← Back to homeOeiras International School
Oeiras, Portugal · est. 2010 · Private
Illustration · Oeiras
The school in Oeiras was opened in 2010 by parents themselves: the association Oeiras International School, Associação Sem Fins Lucrativos was created in 2009 by 30 parents and partners, and parents still form the majority on the board. Profit is not distributed but returned to the school, which calls itself one of the few not-for-profit international schools of greater Lisbon. About 460 children from 6 to 18 attend, of more than 50 nationalities. The school runs all three IB programmes: Primary Years from 6 to 10, Middle Years from 11 to 16, Diploma at 17 and 18. The language of lessons is English: the site, the pages for parents and pupils and the admission requirements are written in English, and for entry into Years 10-13 the school requires full proficiency in English; Portuguese is taught as a separate subject. The school states plainly that it is not academically selective. A class averages 16 pupils and there are about 5 pupils per teacher. The campus stands around a 17th century palace on land leased from the municipality, 15 minutes by car from Lisbon and the airport: a library, laboratories, a swimming pool, a sports pavilion, a chapel listed as a national monument, an exam pavilion, a kitchen garden, a mini farm and beehives, woodland and trails.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $15 738–25 224 a year
13 547–21 713 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Portuguese
About the fees Annual fees: 13547 EUR in Years 1-4, 14127 in Year 5, 16830 in Year 6, 17987 in Years 7-9, 21273 in Years 10-11, 21713 in Years 12 and 13. They split into a registration payment and three termly instalments of 4064 to 6514 EUR.
Admissions The school states plainly that it accepts children from 6 to 19 regardless of ethnicity, religious belief, nationality, social background or gender, and aims to teach different cultures together. It is not academically selective. Every applicant takes a test of cognitive ability and learning style with no pass mark, and an interview; documentation from previous schools is requested. English proficiency is not compulsory for every year group, but full proficiency is required for entry into Years 10-13. Priority goes to current pupils, children of staff and siblings. The school is oversubscribed and advises early application; it may decline if it cannot give a child the support needed, and says plainly that it cannot take children with severe emotional needs.
Stages and year groups Stages run from Year 1 to Year 13 across three IB programmes: Primary Years for ages 6 to 10, Middle Years for 11 to 16, Diploma for 17 to 18. In the fee table the stages are named Pre-PYP and PYP 1-3 (Years 1-4), PYP 4 (Year 5), PYP 5 (Year 6), MYP 1-3 (Years 7-9), MYP 4-5 (Years 10-11), DP 1 (Year 12) and DP 2 (Year 13).
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationschool 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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: University of Oxford · University of Cambridge · Imperial College London · University College London · King's College London · University of Edinburgh · Bocconi University · Loughborough University · University of Bath · Delft University of Technology · Stockholm University · Instituto Superior Técnico
and others, 28 universities in the school's list in allThe school lists universities its graduates have gone to and says the full list is many times longer than the one shown.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming pool
✓Sports hall
✓Laboratories
·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 · Art studio · Playground
Campus: A campus around a 17th century palace on land leased from the municipality: a library, science laboratories, computer rooms, art and music rooms, an exam pavilion, a chapel listed as a national monument, a swimming pool, a sports pavilion and gym, a basketball court, a football pitch, a cafeteria, a memorial garden, a kitchen garden, a mini farm with animals, beehives, a pigeon loft, a play area with trampolines, woodland, meadows and trails.
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 keeps small classes: 16 pupils on average. There are about 5 pupils per teacher and about 6 per member of staff. The school explains this as more individual time with a teacher, and the entry test identifies at once whether extra support is needed.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
The school says nothing on its website about security, medical care or pupil support.
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 data70 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data55 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)90 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data55 "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