Phorms Frankfurt is a private German-English all-day school from daycare to the Abitur on two sites: in the Holzhausenviertel in central Frankfurt (reception class and primary school) and in Steinbach in the Taunus (daycare, primary school and Gymnasium). The school has been running for more than 15 years and is state-recognised as an Ersatzschule: it follows the curricula of the state of Hesse, so students can move to and from state schools. Teachers teach in their native language, German or English; in the Gymnasium sciences and mathematics are taught in English, while history, politics and economics, ethics and German are taught in German. The primary school uses the Cambridge International Primary Programme, and the Gymnasium adds Cambridge content to the Hessian curriculum with the IGCSE exam in grade 10. Leaving certificates are the Abitur, the Mittlere Reife and the Fachhochschulreife; the path to the Abitur can take eight or nine years. Fees depend on family income.
Key facts
Programmes
Cambridge · Primary, IGCSE · National programme
Languages of instruction
German, English
Languages taught
Spanish, French, Chinese
Students
more than 700 children in the primary school on two sites (about 400 in the Taunus and more than 300 in the City); the school does not state the number of Gymnasium students
Class size
in the Gymnasium the guideline is 24 students per class; in the primary school usually two educators per class
About the fees Fees are monthly and depend on family income two years before; the fee schedule has no year. According to the calculator on the website: primary school from 99 to 1206 EUR a month, Gymnasium from 99 to 1316 EUR a month for incomes from 20000 to 250000 EUR a year and above; daycare 650, 700 or 750 EUR a month for incomes below 50000, from 50000 to 150000 and above 150000 EUR. Payments are made 12 times a year. Sibling discounts are 20% for the second child, 40% for the third and 60% from the fourth, with a minimum fee of 99 EUR a month; daycare has no sibling discount.
Admissions Registration is online, followed by meeting the family and child: for the primary school a morning with small tasks, for the Gymnasium an interview; when places are free, children are also admitted during the year after trial days. For daycare and primary school the child must speak at least one of the two languages, German or English, fluently. The Gymnasium admits only children with a Gymnasium recommendation (Gymnasialempfehlung), good to very good grades in German, mathematics and general studies, and German and English at B1 or above; if language skills are insufficient, the school asks for extra lessons to be arranged. Children with German as a second or foreign language get separate lessons. For families still living abroad who cannot attend trial days there is an alternative admissions procedure.
Stages and year groups Kita PhorMinis (nursery and kindergarten groups) in Steinbach; Eingangsstufe from age 5, a reception class within the primary school; Grundschule grades 1-4 on both sites, Cambridge International Primary Programme and Read Write Inc. Phonics for English; Gymnasium in Steinbach following the Hessian curriculum, G8 or G9 by choice, the Abitur, plus the Mittlere Reife and Fachhochschulreife. In grade 10 students can optionally sit Cambridge IGCSE exams; the school says it combines the Hessian curricula with content from the Cambridge programme but does not name the IGCSE subjects. The Frankfurt website does not mention Cambridge English language exams.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · Primary, IGCSE · authorised programmeThe Cambridge register names the school as its centre; it teaches Cambridge Primary, Cambridge IGCSE.
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
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: Primary (ages 5-11), IGCSE (ages 14-16). Primary is the primary stage, ages 5 to 11: English, mathematics and science to Cambridge syllabuses. At the end of the stage a school may run the optional Checkpoint test, which is marked in Cambridge. 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 →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 hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories
·Theatre or assembly hallnot stated on the website
✓Library
✓Catering
✓School transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Playground
Clubs and activities: Lego Mindstorms Club · First Lego League · Phorms Science Center · Brain Teaser Club · Drama- und Theaterclub (drama and theatre club) · Debating Club · Model United Nations · Bläserklasse (wind band class) · Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · Jugend forscht (youth science competition) · Schulsanitäter (school first aiders)
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
Teachers teach in their native language, and English-speaking teachers come from various English-speaking countries. In the primary school teaching assistants support classes, and there is a support programme for children who need help in English, German and mathematics. A school psychologist, an accredited child and adolescent therapist, works on campus all day; in the Gymnasium each stage has its own head.
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 policy
A full-time school psychologist works on campus; grades 7-8 have prevention projects on media use and bullying, grades 5-6 anti-bullying and self-confidence training. Trained grade 8 students act as school first aiders at festivals and sports days.
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 data55 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data65 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data75 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 Value for money (6%) scored at the median84 "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 7 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
Steinbach Taunus, Germany · Private