The Nelson-Mandela-Schule is a state international bilingual school in Berlin for grades 1 to 13, founded by the Berlin Senate in 2000. Lessons are in German and English: each class has equal numbers of German and English native speakers and two class teachers, one German-speaking and one English-speaking. The school combines the Berlin curricula with the National Curriculum for England for English in the primary school. After grade 10 students can earn all Berlin lower secondary certificates, and in the upper school they choose one of two routes: a bilingual German-English Abitur or the International Baccalaureate Diploma in English, which the school has offered since 2005. Students come from more than 60 countries, and teachers come from Egypt, Australia, Ghana, the UK, India, Ireland, Canada, the US and other countries. The school charges no tuition; families of IB students pay the IB exam fees.
Key facts
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
Languages taught
French, Spanish
Class size
grades 1-2 in groups of up to 26 children, about 14 English and 12 German native speakers
About the fees Tuition is free: the school states that as a state school it charges no Schulgeld. Families pay IB costs themselves: 1500 EUR for exams, which also covers most digital textbooks and software; parents of IB students are expected to join the Friends of Nelson Mandela with an annual contribution of 60, 100, 150 EUR or more. Lunch in the primary school is free.
Admissions Grade 1 admits children from internationally mobile families and from families living permanently in Berlin; the child must speak German or English at a native level for their age, and German speakers also need good passive English, checked by a language test. Among mobile families, priority goes to children of staff of the German Foreign Office and foreign diplomatic missions subject to rotation, then to siblings of current students, then to children of staff in science, research and culture; places for families living permanently in Berlin are allocated by lottery. Registration for grade 1 for the 2027-2028 school year runs from 5 to 16 October 2026, in person at the school. Grades 2-13 admit only children from internationally mobile families, meaning those who move abroad for a parent's work at least every four years; an intention to immigrate does not count as mobility. Required are an employer's confirmation, report cards for two years translated into German or English, an entrance exam in English with at least 80% and proof of residence in Berlin before the school year starts. Children without German study German in a separate group for up to two years.
Stages and year groups Grades 1-13. Grundstufe grades 1-6: grades 1-2 in mixed-age Flex groups (up to three years, children aged 5-8), Berlin curricula, English following the National Curriculum for England, history and geography in English. Integrierte Sekundarschule grades 7-10: about half of lessons in English and half in German; after grade 10 the Berlin certificates eBBR, MSA and MSA with admission to upper secondary. Gymnasiale Oberstufe grades 11-13: in grade 11 students choose between the Abitur/IB branch (about half in English and half in German, with a switch to IB still possible after grade 11) and the IB branch (almost entirely in English, no Abitur). The outcome is a bilingual German-English Abitur (in two or three years) or the IB Diploma Programme: Language A English or German, German B or German ab initio, history, global learning, economics, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, two levels of mathematics, visual arts or film.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme. The IB track runs inside a German Gymnasium: in the upper grades students take the IB Diploma alongside the Abitur.
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: DP (ages 16-19). 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 →National programme
The state school programme of the country the school stands in: it is set by that country's ministry of education, which also licenses the school and awards the leaving certificate. That certificate is used for entry to local universities, and abroad it is matched to the local one.
What this means for this school. This entry does not count towards the score, and that is deliberate. Every lawful school in a country works to the national programme, so on its own it tells one school apart from no other - unlike the French, German or Russian programmes, which are carried abroad and confirmed by the register of their organisation. We show it because a parent needs to know what programme their child is taught and what certificate the child will get. Counting it would lift the whole ranking at once and still tell nobody apart.
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
·Laboratoriesnot stated on the website
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations · English Book Club · Athletics · Offenes Kunstatelier (open art studio) · Happiness & Wellbeing · Orchester / Chor (orchestra and choir) · NMS Gazette · Sport Club International · Intersectional Student Union
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
Each class has two class teachers, one German-speaking and one English-speaking, plus an educator in the primary school; the six grade 1-2 groups have 12 teachers and 6 educators. Teachers and educators come from Egypt, Australia, Germany, Ghana, the UK, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Singapore, South Africa and the US, and many have taught in other countries.
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 policy
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
✓Anti-bullying policy
The school has a child protection programme (Kinderschutzprogramm). Social pedagogues run prevention work on addiction and safe media use, together with school leadership, parents, prevention organisations and the Berlin police; classes have workshops with police officers on cyberbullying, anti-discrimination workshops and sex education. The school holds the silver eSafety Label of European Schoolnet, and grades 4-6 have online safety workshops.
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%)82 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 data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data70 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
Berlin, Germany · est. 2000 · State