The ranking holds 15 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 10 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 1. A year of school costs from $8 299 to $22 822. 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 | $8 299 a year | Colégio Everest Internacional |
| Median | $18 195 a year | top of the fee range at 6 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $22 822 a year | Escola Suíço-Brasileira Rio de Janeiro by SIS |
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 Rio de Janeiro are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
All 15 schools in the ranking are private. We have not yet found a state school in Rio de Janeiro with an international accreditation. 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.
Schools in Rio de Janeiro with an IB programme (10): Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Gávea, Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Barra, Centro Internacional de Educação Integrada (CIEI), The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Barra, The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Botafogo, Escola Suíço-Brasileira Rio de Janeiro by SIS, Escola Eleva - Barra da Tijuca, Escola Eleva - Urca, Escola Nova by SIS Swiss International School, Maple Bear Barra da Tijuca. 3 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 1 school in Rio de Janeiro: The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Barra.
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 · School transport: 6 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 Rio de Janeiro that is 7.4 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, Yandex Maps and 2GIS are not used: their terms forbid aggregation. Only verified reviews left here count. Full methodology →
Published fees run from $8 299 to $22 822 for a school year. The cheapest is Colégio Everest Internacional, the most expensive Escola Suíço-Brasileira Rio de Janeiro by SIS. The median for the senior stage is $18 195 a year. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency.
Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Gávea comes first with 81.1 points out of 100, counted from 7 of the 9 criteria. Next come Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Barra (81.1) and Centro Internacional de Educação Integrada (CIEI) (76.6). 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 15 schools: 15 private. We found no state school in Rio de Janeiro with an international accreditation. Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 10 schools: Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Gávea, Escola Americana do Rio de Janeiro - Barra, Centro Internacional de Educação Integrada (CIEI), The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Barra, The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Botafogo, Escola Suíço-Brasileira Rio de Janeiro by SIS, Escola Eleva - Barra da Tijuca, Escola Eleva - Urca, Escola Nova by SIS Swiss International School, Maple Bear Barra da Tijuca. 3 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 1 school: The British School, Rio de Janeiro - Barra.
The earliest intake starts at 18 months old. 14 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 7.4 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.