← Back to the rankingDresden International School
Dresden, Germany · est. 1996 · Private
Illustration · Dresden
Dresden International School (DIS) is a private international all-day school founded in 1996 by government and community leaders from the city of Dresden and the State of Saxony; over 30 years it has grown from 13 to 510 students from 55 countries. The school offers all three IB programmes in English: the PYP for the 5-6 year group and grades 1-5, the MYP for grades 6-10 and the Diploma Programme for grades 11-12, plus a preschool programme for children from age 1 to 5. Graduates receive the IB Diploma, which with certain subject choices is recognised in Germany as equivalent to the Abitur, and the DIS High School Diploma; the MYP Certificate is available in grade 10. German is taught from grade 1 as a first or additional language, and Spanish is required in grades 6-10. In grades 1-4 the school has Ersatzschule status and in grades 5-12 Ergänzungsschule status. Classes have up to 21 students, on average 16-18, with two classes per grade; the teacher-student ratio is 1 to 7. The school is a partner school of the Semperoper Dresden.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $11 484–19 053 a year
10 165–16 865 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
1 year · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, Spanish
Students per teacher
1 to 7
Class size
up to 21 students in grades 1-12, on average 16 to 18; smaller in preschool groups
Registration fee
≈ $62
55 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027 (fee schedule of 16 March 2026) consist of a school fee and a sponsoring fee: preschool campus ages 1-3 10930 EUR, ages 3-5 10165 EUR; the 5-6 year group on the school campus 10730 EUR; grades 1-3 13365 EUR; grades 4-5 14520 EUR; grades 6-10 15680 EUR; grades 11-12 16865 EUR per year. In addition, for the first three years families pay an annual enrollment fee of 1700 EUR (a company pays 5100 EUR once); the school's own example gives 15065 EUR in total for grade 1 in 2026. Fees can be paid monthly (10 instalments) or yearly, with a 200 EUR yearly administration fee for instalments. Students joining during the year pay a share of the annual fee, from 100% in August-September to 15% in June. Families with insufficient income can apply for a reduction of the enrollment and sponsoring fees; the school fee is fixed. Tuition may be partly tax deductible in Germany.
Admissions The school accepts applications for all groups and grades throughout the year, subject to places and the suitability of the programme. Students applying from abroad are accepted only if they will live in Dresden with parents or a legal guardian - there is no boarding. Students come from 55 countries; children without English are supported by the EAL programme, and from grade 9 at least B1 English is required. Steps: enquiry or form, a one-hour visit, the application package (application form, health sheet, language survey, report cards for at least two years for grades 2-10), an interview of parents and child with the division principal and internal tests - assessment up to grade 5, and standardised tests in English, Maths and if applicable German in grades 6-12, sometimes an extended English test. The application fee is 55 EUR per family. After the decision the school issues a contract.
Stages and year groups Preschool programme (ages 1-5) in the Blasewitz villa: single-age groups for ages 1-2 and 2-3, mixed groups for ages 3-5, based on IB principles, with English as the main language but immersion in German as well. IB PYP - the K5 group (ages 5-6) and grades 1-5 on the school campus; IB MYP - grades 6-10 (English or mother tongue German, Spanish, German and English as learned languages, humanities and sciences, design, arts, PE, the Personal Project in grade 10); IB Diploma Programme - grades 11-12 (languages: German and Spanish as language acquisition, English and German at mother tongue level; History, Geography, Economics; Biology, Physics, Chemistry; Mathematics; Visual Arts and Performing Arts). Graduates receive the IB Diploma and the DIS High School Diploma, and students with two languages at mother tongue level qualify for the bilingual IB Diploma.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeNEASC · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes. 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 →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
32 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma 2025: average score 32, pass rate 89.3% (worldwide 81%), highest score 41 points (German Abitur 1.1), 35 points or more for 25%, bilingual diploma for 64% (worldwide 28%), average core points 1.7 of 3, and all passed the Extended Essay and TOK. On the home page the school gives other aggregate figures: an average of 35 points and a 98% pass rate.
Where leavers go: TU Dresden · Technical University of Munich · Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) · Heidelberg University · Humboldt University of Berlin · Free University of Berlin · Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · University of Oxford · Imperial College London · London School of Economics and Political Science · University College London (UCL) · University of Edinburgh
and others, 20 universities in the school's list in allMost graduates continue their studies in Germany, the UK, the USA and the Netherlands, with students also in Austria, Poland, Japan, India, South Korea and other European countries; the home page states that 94% of graduates attend university.
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 transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Chess · Dance · Debating · Hiking · Writing · Basketball · Soccer · Martial Arts · Cheerleading · Design & Craft Workshop · Ballet · Student Council · Buchclub (book club) · GISST (German international schools sports tournaments)
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: 70% of teachers have more than 10 years of experience; the school describes its preschool staff as highly qualified.
The school states a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 7; there are two classes per grade.
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 training
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has a Child Protection Handbook and Policy given to all parents: WHO definitions of abuse, staff conduct expectations, reporting procedures and safer recruitment. All staff are trained annually, there is a Child Protection Team and ten Safeguarding Leads, a Child-on-Child Abuse Policy and the FaceUp online channel for students to report concerns. Primary and secondary school counsellors provide individual and group counselling and a wellbeing curriculum. The preschool campus is fenced with secured gates.
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 data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 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