The British School of Sofia (BSS) is a private British school in Sofia for children aged 2 to 18 and, by its own account, the only school in Bulgaria registered with the UK Department for Education as a British School Overseas. The kindergarten and Grades 1-4 are on Ivan Radoev Street, while the school from Grade 5 and the College (IGCSE and IB) are in a separate building on Georgi Raichev Street, both in the Vitosha district; the school also has a campus in Plovdiv. The kindergarten follows the International Early Years Curriculum, Grades 1-6 Cambridge Primary and the International Primary Curriculum, Grades 7-9 Cambridge Lower Secondary and the International Middle Years Curriculum, followed by two years of Cambridge IGCSE and the College: a Pre-IB year and the two-year IB Diploma Programme. The school also reports the IB Career-related Programme and an IB PYP licence since 2025. All subjects are taught in English; the school does not issue a Bulgarian diploma and describes itself as not bilingual but solely British. The school reports about 420 students of 42 nationalities, 65% of them international; average class size is 15, with a maximum of 20. The school is accredited by Cambridge, COBIS and the IB and is a member of ECIS.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $11 715–21 182 a year
10 370–18 750 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, DP, CP · Cambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Bulgarian, Spanish, French, German, Russian
Students per teacher
5 students per teacher, 4 in Grades 11-12
Class size
15 students on average, no more than 20; 10 on average in Grades 11-12 pupils
About the fees Annual fees for 2026-2027 (10 months) when paid in one instalment: Nursery 10370 euro, Reception 11130 euro, Grades 1-2 13800 euro, Grades 3-6 15180 euro, Grades 7-9 16260 euro, IGCSE 17590 euro, Pre-IB and IB Diploma Programme 18750 euro. Paying in two or three instalments costs more. A 5% discount applies for a second child and 10% for a third or subsequent child. Electronic learning resources are included; Checkpoint, IGCSE and IB exams are charged separately at the examination boards' rates. Meals cost 1690 euro a year in the kindergarten and 1860 euro in the School and College, transport from 1600 to 3350 euro a year depending on zone and direction. Tuition fees are non-refundable once paid.
Admissions Applications for the next school year are accepted from January to the end of June; families relocating in summer can apply until the end of August, and during the year students are accepted if places are available. Required are the application form, the child's birth certificate or passport, the parents' passports, ID cards or residence permits, for school also reports for the past two years translated into English or Bulgarian, and medical documents. Grade 1 starts at age 6; Grades 1-3 have no entry exams or interviews. Grades 4-8 take a placement test in English and Maths or show proof of level, the IGCSE programme requires entrance exams in English and Maths during trial days, and the College (Pre-IB and IB 1) requires exams in English and Maths and an interview. Children can apply without English: the school gives language support, but expects level A2 for Grades 3-4 and B1 from Grade 5; below that level the student must take the paid Fast ForWord programme and at least one month of Summer School.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-Nursery, Nursery 1, Nursery 2, Reception, 1-9, IGCSE 1-2, Pre-IB, IB DP 1-2. Kindergarten (4 years, from age 2) - International Early Years Curriculum and Jolly Phonics. Grades 1-6 - Cambridge Primary and the International Primary Curriculum, with the Cambridge Primary Checkpoint in Grade 6. Grades 7-9 - Cambridge Lower Secondary and the International Middle Years Curriculum, with the Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint in Grade 9. Two years of Cambridge IGCSE (exams in English, Mathematics, Science, ICT and two more subjects). College: a Pre-IB year and the two-year IB Diploma Programme. The school also reports the IB Career-related Programme (external career-related study in Business Administration) and an IB PYP licence since 2025. The school does not issue a Bulgarian diploma; for transfer to a Bulgarian school it issues a certificate with an apostille. There is no A Level at the school.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, DP, CP · authorised programmeCambridge · Primary, Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeBSO · accreditationCOBIS · membershipThe IB register lists the Primary Years, Diploma and Career-related programmes at the school, and the Cambridge register names it as its centre. It is inspected under the British Schools Overseas scheme and is a member of COBIS.
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), 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. 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 →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: Primary (ages 5-11), Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge. Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. 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 belongs to this organisation but has not been through its accreditation. The difference matters: membership is usually paid for and has no external inspection behind it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results IB Diploma, class of 2026: nearly 40% of exam takers scored 5 or higher in their subjects, 77.3% of all subject grades were 4 or higher and nearly 24% were 6 or 7; the top result was 42 out of 45 points, followed by 39, 37 and 36. Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint 2025/2026: English 36 against a Cambridge average of 34, Mathematics 34 against 31, Science 33 against 31. IGCSE: 94% of students achieved at least five A-C grades, 88% six and 56% eight.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground · Makerspace
Campus: Since 2019 the School and College have been in their own building in the Vitosha district: a multifunctional sports field, a gymnasium, a hall for performances and conferences, a science lab, a Mac Lab and a Windows Lab, Lego and Robotics rooms, an art room, a library, a dining room and a primary playground; every classroom has an interactive whiteboard. From Grade 3 students use school iPads. The kindergarten and Grades 1-4 are in a separate building on Ivan Radoev Street. In summer 2026 the school was completing a new secondary campus. Meals and door-to-door transport within Sofia are paid separately. There is no boarding.
Clubs and activities: Taekwondo · Vocal Group · Piano · Guitar · Theater Arts · Applied Arts · Mental Arithmetic · Football · STEM Lego · Field Hockey · Ballet · Duke of Edinburgh Award
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
✓Teacher qualifications
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
What the listings show: relevant education and qualifications for the subjects they teach
The website names about 70 teachers and staff with their subjects and roles, including IB DP, IB CP and IB PYP coordinators, a Pastoral and Behaviour Lead, quality assurance staff and native-language teachers. The school says all teachers have the education and qualifications for their subjects and experience teaching non-native speakers of English.
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
The school puts the welfare and safeguarding of every student at the centre of its work: there is a Pastoral and Behaviour Lead, an SMSC Lead and a school counsellor. A full-time medical person works at every campus and teaches children first aid and hygiene; the curriculum includes Personal, Social and Health Education.
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%)97 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%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 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
Sofia, Bulgaria · Private