← Back to the rankingSIS Swiss International School Berlin
Berlin, Germany · est. 2016 · Private
Illustration · Berlin
SIS Swiss International School Berlin is a private bilingual (German and English) all-day school in the west of Berlin, from kindergarten to university entrance qualification. It has operated under this name since 2016, when the SIS group took over the Villa Amalienhof international school. About 260 children of more than 30 nationalities attend. Teaching follows the one teacher - one language principle: in kindergarten and primary each educator and teacher speaks only their native language with the children, and in secondary and upper school each subject is taught for a year in one of the two languages, roughly equally. The curriculum is the Berlin framework curriculum, complemented by elements of the British curriculum and SIS's own reading and writing courses. Primary school runs to grade 6, the secondary school (grades 7-10) ends with the Berlin MSA exam, and in the upper school students can obtain the Abitur, the IB Diploma or both: the IB Diploma is taken at the end of grade 12 and the Abitur at the end of grade 13. The primary and secondary schools are state-recognised substitute schools (Ersatzschule), while the upper school currently holds state approval. Knowledge of German or English is not required for admission.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $14 156–19 194 a year
1 253–1 699 EUR a month
The year is counted as ten payments: the school does not say how many payments it takes.
Programmes
IB · DP · National programme
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
German, English
Registration fee
≈ $960
850 EUR
About the fees Tuition and care from 7:30 to 16:30 for the 2026-2027 school year: grades 1-6 1253 EUR per month, grades 7-9 1399 EUR, grades 10-11 1599 EUR, grades 12-13 1699 EUR; paid 12 times a year including holidays, invoiced half-yearly in advance, with a 3% surcharge for monthly payment and a 2% discount for annual payment. The kindergarten costs 1085 EUR per month; it is funded only by parents' fees, with no income-based or sibling discounts. In grades 1-13 there are income-based fees: from 100 EUR per month for a family income up to 29420 EUR a year to the full rate for incomes from 80001 EUR. The sibling discount for the second and further children is 20%.
Admissions Enrolment is year-round, including during the school year if places are available; most children are registered between February and April for the following school year. Steps: a non-binding online form, then the school checks availability (with a waiting list if full), a meeting with a member of the leadership (possible by video call) with a tour, one or two trial days, an application and the school contract; the place is secured once the enrolment fee is paid. There are no entrance exams. A child may speak neither German nor English: both languages are acquired by immersion, and the school offers extra German and English courses. Entry to the upper school requires the MSA intermediate certificate. The school says it welcomes children from both local and internationally mobile families. The kindergarten takes children aged 3-6, also during the year.
Stages and year groups A bilingual kindergarten for ages 3-6 following the Berlin kindergarten programme and SIS courses; primary school grades 1-6 on the Berlin framework curriculum with elements of the British curriculum; an integrated secondary school (Sekundarschule) grades 7-10 with the Berlin MSA exam after grade 10; the upper school grades 11-13 on the Berlin curriculum with the Abitur after grade 13. IB Diploma Programme in grades 11-12 (the school is a recognised IB World School): Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay of 4000 words, CAS, exams mostly in English; Abitur, IB Diploma or both through an integrated programme. From grade 3 students regularly sit national and international comparison tests in German, English and mathematics. The site does not name which foreign languages besides German and English the school teaches as subjects: the stage pages, the all-day page and the fee list were reviewed, and only additional language courses are mentioned.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · DP · authorised programmeSIS Swiss International School · school is part of the networkThe school is listed in the IB register and runs the Diploma Programme.
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.
SIS Swiss International Schoolschool network
A group of private all-day schools, legal entity SIS Swiss International Schools Group AG, Männedorf, Switzerland. Since 1 January 2025 it belongs directly to the German Klett Gruppe, to its kindergartens and schools division. The site names 20 sites in Switzerland, Germany, Brazil and Italy, some 5,000 pupils and a start of operations in 1999. On the recognition of its schools the site says one thing: all SIS schools are approved or recognised by the local education authorities. Of the status of a recognised Swiss school abroad the site says nothing at all.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.
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: Art studio · Playground
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations · Student Council · Sustainability Team · House Competition · SIS Cup
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 sizenot stated
What the listings show: Principal Marc Corner (since 2023) is British, with a teaching qualification from the University of Greenwich, a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Huddersfield and a Master of Education from the Open University, and more than 20 years of experience; the deputy holds a master's in history and a Gymnasium teaching diploma from the University of Zurich; the head of primary trained as a teacher in Denmark and England; the head of kindergarten is a state-certified educator.
The site presents five members of the leadership by name: the principal, the deputy (also head of the upper school and MSA and Abitur coordinator), and the heads of secondary, primary and kindergarten. German- and English-speaking teachers teach in their native language.
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%)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 data55 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 data73 "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