The ranking holds 47 schools with an international accreditation or an authorised programme. International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 29 of them. The British Cambridge route, IGCSE and A-Level, at 7. A year of school costs from $9 254 to $45 205. A swimming pool on site is confirmed at 9.
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 | $9 254 a year | Colégio Albert Sabin |
| Median | $28 840 a year | top of the fee range at 5 schools with a published fee |
| Most expensive | $45 205 a year | Avenues: The World School - São Paulo |
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 São Paulo are taken from published price lists, not from what third parties say.
All 47 schools in the ranking are private. We have not yet found a state school in São Paulo 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 São Paulo with an IB programme (29): Beacon School, Graded - The American School of São Paulo, St Nicholas School - Pinheiros, Colégio São Luís, Colégio Benjamin Constant, The British College of Brazil, St Paul's School, Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro, St. Francis College, Escola Beit Yaacov, Escola Viva, Colegio Miguel de Cervantes, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Verbo Divino, Escola Cidade Jardim - PlayPen, Escola Eleva - São Paulo, Instituto Educacional Soka do Brasil, Red House International School - Villa-Lobos, Red House International School - Perdizes, Escola Lourenço Castanho, Red House International School - Higienópolis, Chapel School, Red House International School - Museu do Ipiranga II, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Itaim, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Perdizes II, Escola Pueri Domus - Unidade IV (Aclimação), Escola Lourenço Castanho - Alto da Boa Vista, Red House International School - Santana, Global Me School, GIS - The International School of São Paulo. 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 São Paulo: Aubrick Multicultural Bilingual School, Brazilian International School, St Nicholas School - Pinheiros, The British College of Brazil, St Paul's School, St. Francis College, Colégio Friburgo.
A facility counts only when the school names it outright on its own site: a modern campus is not a swimming pool. Swimming pool: 9 schools · School transport: 8 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 São Paulo that is 7 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 $9 254 to $45 205 for a school year. The cheapest is Colégio Albert Sabin, the most expensive Avenues: The World School - São Paulo. The median for the senior stage is $28 840 a year. Fees are converted into dollars at a weekly rate; schools publish them in their own currency.
Aubrick Multicultural Bilingual School comes first with 84.7 points out of 100, counted from 7 of the 9 criteria. Next come Pan American Christian Academy (79.0) and Brazilian International School (77.8). 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 47 schools: 47 private. We found no state school in São Paulo with an international accreditation. Private and state schools go into the ranking on equal terms.
International Baccalaureate programmes are taught at 29 schools: Beacon School, Graded - The American School of São Paulo, St Nicholas School - Pinheiros, Colégio São Luís, Colégio Benjamin Constant, The British College of Brazil, St Paul's School, Colégio Visconde de Porto Seguro, St. Francis College, Escola Beit Yaacov, Escola Viva, Colegio Miguel de Cervantes, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Verbo Divino, Escola Cidade Jardim - PlayPen, Escola Eleva - São Paulo, Instituto Educacional Soka do Brasil, Red House International School - Villa-Lobos, Red House International School - Perdizes, Escola Lourenço Castanho, Red House International School - Higienópolis, Chapel School, Red House International School - Museu do Ipiranga II, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Itaim, Escola Bilíngue Pueri Domus - Perdizes II, Escola Pueri Domus - Unidade IV (Aclimação), Escola Lourenço Castanho - Alto da Boa Vista, Red House International School - Santana, Global Me School, GIS - The International School of São Paulo. 4 of them run the full three-stage cycle: PYP, MYP and DP.
IGCSE and A-Level are offered by 7 schools: Aubrick Multicultural Bilingual School, Brazilian International School, St Nicholas School - Pinheiros, The British College of Brazil, St Paul's School, St. Francis College, Colégio Friburgo.
The earliest intake starts at 6 months old. 44 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 out of 9 on average. We do not use reviews from maps or directories.