← Back to the rankingCologne International School
Cologne, Germany · est. 2007 · Private
Illustration · Cologne
Cologne International School (CIS) is a private international school for grades 1 to 12 in Cologne, which opened in August 2007 in Widdersdorf with 44 students; the legal entity was founded in 2005. The school has offered the IB Diploma Programme since 2012 and on 24 December 2024 became an IB Continuum school: the PYP in grades 1-5, the MYP in grades 6-10 and the Diploma Programme in grades 11-12. The primary school is bilingual: each class has one German-speaking and one English-speaking teacher, about half of the lessons are in each language, and the PYP is combined with the North Rhine-Westphalia state curriculum. From grade 6 instruction is mainly in English, with German a daily core subject. Grade 10 includes a pre-IB Diploma year and the NRW Mittlerer Schulabschluss exams; graduates receive the IB Diploma and a US-accredited High School Diploma. Students come from more than 50 nationalities. The school is funded by tuition without state funding and operates as an Ergänzungsschule. Since 2022 it has occupied a new sustainable campus in Butzweilerhof with a boarding house for older students.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $22 900–27 701 a year
20 270–24 520 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Languages of instruction
English, German
Languages taught
French, Spanish
Class size
12 to 22 students per class; in primary about 20 children with two teachers per class; in grades 11-12 groups of 5 to 20 students
Registration fee
≈ $847
750 EUR
About the fees Annual tuition for 2026-2027: grades 1-5 (PYP) 20270 EUR, grades 6-10 (MYP) 22680 EUR, the Pre-IB Diploma grade 10 22890 EUR, grades 11-12 (Diploma Programme) 24520 EUR. Fees may be paid in 12 monthly instalments of 1776, 1987, 2000 and 2148 EUR respectively; monthly payment may incur interest. Fees include instruction, educational resources and some extracurricular activities. Exams are extra: the Mittlerer Schulabschluss 105 EUR per subject (5 subjects), IB Diploma exams 92 EUR per subject. Boarding for 2026-2027 costs 22750 to 26050 EUR per year depending on the room. A need-based financial aid programme exists, with applications reviewed by an independent tax consultancy.
Admissions The school accepts children of all language backgrounds, and prior German is not required; students represent more than 50 nationalities, and visa status documents are required for non-EU citizens. Applications are accepted all year subject to availability. Steps: online inquiry form, campus tour or virtual meeting, documents (birth certificate and vaccination record in Latin letters, for first graders the school entrance examination certificate and a kindergarten report, for older students report cards from the previous two years, teacher recommendations and language certificates), then an admission interview with the division principal, combined with a trial day for grades 6-11, and the school contract. A 750 EUR fee is paid before the interview. Grade 1 admits children who turn 6 by 30 September; younger children may be admitted by joint decision of school and parents after the medical examination. The boarding house admits students from age 15 and requires at least B2 English. EAL and DaZ programmes support newcomers in English and German.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-12. Full IB continuum: PYP (grades 1-5, bilingual in English and German, together with the North Rhine-Westphalia state curriculum), MYP (grades 6-10, in English; German is compulsory as Language and Literature or Language Acquisition, with Spanish or French as options), a Pre-IB Diploma year in grade 10 and the IB Diploma Programme (grades 11-12, in English). In grade 10 students take the NRW Mittlerer Schulabschluss exams (5 subjects). The school states that graduates receive both the IB Diploma and a US-accredited High School Diploma. The school does not offer Cambridge or Pearson courses. Age on 30 September: grade 1 from 6, grade 12 at 17.
Address Rudi-Conin-Straße 10, 50829 Köln
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · membershipNEASC · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes. The school is a member of CIS (listed as Registered). The school is accredited by NEASC.
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). 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.
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 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. There is no entry in the organisation's open directory: the status comes from the school's own words.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →NEASCNew England Association of Schools and Colleges
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
33 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma 2025: 37 candidates, average score 33, highest 44 out of 45, 92% pass rate (the school gives the world average as 30.6). 2024: 39 candidates, average 32.3, highest 43; 2023: 23 candidates, average 30, highest 39; 2022: 20, average 34, highest 41; 2021: 20, average 33, highest 42; 2020: 27, average 34, highest 40; 2019: 17, average 30, highest 39.
Where leavers go: Cambridge University · Harvard University · Technical University of Munich · Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) · Heidelberg University · University of Bonn · Trinity College Dublin · University College London (UCL) · Durham University · Leiden University · Maastricht University · Delft University of Technology
and others, 16 universities in the school's list in allThe school lists universities attended by its graduates in Europe, Germany, the UK, the US, Canada and Asia; university guidance and application support are part of the high school programme.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
✓Boarding
Also on site: Art studio · Playground · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Badminton & Tennis · Basketball RheinStars · Volleyball · Football · Design & Art · Digital Design · Portrait Painting · Esports · MUN · DELF French · DaF German (German as a foreign language) · DELE Spanish · Big Band · String Ensemble · Musical Theater · Choir · Acting · Moviemaking · Ninja Warrior · Inline Skating · Zumba Dance · Italian for native speakers
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: The school hires teachers with education degrees and qualified teacher status, with English and/or German; IB teaching experience is a plus.
Each primary class has two teachers: one teaches in German, the other in English. The school does not state staff numbers; the about page presents the division principals and coordinators.
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 policynot stated on the website
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Child protection is part of the school's safeguarding process: all staff receive annual training and share concerns with the Child Protection Officer, who works with school leadership. Students have pastoral advisors, learning support, psychological counselling and an inclusion team; the school describes an open and safe campus. Boarding staff are present at all times, and the boarding house is accredited by the BSA.
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 data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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