The British School of Milan (BSM), formerly the Sir James Henderson School, is one of the longest-established British schools in Italy: it was founded in 1969 as an independent, not-for-profit school for Milan's English-speaking families. The school teaches a British curriculum in English for children aged 3 to 18: early years (Nursery and Reception), primary (Year 1-6) and senior school (Year 7-13). In Years 10-11 students take around nine IGCSE exams, and in the Sixth Form every student follows the IB Diploma Programme; the school does not offer A Levels. More than 700 pupils of about 40 nationalities attend, around 60% of them Italian or from Italian-international families. A year costs from 14700 EUR in early years to 23800 EUR in the final years. The average IB Diploma score in 2026 was 39, a school record. The school does not award an Italian diploma: students who wish prepare for the Italian exams at the end of the fifth and eighth grades in paid after-school lessons.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $16 607–26 888 a year
14 700–23 800 EUR
Programmes
IB · DP · Cambridge · IGCSE · Pearson Edexcel
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French, Spanish
Class size
up to age 16 around 20 students per class, in the two final years around 10 on average
Registration fee
≈ $3 502
3 100 EUR
About the fees Tuition fees 2026-2027 for private families: Nursery and Reception 14700 EUR per year, Years 1-2 17100, Years 3-4 18800, Years 5-6 19750, Years 7-9 21100, Years 10-11 22600, Years 12-13 23800 EUR. Corporate rates are higher: from 16150 to 26150 EUR. Fees are paid in three instalments: 40% by 31 May, 30% by 31 October and 30% by 31 January. Discounts: 12% for the third child and 65% for the fourth child attending at the same time.
Admissions The school describes itself as academically non-selective. Admissions are rolling with no fixed deadline and are based on an interview (with the Head of Primary or the Head of Key Stage), reports and a reference from the current school, English and Mathematics assessments and availability of places. Assessments are required for the Senior School and check whether a child can access a curriculum delivered in English; there are generally no assessments for the Primary School. The entrance assessment costs 400 EUR, deducted from the registration fee if a place is confirmed. Entry to Years 10 and 12 for September 2027 follows a separate timetable: registration by 15 September 2026, entrance exams on 1 and 6 October 2026, interviews in October. The school maintains a balance of British, Italian and international students in each year group and advises families moving to Milan from abroad to apply early, even before relocation is confirmed. Year group is set by the British academic year (age on 1 September); Nursery entry is from age 3, with November and January entry points.
Stages and year groups Grades Nursery, Reception, Year 1-13. British curriculum: Early Years Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception, ages 3-5), Primary Year 1-6, Senior School Year 7-13 (Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4 with IGCSE exams in Years 10-11, Sixth Form Years 12-13 with the IB Diploma Programme for all). Cambridge IGCSE in Years 10-11 for all students: Mathematics (0980) and Additional Mathematics (0606) for the strongest, English as a Second Language (0510/0511), Geography, Chemistry, History; English Language and Literature follow Edexcel IGCSE, Art is GCSE; around nine exams in total. IGCSE languages: Italian, French, Spanish; in the Diploma Programme Italian Language A for native speakers and Language B (Italian, French, Spanish). There is no A Level programme; strong linguists in Year 11 sometimes take accelerated A Level courses. No Italian diploma: the school is not paritaria; preparation for the Italian exams at the end of the fifth and eighth grades is offered in paid lessons.
Address Via Carlo Alberto Pisani Dossi 16, 20134 Milano
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeCambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeBSO · accreditationCOBIS · accreditationHMC · part of the allianceThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge IGCSE. British curriculum: in Years 10-11 everyone takes Cambridge IGCSE Maths, English as a Second Language, Geography, Chemistry and History, with Edexcel English, before the IB Diploma. The school holds a British Schools Overseas (BSO) inspection. The school is an accredited member of COBIS. The school is a member of HMC.
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 →CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: IGCSE (ages 14-16). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →BSOBritish government inspection of schools overseas
A scheme of the UK Department for Education: a school abroad is inspected against the standards for independent schools in England, including safeguarding and the standards for boarding. The inspections are done by independent inspectorates approved by the department, and the inspectorates themselves are monitored annually by Ofsted. The reports are published in full on the government website.
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 →COBISCouncil of British International Schools
An association of British schools abroad with a quality inspection of its own. It has nine membership categories, and the word "accredited" appears in seven of them, although COBIS does its own inspection in one: in the rest it recognises an accreditation granted by somebody 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 →HMCConference of heads of British independent schools
It is a head who becomes a member of this conference, not a school: membership is offered to the head, and in some categories the logo is marked as personal. A badge on a school's website means its head belongs to the conference. For full international membership there is a check - two people, two days - but no live external inspection is required.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to this network. That is not a quality inspection: a network is something a school joins, while an accreditation is something a school goes through. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Pearson Edexcel
A British exam board, the second after Cambridge. It issues its own versions of IGCSE and A-Level: the programme is the same in substance, what differs is who sets and marks the exams.
What this means for this school. The exams are set and marked by Pearson, and the school acts as an exam centre. Universities accept IGCSE and A-Level from Pearson on the same footing as the Cambridge ones. One caveat about checking: the Pearson centre search shows only those centres that agreed to be shown, so the absence of a school from it proves nothing.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
39 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma: average score 39 in 2026 (school record, more than half the class scored 40 or above, average 6.03 out of 7 per subject), 37 in 2025 (100% pass), 37.3 in 2024, 36 in 2023, 37 in 2022. IGCSE 2026: 77% of grades 9-7, 40% top grade 9, 98% of grades 9-4, average grade 7.5.
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · University of Cambridge · Yale University · University College London (UCL) · London School of Economics (LSE) · King's College London · University of Edinburgh · Trinity College Dublin · Politecnico di Milano · Bocconi University
Graduates go on to universities in the UK, Italy, the US, the Netherlands, Spain, Ireland, Hong Kong and Korea. In 2026, 95% of graduates secured a place at their first-choice university; in 2025 one fifth of the class secured places at Ivy League and Oxbridge universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: One campus on Via Pisani Dossi in eastern Milan, near Udine metro station and Lambrate railway station. The primary school has its own gymnasium; from Year 3 children go by bus to the nearby Campo Schuster sports centre and to the Segrate pool. There is an Italian library, a lift, a café bar at morning break; lunches are provided by Pellegrini Catering (8.45 EUR per meal, not included in fees), and school buses are run by an external operator. Students from Year 7 work on laptops. It is a day school with no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Football · Rugby · Volleyball · Basketball · Badminton · Fencing · Trampolining · Canoeing · Rowing · Karate · Drama · Choirs · BSM Eisteddfod · The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · Model United Nations
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
✓Number of teachers100
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: Most teachers are recruited from the UK, hold the British PGCE teaching qualification and have experience in British schools abroad; language teachers are native speakers.
The school has more than 100 teachers, supported by teaching assistants in the Primary School; instrumental music is taught by peripatetic teachers. About 10% of the student body changes each year.
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 room
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
A Registered Nurse is on site daily from 8:30 to 17:30, providing first aid and managing care plans for students with health conditions; more than 80 staff hold First Aid at Work certificates. There is a school counsellor, learning support, and a system of tutors and Key Stage heads.
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%)84 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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)100 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country
Milan, Italy · est. 1969 · Private