← Back to the rankingBME International Secondary Grammar School
Budapest, Hungary · est. 1993 · Private
Illustration · Budapest
BME International Secondary Grammar School (officially BME által alapított Két Tanítási Nyelvű Gimnázium) is a private grammar school in Budapest's district XI founded by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME); its first school year began in September 1993. Since 2005 it has been run by the Angol Nyelvű Közoktatásért Alapítvány foundation. By curriculum and certificate it is a Hungarian grammar school with the érettségi, but all lessons except Hungarian language and literature for Hungarian students are taught in English. The four-year programme covers grades 9-12; since 2015 the IB Diploma Programme has run in parallel in grades 11-12. The school calls itself international: students of 32 nationalities study there, and teachers are Hungarian and foreign. Students take Cambridge English (First, Advanced, Proficiency), and the school prepares students for TOEFL. Once in four years students go on a week-long study trip to England, and every year to a ski camp in Austria.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $7 074–10 764 a year
2.3–3.5 million HUF
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Hungarian, Spanish, French, German
Class size
no more than 25 students per class, no more than 18 in groups for subjects taught in English
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027: 2300000 forints a year in all classes of the Hungarian programme (indexed annually to average earnings published by KSH); the IB Diploma Programme, according to the 2026 application information, costs 3500000 forints per academic year. The second and each further child get a 20% reduction. Top students pay 10-20% less the following semester, and the best student may receive a full scholarship for a semester.
Admissions Grade 9 (48 places in two classes) admits students who have completed primary school through the central KIFIR admission system (OM 035349); students of Hungarian schools apply through their school, students of foreign schools through their parents. All take an English test (written and oral); holders of a B2 certificate and native English speakers take only an oral interview. Applicants scoring under 70% of B2 level cannot be admitted under the law on bilingual schools; the decision then rests on grade 7 and 8 reports, with a short interview if needed. Grades 10-11 require the English test and a successful report, and transfers from Hungarian or foreign schools require supplementary exams in differing subjects. The IB (grade 11) admits students through an application form, a handwritten essay, a teacher recommendation, a presentation and an interview: attendance of at least 90%, an average of at least 4.5, age 16-19 on 1 September and at least 20 hours of community service. The school states directly that it admits foreign applicants from foreign schools.
Stages and year groups Grades 9-12; IB 11-12. Hungarian national grammar school curriculum (NAT) taught in English, four years, grades 9-12, leading to the Hungarian érettségi; Hungarian students study Hungarian language and literature in Hungarian. A second language from beginner level: Spanish, French or German. Since 2015 the IB Diploma Programme has run in parallel in English in grades 11-12. The school does not teach Cambridge programmes; it offers students the chance to sit Cambridge English language exams.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe IB register lists the Diploma Programme at the school (registered as BME International Secondary School); it is taught in grades 11-12 alongside the English-taught Hungarian gymnasium programme and the érettségi exam.
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: DP (ages 16-19). 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.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
34.9 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma, May 2021: 22 candidates, mean total 34.9 against a world mean of 33.02, mean subject grade 5.59 against 5.19 worldwide, all candidates passed (world rate 89%); two students scored 43 points and one 41. The school publishes no more recent IB results. According to the school, in recent years students have passed Cambridge Advanced and Proficiency with a one hundred percent success rate.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·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 is in Lágymányos (Budapest's district XI), next to the new university campus, on the corner of Egry József and Stoczek streets. It has an IB Library. Textbooks are lent to students for the duration of their studies. There is no boarding.
Summer programme away from campus: . The school runs no camp of its own on campus
Every August before school starts, the school takes new students for three days to a camp in the mountains near Kemence; travel, accommodation and meals are paid by the school. There is a yearly ski camp in Austria at students' expense.
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers39
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
The 2026-2027 staff list has 39 teachers and one administrative staff member, including the principal, two vice principals, the IB coordinator and an assistant coordinator. The school says its teachers are Hungarian and foreign, and many Hungarian teachers hold foreign degrees or have international experience. Every teacher holds a weekly consultation hour.
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%)82 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 data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data65 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country