← Back to the rankingInternational School of Ulm/Neu-Ulm
Neu Ulm, Germany · est. 2005 · Private
Illustration · Neu Ulm
The International School of Ulm/Neu-Ulm (ISU) is a private, English-speaking international full-day school in Neu-Ulm for children aged 3 to 18. It opened in September 2005 with 55 students in a house near the centre of Ulm and moved a year later to its current building in Neu-Ulm. The school offers the IB PYP in early years and grades 1-5 (since 2009) and the IB Diploma Programme in grades 11-12 (since 2011); grades 6-8 follow the school's own curriculum built on Cambridge Lower Secondary, and grades 9-10 take Cambridge IGCSE courses. Teaching is in English, all students learn German from early years to grade 12, and French and Spanish from grade 6. Classes have at most 21 students; children come from about 30 countries. Bavaria recognises the school as a genehmigte Ersatzschule; the IGCSE can be recognised as the Mittlere Reife and the IB Diploma as the Allgemeine Hochschulreife. The school's shareholders are regional companies.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $15 251–23 871 a year
13 500–21 130 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, DP · Cambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, French, Spanish
Students
295 (2022-2023 school year)
Class size
at most 21 students per class
Registration fee
≈ $226
200 EUR
About the fees Annual fees for the 2026-2027 school year: Early Years 1-3 13500 EUR, grades 1-5 15150 EUR, grades 6-9 16980 EUR, grade 10 18900 EUR, grades 11-12 21130 EUR; quarterly payments (3440-5385 EUR) include 2% interest. There is a 10% discount for the second child and 25% for the third and further children. Fees for mid-year entry are pro-rated. Self-paying families who cannot afford full fees can apply to a financial aid programme based on income and assets.
Admissions Applications are accepted all year. Steps: contact with the admissions team, a school tour (families not yet in Ulm/Neu-Ulm can meet online), an online application with documents, a try-out day in class (a short play visit for young children, a half or full day for school students), a decision by admissions and the leadership team considering the support the school can offer, and then the contract. Required: birth certificate or passport, proof of measles vaccination, the last three report cards and any learning support documentation; for grades 1-5 a teacher recommendation, for grades 6-8 a principal recommendation and a handwritten student self-evaluation, for grades 9-12 recommendations from the principal and the mathematics and English teachers, a transcript and a handwritten essay. Many children arrive with little or no English and receive support, but entry to the upper school requires a solid basis in English. The school says the PYP was developed for internationally mobile students, and its students come from about 30 countries.
Stages and year groups Grades EY 1-3, 1-12. Early Years 1-3 (ages 3-6) and grades 1-5: the IB PYP culminating in the Grade 5 Exhibition, with specialists in music, art, German and PE. Grades 6-8: the school's own curriculum with Cambridge Lower Secondary (Secondary 1) at its core in English, mathematics and science; subjects are English and German language and literature, German, French and Spanish as foreign languages, mathematics, science, ICT, PE, visual arts, drama and social studies. Grades 9-10: Cambridge IGCSE courses with exams at the end of grade 10 - English language, German as a first or foreign language, history, geography, Spanish, French, mathematics, coordinated sciences (double award) and computer science; in Bavaria the IGCSE can be recognised as the Mittlere Reife. Grades 11-12: the IB Diploma Programme - English or German A, German B and ab initio, history, geography, biology, physics, mathematics AA and AI, visual arts, French B, Spanish B, chemistry and a self-taught language A; alongside, the ISU High School Diploma. All in English. The school does not name any Pearson courses.
Address Schwabenstraße 25, 89231 Neu-Ulm
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, DP · authorised programmeCambridge · Lower Secondary, IGCSE · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationMSA · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years and Diploma programmes. The Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Lower Secondary, Cambridge IGCSE. The school is accredited by CIS. The school is accredited by MSA (Middle States Association).
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), 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. 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 →CambridgeCambridge International Education
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
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: Lower Secondary (ages 11-14), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Lower Secondary is the middle stage, ages 11 to 14, with the same optional Checkpoint test at the end. IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary 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 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 →MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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
Exam results IB Diploma: 43.8% of graduates earned a bilingual diploma against 27% worldwide, and the average subject grade was 5.1 against 4.9 worldwide (the school does not state the year). In the 2014-2015 school year the average IB Diploma score was 37.6.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓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: Volleyball · Soccer/Football · Basketball · Table Tennis · Cross Country · Track & Field · Badminton · Boxing · Rugby · ISU garden club · Design factory · Lower school musical · Yearbook · Indoor field hockey
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 sizein the key facts above
The school recruits teachers who work with second-language learners and a range of abilities in one class; all applicants undergo reference checks, background checks and self-disclosure. The website names four leaders. The school does not publish the number of teachers.
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 policy
✓Staff training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The safeguarding policy follows German regulations and international best practice; all staff undergo thorough background checks and regular safeguarding and child protection training. The policy covers physical safety, emotional wellbeing and online security. There is a Designated Safeguarding Lead (the lower school vice principal) and clear channels for reporting concerns. School rules prohibit weapons, alcohol, drugs and cigarettes; phones must be switched off on school grounds.
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%)97 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%)100 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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