many payments it charges over a school year. We count such a year as ten payments: that is the number charged by the schools that do state it, and that is how long the school year runs in most countries of the ranking.
American International School of Budapest comes first with 80.3 points out of 100, counted from 8 of the 9 criteria. Next come The British International School Budapest (78.4) and International School of Budapest (77.3). 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 20 schools: 19 private and 1 state (Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium). Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 8 schools: The British International School Budapest, International School of Budapest, Budapest British International School, SEK Budapest International School, Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium, Kőrösi Csoma Sándor Két Tanítási Nyelvű Baptista Gimnázium, BME International Secondary Grammar School, American International School of Budapest. 1 of them runs the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 6 schools: The British International School Budapest, International School of Budapest, Britannica International School, Budapest, Budapest British International Academy, Brit-Magyar School, Creascola.
The earliest intake starts at 3 years old. 10 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 7.9 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.