← Back to the rankingInternational French School of Amsterdam
Amsterdam, Netherlands · Private
Illustration · Amsterdam
The International French School of Amsterdam (IFS) is a private French school with an international dimension for children aged 2 to 18 on two sites in central Amsterdam, approved by the French Ministry of Education and part of the AEFE network. It teaches the French national curriculum bilingually: from age 3 and through primary the week is split into 13 hours of French, 11 hours of English and 2 hours of Dutch, all taught by native speakers. In middle school (grades 6-9) pupils choose the regular track with more hours in French or the British international track with enhanced English, English literature following the British curriculum and history-geography half in English; at the end of grade 9 all take the diplôme national du brevet. At lycée pupils take the regular baccalauréat or the Baccalauréat Français International (BFI) in French and English, launched in September 2025. Spanish starts in middle school, other languages can be studied remotely through CNED, and there is preparation for Cambridge English certificates. Children of more than 30 nationalities attend; newcomers without strong French or English get accelerated small-group lessons.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $13 545–18 573 a year
11 990–16 440 EUR
Programmes
French programme
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
French, English
Languages taught
Dutch, Spanish
Registration fee
≈ $1 695
1 500 EUR
About the fees Annual fees for the 2026-2027 school year: the TPS class (age 2) 16440 EUR, preschool 11990 EUR, primary 11990 EUR, middle school 13060 EUR, high school 15750 EUR. Fees are paid in three parts: by 15 September, 1 December and 1 March; pupils are not admitted to class if payment is missing. From the third child there is a 5% discount on fees (not combinable with company payment). Hot lunches, after school care and holiday camps are charged separately.
Admissions The school is open to French and foreign pupils of all nationalities; families may apply even if the child does not yet have a strong basis in French and English - there is an accelerated small-group programme at the start of the year. Children are admitted from age 2 (the TPS class) up to the final year, Terminale; before applying the school offers open days, visits or a discovery call, and the family then submits an application. Once the application is approved, a non-refundable first enrolment fee is due within 7 days. French families registered with the French Consulate in Amsterdam can apply for a means-tested consular school grant if the child is at least 3 in the year school starts.
Stages and year groups Grades TPS, Nursery, Pre-K, Kindergarten, Grade 1-12. The French national curriculum (the school is AEFE-accredited at all stages): preschool for ages 2-6 (Nursery 2-3, 3-4, Pre-K 4-5, Kindergarten 5-6), primary CP-CM2 (grades 1-5, ages 6-11) bilingual in French and English, middle school (collège, grades 6-9, ages 11-15) with a choice of the regular or British international track and the diplôme national du brevet exam, and lycée (grades 10-12, ages 15-18) with the baccalauréat or the Baccalauréat Français International (BFI). Dutch is taught 2 hours a week from preschool, Spanish from middle school, and other languages remotely through CNED. Language certificates on the CEFR scale, such as Cambridge English.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
AEFE · accreditationGlobeducate · school is part of the networkThe Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) lists the school in its register as a partner school (partenaire).
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
AEFEAgency for French Education Abroad
It runs the network of French schools worldwide, while the accreditation itself, the homologation, is granted by the French education ministry and inspected by French state inspectors. A leaver from a homologated school moves into a school in France without an entrance examination. Homologation is granted stage by stage, so it sometimes covers only part of the year groups.
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 →French programme
The state programme of France. A school is homologated by the French ministry of education, and a leaver may move into a school in France without entrance tests. Homologation is granted stage by stage, so it sometimes covers only part of the year groups.
What this means for this school. Which year groups of this school are covered by homologation - only the primary ones, or all the way to the final year - is not stated here. The difference matters: it decides whether the school takes a child through to the French baccalaureate or hands them on to another school halfway.
Globeducateschool network
A K12 education group bringing together bilingual and international schools as well as online programmes. The site names "65+" schools in 11 countries and 40,000 pupils, and on all the pages read these numbers agree. Whether the group owns the schools, manages them or passes on its methodology under licence is not said on the site; the year of foundation and the country of registration are not named.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Diplôme national du brevet 2025: 100% of pupils passed, 100% with distinction, and 76% received the top Très Bien grade or Très Bien with the jury's congratulations. The school does not publish baccalauréat results.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Art studio · Playground · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Movement and motor skills · Chess · Robotics · Watercolours · Making clothes · Student Life Council · Printemps des poètes (poetry spring)
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
Lessons in French, English and Dutch are taught by native speakers: French teachers and native English and Dutch speakers. In middle school subjects are taught by subject specialists, and a class teacher coordinates the class team. Preschool has specialised early years teachers with experienced assistants. The team is trained in educational adaptation, and there is a coordinator for pupils with special educational needs, a librarian, student life coordinators and a nurse.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school nurse is also the Designated Safeguarding Lead; there is a medical room and age-specific health programmes (body image and intimacy, sex education, first aid, kindness and anti-bullying, dentist visits, healthy eating, cycling proficiency). The school has a child protection policy, a bullying prevention system, school rules for primary and secondary, a whistleblowing policy and a no-phones rule during the day; it follows the safeguarding standards of its international network.
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%)72 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 data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 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.
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