← Back to the rankingInternational School of Milan
Baranzate, Italy · est. 1958 · Private
Illustration · Baranzate
The International School of Milan is a private international day and boarding school for children aged 2 to 18, founded in 1958 by Francesco Formiga; it was the first IB school in Milan. Since 2013 the whole school has been on one large campus in Baranzate on the north-western edge of Milan, and a boarding house for senior students opened there in 2018. All stages follow IB programmes: the PYP in early years and grades 1-6, the MYP in grades 7-11 and the Diploma Programme in grades 12-13. It is an English-language school; all students study Italian, Italian children prepare for the state exams at the end of primary and middle school, and a Japanese language programme has been offered since 1958. More than 900 students from over 60 countries attend, about half of them international. The average IB Diploma score in 2026 was 34.5, the highest 45, the pass rate 100%, and 69% earned a bilingual diploma; a 2024 graduate with 45 points was the first IB student in Italy to receive the state Alfieri del Lavoro award.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $13 896–30 446 a year
12 300–26 950 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
2 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Italian, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese
Registration fee
≈ $2 372
2 100 EUR
About the fees Annual fees for 2026-2027 are paid in full or in three instalments: 25% on enrolment, 50% by 23 August and 25% by 1 December 2026. Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten full day 12300 EUR, Pre-Kindergarten half day 10760 EUR; Transition 13500 EUR; grades 1-2 19800 EUR; grades 3-5 from 20050 to 20250 EUR; grade 6 21450 EUR; grades 7-9 from 22100 to 22200 EUR; grades 10-11 25000 and 25100 EUR; grades 12-13 26950 EUR. Boarding on top of tuition: double room 19000 EUR per year, single room 25000 EUR. Fees include insurance and medical service (Pre-K to grade 3), textbooks and stationery (up to grade 5), day trips (up to grade 6), external examinations (grades 12-13) and the fees for the Italian state exams.
Admissions The family submits an online application, then the parents (with the child where possible) meet the head or deputy head, who introduces the school and assesses the application. Secondary applicants take an online CAT4 cognitive test and an interview, and further assessments may be required; Diploma Programme applicants also provide school reports, take CAT4 and other assessments if needed and discuss subject choices, and some are advised to take individual IB courses instead of the full diploma. Children with diagnosed learning needs are referred to the support service, which assesses whether the school can meet them. Placement is by age on 1 September. After the offer letter and payment of the first instalment the child is enrolled. The school states it welcomes students of any language level and that international students make up about half of the community; children who need support in English or Italian receive extra lessons. The boarding house takes high school students from age 14, Italian and international, weekly or termly, subject to availability.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-K, K, Transition, 1-13. Early years (Pre-Kindergarten from 2, Kindergarten, Transition, grade 1): PYP and the Reggio Emilia approach, full English immersion. Primary: grades 2-6, PYP with the grade 6 Exhibition. Middle school: grades 7-9, MYP with the Italian scuola media curriculum integrated; Italian students sit the state exam in grade 9 (Esame conclusivo del primo ciclo), international students optionally; in grade 6 students may sit the exam for admission to Italian state middle school. High school: grades 10-11 are the final MYP years with eAssessments, grades 12-13 the Diploma Programme; automatic progression to the Diploma Programme requires an MYP average of 5.0, and with 4.5-5.0 individual IB courses are usually offered. With the right combination of subjects the IB Diploma gives legal equivalence to the Italian state exam. The school is not a paritaria; the Italian ministry recognises it as an international school.
Address Via 1 Maggio, 20 - 20021 Baranzate (MI)
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeInspired · school is part of the networkThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes.
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 →Inspiredschool network
Inspired Education Group is a private school group founded in 2013. The group gives different figures on its own pages - 125 schools on some, "more than 100" on others - and we quote both: choosing for a group which of its own numbers is correct is not something we do. Its schools are in Europe, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and some of them keep their own historic names, such as King's College in Madrid and Riga. The group's site is inspirededu.com.
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
Average IB score
34.5 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma 2026: average score 34.5, highest 45, pass rate 100%, 69% of graduates earned a bilingual diploma. A 2024 graduate with 45 points received the Alfieri del Lavoro award from the President of Italy, a first for an IB graduate.
Where leavers go: Bocconi University · Politecnico di Milano · Catholic University of the Sacred Heart · University College London (UCL) · Imperial College London · King's College London · University of Edinburgh · IE University · University of Amsterdam
Two university counsellors work with students in grades 10-13: interest and aptitude tests, meetings on Diploma Programme subject choices, one-to-one guidance, help with applications and essays, university fairs on campus, and the Unifrog and ManageBac platforms.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
✓Boarding
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground
Clubs and activities: Playtime Club · Dance · Swimming · Italian Beginners · Business Club · Eco ISM · Food Forum · Student Council · ISM Film Festival · Entrepreneur Day
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 sizenot stated
What the listings show: The school states that its teachers are bilingual and most speak English and Italian; from the first year there are subject specialists in English, French, Spanish, maths, science, drama, dance, music and PE; English and Italian as first languages are taught by native speakers; high school teachers have extensive experience as examiners and trainers.
The head of school is named on the website; the boarding house is run by residential and non-residential houseparents and tutors working with support teachers and health professionals.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
✓Security staff
✓Access control
·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
The campus security team works around the clock and monitors movement in and out; the boarding house is locked during school hours and supervised in the evenings and at weekends, visitors and contractors are constantly supervised by staff, and the lift to the boarding house works only with a key held by houseparents; each boarder has a room key and a personal safe. Boarders in the pool are supervised by trained lifeguards. School bus drivers and supervisors undergo regular checks.
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%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data95 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