← Back to the rankingMunich International School
Starnberg, Germany · est. 1966 · Private
Illustration · Starnberg
Munich International School (MIS) is a private, non-profit international day school on a 55-acre campus around Schloss Buchhof near Starnberg, between Munich and the Alps. The school opened on 19 September 1966 with 120 students and moved to the castle two years later. Today more than 1300 students from more than 60 countries attend: Early Childhood for ages 4-6, Junior School (grades 1-4), Middle School (grades 5-8) and Senior School (grades 9-12). MIS is one of the first IB schools in the world: authorised since 1980, offering the full PYP, MYP and Diploma Programme continuum; almost all graduates take the full IB Diploma. English is the language of instruction for all courses except language courses; German is taught from Early Childhood, and there is a mother tongue programme. The school is recognised by the Bavarian Ministry of Education: in grades 1-9 it is an Ersatzschule, in grades 10-12 an Ergänzungsschule, and it is financed mainly by fees paid by families or their employers.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $15 952–32 377 a year
14 120–28 659 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
4 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, Spanish
Class size
Early Childhood up to 20 children with a teacher and an assistant, grades 1-4 up to 23 students, grades 5-8 an average of 18 pupils
Registration fee
≈ $387
343 EUR
About the fees Fees for 2026-2027, per year, paid in two instalments (by 1 July and by 1 December): Early Childhood 14120 EUR (4-5 hours a day), 16066 EUR (5-6 hours), 18013 EUR (6-7 hours), 20841 EUR (7-8 hours); grades 1-4 19002 EUR, grades 5-8 21744 EUR, grade 9 23863 EUR, grades 10-11 27218 EUR, grade 12 28659 EUR. Families paying privately can use a four-instalment plan for a 500 EUR service fee. Sibling reductions of 10% for the third child and 20% for the fourth and further children; a School Fee Reduction Programme is available on application.
Admissions The school states that it mainly serves internationally mobile families who come to Germany for a certain time, and that it also accepts children with permanent residence in Germany and an international background. Applications are online, with a 343 EUR application fee. English is not required for entry to Junior School: about 60% of new students arrive with little or no English and are supported by an English as an Additional Language teacher; in Middle School 6 staff members work on English language support. Early Childhood takes children aged 4, 5 and 6. The list of documents and the admissions steps are in the online application system.
Stages and year groups Early Childhood (ages 4, 5 and 6) and Junior School (grades 1-4) follow the IB Primary Years Programme; Middle School (grades 5-8) and grades 9-10 follow the IB Middle Years Programme with external MYP eAssessment in grade 10 (MYP certificate and bilingual MYP certificate); grades 11-12 follow the IB Diploma Programme, 25 courses, with more than 90% of students taking the full Diploma; some take certificates in individual subjects or the MIS Diploma. The school does not teach the state curriculum or the Abitur. Status in Bavaria: grades 1-9 a genehmigte Ersatzschule, grades 10-12 an Ergänzungsschule.
Address Schloss Buchhof 1, 82319 Starnberg
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationNEASC · accreditationThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes. The school is accredited by CIS. 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 →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 →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
Average IB score
35 (world average 30.88)
Exam results IB Diploma: Class of 2026 average 35 points, two graduates with a perfect 45; Class of 2025 95% of candidates earned the Diploma (106 diplomas), average 35; Class of 2024 98%, average 35, top score 44. MYP eAssessment 2026: 113 grade 10 students, average 42 out of 56 against a world average of 36.4, 97.1% pass rate, 41 Bilingual Certificates.
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · University of Cambridge · Imperial College London · London School of Economics and Political Science · University College London · University of Edinburgh · Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) · Stanford University · Princeton University · Columbia University · University of Toronto · McGill University
and others, 20 universities in the school's list in allThe 2024-2025 Senior School profile lists universities that admitted graduates in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Japan, India and Australia; the school says that virtually all students go on to four-year degrees at selective universities worldwide. University guidance starts in grade 9 and continues for a year after graduation.
Facilities from the school's official website
·Swimming poolnot stated on the website
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
✓Theatre or assembly hall
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field · Art studio · Playground · Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Book Buddies Club · Tech Team Club · Eco Committee · Coding Club · Textile Club · Book Club · LEGO Robotics Club · Newspaper Club · UNICEF Club · Global Issues Network · Speech & Debate · Model United Nations · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · Glee Club · Forest Explorers · Rubik's Cubing · Gymnastics
Teaching staff from the school's official website
·Teachers listed by namenot published
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
✓Number of teachers186
✓Students per teacher or class sizein the key facts above
According to the 2024-2025 school profile, there are 186 teachers, 68 of them in grades 9-12; teachers come from more than 30 countries. Early Childhood staff are certified educators trained in PYP; each Early Childhood class has a lead teacher and an assistant, plus separate teachers for music, art, physical education, library and German.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
✓Security staff
✓Access control
✓Nurse or medical room
·Counsellornot stated on the website
✓Child protection policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The child protection policy is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and German requirements; all employees must report signs that a child's well-being is endangered, and the school has a Child Protection Officer. At the campus entrance there is a security hut where visitors receive an ID; the data policy mentions camera surveillance and access control. There is a nurses' office on campus.
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 data85 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data70 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 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