← Back to the rankingSIS Swiss International School Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen, Germany · est. 2009 · Private
Illustration · Friedrichshafen
SIS Swiss International School Friedrichshafen is a private bilingual (German and English) all-day school on Lake Constance, from kindergarten to university entrance qualification; it has run its bilingual programme since 2009 and since 2015 has been in its own building on the Fallenbrunnen education campus. 288 children of more than 30 nationalities attend, from local and relocated families. In kindergarten and primary each group and class has a German- and an English-speaking teacher who teach roughly equally, and in the Gymnasium each subject is taught for a year in one of the two languages. The curriculum follows the Baden-Württemberg education plans with elements of the British curriculum and SIS's own courses; the Gymnasium emphasises mathematics and science, with French from grade 6. The Gymnasium is an eight-year one (grades 5-12); all students sit the state Abitur, and optionally take an integrated IB Diploma programme in grades 11-12: the school is a recognised IB World School. The primary school and Gymnasium are state-recognised substitute schools (Ersatzschule). Fees depend on family income.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $13 997 a year
1 239 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
≈ $158
140 EUR
About the fees Fees in the primary school and Gymnasium for the 2026-2027 school year depend on family income (net annual income for 2025) and are the same for all grades. The SIS-Profil programme (lessons and care from 7:30 to 17:00): from 208 EUR per month for an income from 19000 EUR a year (below that 5 EUR less per 1000 EUR of income) up to 1239 EUR per month for an income from 130000 EUR; families who do not submit income details pay the maximum rate. The basic lessons-only programme: from 105 to 923 EUR per month. Fees are paid 12 times a year, invoiced half-yearly in advance, with a 3% surcharge for monthly payment and a 2% discount for annual payment. Learning materials are included. The sibling discount for the second and further children is 5%. Kindergarten (11 months a year): for Friedrichshafen residents on the city scale 325-370 EUR per month for the first child, for residents of other municipalities 747-1197 EUR.
Admissions Enrolment is year-round, including during the school year if places are available; most families register between February and April for the following school year. Steps: a non-binding online form, an availability check (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; Gymnasium entry requires Gymnasium suitability based on the grade 4 report. A child may speak neither German nor English: both languages are acquired by immersion, with extra language courses; one of the leaders specialises in German as a second language. The school says it welcomes children from both local and internationally mobile families. The kindergarten takes children from age 3 until school entry, also during the year.
Stages and year groups A bilingual kindergarten with two mixed-age groups for ages 3-6 following the Baden-Württemberg kindergarten plan and SIS courses; primary school grades 1-4 on the Baden-Württemberg plans with elements of the British curriculum; an eight-year Gymnasium grades 5-12 on the Baden-Württemberg plans with an emphasis on mathematics and science, French as a foreign language from grade 6 and a seminar course in the upper school; the final exam is the Baden-Württemberg Abitur. In addition, grades 11-12 offer an integrated IB Diploma programme (the school is a recognised IB World School): Theory of Knowledge, an Extended Essay of 4000 words, CAS, exams mostly in English; there is a German IB course. Students regularly sit national and international comparison tests in German, English and mathematics.
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 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: Playground
Clubs and activities: SIS Profile · SIS Cup · Intercountry Activity
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 Richard Lord has more than 25 years of experience as a teacher and head, led two secondary schools in the UK for 13 years, holds a bachelor's degree in German and French from the University of Exeter, a postgraduate teaching qualification from Cambridge and a master's in educational management from the University of Chester; the deputy holds a Bachelor of Education from a university in Plymouth; the stage leaders include a doctor of history and teachers with both state teaching exams.
The site presents seven members of the leadership by name: the principal, the deputy, two heads of the upper school, and the heads of Gymnasium grades 5-10, primary and kindergarten. Each primary class has two main teachers, one German-speaking and one English-speaking.
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 data67 "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