← Back to the rankingIstanbul Akademik Sistem Okulları (IAS)
Istanbul, Turkey · Private
Illustration · Istanbul
A private school in the Başakşehir district of İstanbul, teaching on an American model: the school's stated aim is that its students use English freely. Its former name, Istanbul American Schools, survives on the accreditations page; every other page is signed Istanbul Akademik Sistem Okulları, and the school's working email sits on a third domain. The school writes that its partners have twenty years of experience in education. It also presents itself as an IB world school: by its own account it is authorised for the middle years programme and for the diploma, while for the primary years programme it remains a candidate school, and it states itself that candidacy does not guarantee authorisation. The card says this in words only: the badge and the stages follow a registry record, and the school has none with that organisation. The school keeps small teaching groups and speaks of a low student to teacher ratio without giving a figure.
Key facts
Programmes
American programme
Languages of instruction
English
About the fees The school names no fees on its site: there is no price list and no payment page, and the admission page refers money questions to the registration office.
Admissions Applications go through the admission form on the site; the school undertakes to process one within two days and to confirm by email. For final enrolment a family downloads the registration form, completes it and hands it to the registration office together with a passport copy and a residency card. The school names no entrance tests and no deadlines, and asks that questions be sent to the admissions mailbox.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery - 12. Levels: nursery and kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school and high school - the school takes a child from early learning through to year twelve. The secondary level is built as a set of connected courses leading to the American diploma programme. Among its subjects the school names English, languages, mathematics, social studies, science, physical education, arts and Islamic studies, with robotics classes and after-school academic courses on top.
Address Başakşehir Mah. Yücelen Sok. No:5, Başakşehir / İstanbul
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cognia · accreditationThe school is listed in the Cognia registry as a school, that is, accredited as an institution; the governing body named in the record is Istanbul American Schools Egitim A.S. The school keeps an accreditations page of its own, which says that it is accepted and registered by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Turkey, that it teaches the American curriculum of the state of California, and that it works to the AdvancED standards for quality schools and the AdvancED accreditation process - AdvancED being the former name of Cognia. The registry name Istanbul American School is left on that page alone. No record number is given.
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
CogniaCognia, formerly AdvancED
The widest-reaching American accreditation: some forty thousand schools in over a hundred countries. It accredits both individual schools and whole school systems. It also sells a paid membership with no inspection behind it, and that membership is often passed off as accreditation.
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 →American programme
The American school programme, with the High School Diploma at the end. It usually comes together with AP courses, which the College Board stands behind, and with an American accreditation - MSA, NEASC or Cognia.
What this means for this school. The diploma is written out by the school itself: the American programme has no common leaving exam, and the content of the senior years is set by the school. Outside checking therefore rests on two things here - the accreditation of the school, and the AP exams if the school runs them.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Campus: The school shows its campus as a gallery of rooms: an olympic pool and a smaller one, a gym, laboratories, a music room, a conference hall, a play room, a play house and a rewards room.
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 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 7 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