← Back to homeInternationale Deutsche Schule Brüssel (iDSB)
Wezembeek-Oppem, Belgium · est. 1803 · Private
Illustration · Wezembeek-Oppem
The Internationale Deutsche Schule Brüssel (iDSB) is a German school abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule) that traces its history to 1803 and calls itself the oldest international school in Brussels. Since 1969 it has occupied a green campus on Lange Eikstraat in Wezembeek-Oppem, about 8 km east of Brussels. It has around 590 students of more than 30 nationalities, from the crèche to the Abitur. Teaching follows the curricula of the German state of Thuringia; the school is part of the German school system through the KMK and the ZfA and has three times received the "Excellent German School Abroad" award. "In der Grund- und Oberschule ist die Unterrichtssprache Deutsch" - the language of instruction in primary and secondary is German, the school states; kindergarten groups are bilingual (German with English or with French), and from class 6 some Gymnasium subjects can be taken in English or French. Children without German follow the German as a second or foreign language programme (DaZ/DaF), and newcomers get catch-up courses in English and French. The school is run by the non-profit Deutscher Schulverein Brüssel; the land and buildings are provided by Germany, which also seconds some of the teachers, including the head. There are free Italian courses and a Latin club.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $15 782–23 457 a year
13 970–20 763 EUR
Programmes
German programme
Admits from
3 months · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German
Languages taught
English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Latin
Class size
17 to 25 children in primary, 16 to 24 in the Gymnasium with the same upper limit; about 10 in the upper Realschule classes
Registration fee
≈ $1 695
1 500 EUR
About the fees Annual fees for the 2026-2027 school year: crèche 20763 euros, kindergarten 17162, primary 13970, Oberschule 15420 euros (lessons and activities until 15:40, up to two clubs, choir, orchestra). Late care until 18:00 with a third club costs an extra 2585 to 3093 euros a year. Fees are paid in one sum or in ten monthly instalments from September to June. Families paying themselves without employer support are eligible for discounts: 25 percent for the second child, 45 for the third and further children, and a loyalty discount from 12 percent in the first year to 34 from the fifth year; a hardship reduction can be requested.
Admissions The school describes itself as international and says it also admits students with no or little German; however, joining without German after class 9 is possible only in exceptional cases. If the school's language assessment shows a need for support, German lessons (DaZ/DaF) become compulsory and are charged extra; the first two hours a week are included in the regular fee for the first 24 months. There are no application deadlines, and children can join during the year if places are available. Applications are made online with the birth certificate, the parents' passports and the latest school report (from class 1); future first-graders also need confirmation of school readiness. The school usually replies within three working days, and a child can spend up to three trial days in the future class. The Fachoberschule admits students with the Mittlerer Schulabschluss or after promotion to class 11 of the Gymnasium.
Stages and year groups Grades Krippe - Klasse 12. A crèche (Krippe) from three months, German-speaking toddler groups from two years, and a bilingual kindergarten with a pre-school year (Vorschule) for children aged three to six. A four-year Grundschule (classes 1-4). The Oberschule has three branches: the Realschule (Hauptschulabschluss after class 9, Realschulabschluss after class 10), the Gymnasium (classes 5-12, ending with the Deutsche Internationale Abiturprüfung, DIAP; from class 8 a language or a science profile) and a two-year Fachoberschule focusing on business and administration (Fachhochschulreife, two long internships in class 11; students of other German schools abroad can attend it remotely). The CertiLingua label can be earned with the Abitur; the school prepares for Cambridge CAE and CPE and DELF and hosts the CNaVT Dutch exam. There is no IB programme on the website.
Address Lange Eikstraat 71, B-1970 Wezembeek-Oppem
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
ZfA · accreditationWDA · part of the alliancePASCH · takes part in the programmeZfA lists the school among German schools abroad (Deutsche Auslandsschule). Students graduate with the Deutsches Internationales Abitur. The school is a member of WDA and a PASCH school.
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
ZfACentral Agency for German Schools Abroad
A German federal agency. It recognises a school as a German school abroad, funds it and grants the right to award the German leaving certificate. Quality is examined by a state inspection about once every six years, and schools that pass receive the mark of an excellent German school abroad.
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 →WDAWorld Association of German Schools Abroad
An association of the owners of German schools abroad: in essence an industry lobby and a service organisation. It runs no inspections. The condition of admission is a recognised German certificate, but that recognition is granted by the German state, not by WDA.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to an association of school owners. There is no inspection of its own behind it: the badge rests on a decision of the German state and adds nothing to it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →PASCHSchools: Partners for the Future, an initiative of the German foreign ministry
More than two thousand schools in about 120 countries. A school cannot apply for itself: participants are chosen by German agencies in agreement with the embassy. Very different schools sit under one mark - full German schools abroad, and ordinary national schools that simply teach German well.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to a German support programme. By itself the mark means neither a German curriculum nor the right to award a German certificate: of the two thousand PASCH schools, about seventeen hundred hold no such right. Look for a ZfA status next to it - that is the one that is about this. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →German programme
The German school programme. Recognised German schools abroad award the Deutsches Internationales Abitur, the German leaving certificate used for entry to universities in Germany. Behind the recognition stands the federal agency ZfA.
What this means for this school. ZfA recognition comes at levels: a school that takes pupils through to the German leaving certificate is one thing, a school with the DSD language diploma, where German is taught as a subject, is another. Which level this school holds is not stated here.
Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Exam results Average Abitur (DIAP) grade on the German scale, where 1 is the best mark: 1.8 for 33 graduates in 2024, 1.9 for 35 in 2025, 2.2 for 28 in 2026. The school says all candidates have passed in recent years.
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 transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Playground
Clubs and activities: Schulchor · Gesangsensembles · Schulband · Kammerorchester · Theater-AG · Bühnentechnik-AG · Bühnenbild-AG · Lego Robotics · Kochen auf Englisch · Model United Nations · Abenteuer Naturwissenschaften · Fußball-AG · Ton-AG · Schwimmen-AG · Latein-AG
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: Some teachers, including the head, are Auslandsdienstlehrkräfte: teachers seconded from Germany for a fixed term and paid by the federal government.
Foreign-language groups in primary have at most 16 children. Crèche groups have up to 11 children with three carers, toddler groups up to 14 children, and kindergarten family groups up to 22 children with two teachers. The school does not publish the total 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
✓Counsellor
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The psychological and educational service (PPD) - a psychologist, a special-needs teacher and a social worker - advises children, parents and teachers and draws up support plans for dyslexia, dyscalculia and ADHD. The Gymnasium runs the Fit 4 Life programme on media, health, self-assertion, first aid, sex education and drug prevention.
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 data60 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 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