← Back to the rankingAmsterdam International Community School
Amsterdam, Netherlands · est. 2003 · State
Illustration · Amsterdam
The Amsterdam International Community School (AICS) is a large, partly state-funded international school in Amsterdam for students aged 4 to 19: the school stresses that it is not a private school, so its fees are several times lower than at private international schools. It opened in 2003 with 16 secondary students, and the primary school followed in 2004; today it is one school on two campuses, South and Sandcastle in Zuidoost, with a shared curriculum and team. AICS calls itself the first Dutch international school to offer all four IB programmes: the Primary Years Programme in primary, the Middle Years Programme in grades 6-10 and, in the last two years, a choice of the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme with a British BTEC business certificate. The language of instruction is English; all students learn Dutch, and the secondary school offers French, Spanish and German. The primary school runs small Fireflies classes for children with special needs, and the school uses the KiVa anti-bullying programme. In 2025-2026, 131 of 149 candidates achieved the IB Diploma.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $6 219–8 666 a year
5 505–7 671 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP · BTEC
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Dutch, French, Spanish, German
Class size
at most 23 students in primary classes
Registration fee
≈ $226
200 EUR
About the fees Annual tuition for new students in 2026-2027: primary school (groep 1-7) 5505 EUR, MYP 1-5 6531 EUR, DP and CP 7671 EUR. With the mandatory charges (excursions and activities, lunch supervision in primary, yearbook, exams in MYP 5 and DP2/CP2) the total ranges from 6025 EUR in groep 1-5 to 9168 EUR in DP2 and CP2. Fees are paid in full or in two instalments, the second by 31 October; students starting after September pay pro rata. The school offers no scholarships.
Admissions The school is state-funded and admits students under Dutch rules: a child with a non-Dutch nationality if one parent is temporarily employed in the Netherlands (with a written statement of the parents' intent to relocate in the future); a Dutch child who has lived and attended school abroad for at least two years because a parent was stationed abroad; a Dutch child whose parent will be stationed abroad within two years (confirmed by the employer). In addition, students from the Dutch system with a passing VWO 4 report or a HAVO diploma may apply for DP1 and CP1 with sufficient fluency in English; Dutch students living permanently in the Netherlands must take Dutch Language and Literature in the Diploma Programme. Applications are made via OpenApply with a 200 EUR fee, with passports, school reports from the last 2 years in English, a photo and a BRP document; applications are processed in order of receipt, and places for the next year are allocated from May. All primary children have an intake, secondary students when needed. Students can join during the year if a place is available, Group 1 until 31 May; children who do not speak English are admitted and supported.
Stages and year groups Grades Primary groep 1-7, MYP 1-5, DP 1-2 / CP 1-2. Primary school (groep 1-7, ages 4-11) follows the IB Primary Years Programme with transdisciplinary units, Dutch taught by a specialist, outdoor learning and a school garden programme; small Fireflies classes serve children aged 4-11 with special needs. Secondary school: the five-year IB Middle Years Programme (MYP 1-5, ages 11-16) with the MYP certificate, then two years of either the IB Diploma Programme or the IB Career-related Programme (South Campus only): three DP courses, the CP core and the Pearson BTEC International Level 3 in Business (nine units, 720 guided learning hours). The IB DP is also open to Dutch students after HAVO or VWO 4.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years, Diploma and Career-related programmes. In the Career-related Programme students also earn a Pearson BTEC diploma in business. The school is accredited by CIS.
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
IBInternational Baccalaureate
A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), MYP (ages 11-16), DP (ages 16-19), CP (ages 16-19, with a vocational slant). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate. CP is the final stage with a vocational slant, ages 16 to 19: some of the DP subjects plus an applied qualification. It is meant for those heading into a trade or an applied degree rather than an academic one.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →CISCouncil of International Schools
It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
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 →BTEC
A British vocational qualification from Pearson: not an academic course with an exam at the end, but a programme of practical assignments in a particular trade, from engineering and business to art and sport.
What this means for this school. Teaching and assessment work differently from A-level: instead of written exams there is a run of practical assignments marked by the school, while Pearson checks the school itself and samples the work. British universities do accept BTEC, but not all of them and not for every course: level 3 carries the same UCAS points as A-level, and that is what a family aiming at a particular university should look at. For a child who needs the classic academic route, BTEC is not a replacement for A-level but a different path.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results IB Diploma 2025-2026: 149 candidates, 131 diplomas (88%), highest score 44 points; Career-related Programme: 15 of 16 (95%). 2024-2025: 133 diplomas of 143 (93%), highest 43 points, CP 18 of 20 (90%). 2023-2024: 93% pass rate, average score 30,3, highest 45 of 45. 2022-2023: 87 of 91 after retakes (96%), average 31, highest 43.
Where leavers go: Amsterdam University College · University of Amsterdam (UvA) · Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) · Leiden University · Maastricht University · Erasmus University Rotterdam · Delft University of Technology · Imperial College London · London School of Economics (LSE) · University of Edinburgh · University of Glasgow · University of Manchester and others, 17 universities in the school's list in all
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
·Cateringnot stated on the website
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Clubs and activities: Eco-Team · Student Council · Dance · Sewing · Chess · Art · Guitar · Film
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
Each primary class has a qualified primary teacher plus specialist teachers; groep 1-2 have a full-time classroom assistant, groep 3 part-time assistants, and a learning support assistant works across the school. AICS is a teacher training school, so interns may work in classes. The school does not publish staff numbers or qualifications.
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
✓Counsellor
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility under the Dutch meldcode protocol; primary and secondary each have a child protection lead, plus one on each campus. The wellbeing programme includes comprehensive sexuality education, the KiVa anti-bullying programme, digital citizenship and a Community Safety Agreement drawn up by staff, students and parents. Each campus has an internal confidential advisor for complaints about bullying, intimidation, discrimination and aggression; the secondary school has a school psychologist and career counsellors; there is a school safety plan.
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%)95 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "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 8 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.
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