← Back to the rankingInternational School of Bologna
Bologna, Italy · est. 2004 · Private
Illustration · Bologna
The International School of Bologna is a small private international day school in the historic centre of Bologna for children aged 3 to 18, founded in 2004; it is the only full IB continuum school in the city. Early years and grades 1-5 follow the PYP (with the Reggio Emilia approach for the youngest), grades 6-10 the MYP and grades 11-12 the Diploma Programme. Instruction is in English at all levels; Italian is taught to all students as a mother tongue or an additional language, and middle school students also take French or Spanish. About 290 students of 45 nationalities attend: 55% of families are expatriates living in Bologna and 45% are local families with at least one Italian parent. The school states a teacher-student ratio of 1 to 6 and classes of no more than 24. From September 2027 the school moves to a new 11000 m2 campus in Zola Predosa, 10 km from the centre.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $11 184–24 707 a year
9 900–21 870 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French, Spanish
Students per teacher
1 to 6
Class size
No more than 24 students per class, language groups considerably smaller.
About the fees Annual fees for 2026-2027 depend on the stage, from Reception (half or full day) to grade 12, and range from 9900 to 21870 EUR per year. Tuition, lunch and other fees are paid in three instalments: by 1 September, 1 November and 1 February. Sibling discount for siblings enrolled at the same time: 10% for the second child, 20% for the third, 30% for the fourth and more. Amounts for individual grades are provided by the admissions office.
Admissions Admission is rolling throughout the year for all stages, from early years to the Diploma Programme, as places become available; popular entry points (Reception and the start of the school year) fill first. Applications are made online and general questions are handled by the Admissions Director; the process is fully paper-free. Placement is by age at the start of the school year; the school does not accept requests to move a child up a year as in the Italian system. Before enrolment the school discusses the needs of neurodiverse learners with the family to see whether it can support them; students with mild to moderate learning needs are supported from admission. International students are accepted: 55% of families are expatriates, and children who do not yet speak English join the English as an Additional Language programme in small groups.
Stages and year groups Grades Reception, K, Transition, 1-12. Early years: Reception (ages 3-4), Kindergarten (ages 4-5), Transition (ages 5-6), PYP through play and the Reggio Emilia approach. Primary: grades 1-5 (ages 6-11), PYP. Middle school: grades 6-10 (ages 11-16), MYP with the Community Project in grade 8 and the Personal Project in grade 10; all students take English, Italian (as mother tongue or additional language), French or Spanish, maths, science, individuals and societies, visual arts, music, drama and digital design (grades 6-8). High school: grades 11-12, Diploma Programme with six subjects, TOK, the Extended Essay and CAS; Italian in the Diploma Programme is offered as a first language or as a foreign language, including ab initio. The school does not describe the Italian state curriculum or exams.
Address Via della Libertà 2 - 40123 Bologna
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
The school publishes nothing about where its leavers go: no share going on to university, no exam results, no list of universities.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Art studio · Playground
Clubs and activities: Chess · Hip Hop · Calligraphy · Drama/Acting · Italian · Chinese · Basketball · Media Production · Digital Design · Music
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 states that its English as an Additional Language teachers are experienced and qualified, and it employs a learning support specialist; in middle and high school subjects are taught by specialist MYP and Diploma Programme teachers.
More than 65 people work at the school (more than 75 in the brochure). The staff page names the head of school, the primary and secondary principals, the school counsellor, the librarian and teachers at all levels.
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
·Counsellornot stated on the website
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Every student has access to a school counsellor who provides confidential support for social, emotional and academic well-being and teaches the Personal and Social Education course in grades 6-10; a student support service includes learning support and English as an Additional Language specialists. The website has a whistleblowing section; the staff includes a security officer.
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 data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 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