The ranking holds 4 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 3 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 1. A year of school costs from €20 270 to €24 520.
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 | $22 900 a year | Cologne International School |
| Median | $27 701 a year | top of the fee range at 1 school with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $27 701 a year | Cologne International School |
| Free | 2 schools | Lessing-Gymnasium Köln, Greek Schools of Köln |
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 Cologne are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
2 of the 4 schools in the ranking are private. The other 2 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.
2 schools in Cologne teach an international programme with no tuition fee: Lessing-Gymnasium Köln, Greek Schools of Köln. On value for money such schools get the top score, because they sit outside the price range altogether.
2 schools with an international accreditation are funded by the state: Lessing-Gymnasium Köln, Greek Schools of Köln. 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 Cologne with an IB programme (3): St. George's The British International School Cologne, Cologne International School, Lessing-Gymnasium Köln. 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 1 school in Cologne: St. George's The British International School Cologne.
A facility counts only when the school names it outright on its own site: a modern campus is not a swimming pool. Boarding: 2 schools · School transport: 2 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 Cologne 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 $22 900 to $27 701 for a school year. The cheapest is Cologne International School, the most expensive Cologne International School. The median for the senior stage is $27 701 a year. Tuition is free at 2 schools: Lessing-Gymnasium Köln, Greek Schools of Köln. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency.
St. George's The British International School Cologne comes first with 80.8 points out of 100, counted from 7 of the 9 criteria. Next come Cologne International School (77.7) and Lessing-Gymnasium Köln (70.7). 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 4 schools: 2 private and 2 state (Lessing-Gymnasium Köln, Greek Schools of Köln). Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 3 schools: St. George's The British International School Cologne, Cologne International School, Lessing-Gymnasium Köln. 1 of them runs the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 1 school: St. George's The British International School Cologne.
The earliest intake starts at 2 years old. 1 school has 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.