The German embassy primary school in Istanbul is a small institution: four small classes from grade 1 to grade 4 with around fifty pupils, plus a German kindergarten with a pre-school group of around thirty children. The school building stands in the Şişli district, the kindergarten and pre-school group in Tarabya, and the lower secondary classes, grades 5 to 8, are housed in the building of the German School Istanbul. In structure the school mirrors the embassy school in Ankara, of which it is a branch.
Key facts
Programmes
German programme
Languages of instruction
German
About the fees Fees are set by a separate schedule of charges for the school year. Three applications for reduced fees come with it: a hardship discount, a social discount and a sibling discount; completed forms go to the managing director and to the administration.
Admissions The school states plainly that under the legal rules in force it cannot admit Turkish citizens, including dual nationals, and that this applies regardless of the parents' citizenship. The admission route is set out in three documents: guidance on admission, a checklist of steps, and the application form for grades 1 to 4.
Stages and year groups The primary school has four classes, grades 1 to 4, with around fifty pupils. The kindergarten with its pre-school group holds around thirty children. Grades 5 to 8 are taught in the building of the German School Istanbul.
Address Yörük Çıkmazı 12, 34420 Karaköy, İstanbul
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ZfA · accreditationWDA · part of the allianceThe school describes itself as a German school abroad recognised and supported by the Central Agency for German Schools Abroad of the Federal Office of Administration. It is the Istanbul branch of the private school of the German embassy in Ankara. The primary school covers grades 1 to 4 and has a German kindergarten with a pre-school group attached; lower secondary, grades 5 to 8, sits in the building of the German School Istanbul. The school is also listed among the members of the Weltverband Deutscher Auslandsschulen (WDA), the association of the founding bodies of German schools abroad; it does not inspect schools, and the membership carries no accreditation threshold.
school is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →WDAWorld Association of German Schools Abroad
An association of the owners of German schools abroad: in essence an industry lobby and a service organisation. It runs no inspections. The condition of admission is a recognised German certificate, but that recognition is granted by the German state, not by WDA.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to an association of school owners. There is no inspection of its own behind it: the badge rests on a decision of the German state and adds nothing to it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The domain bs-istanbul.de, under which the school is registered, does not answer at all: the connection times out. The school keeps its pages on botschaftsschuleistanbul.de.. We have asked the school for the data directly.
Facilities
The domain bs-istanbul.de, under which the school is registered, does not answer at all: the connection times out. The school keeps its pages on botschaftsschuleistanbul.de.. We have asked the school for the data directly.
Teaching staff
The domain bs-istanbul.de, under which the school is registered, does not answer at all: the connection times out. The school keeps its pages on botschaftsschuleistanbul.de.. We have asked the school for the data directly.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)72 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%)no datathe criterion switches on once there is data about the teachers Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 Value for money (6%) scored at the median65 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 6 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Istanbul, Turkey · Private