← Back to homeVienna International School
Vienna, Austria · est. 1955 · Private
Illustration · Vienna
Vienna International School was founded in 1955 under the patronage of the British, US and Indian embassies and is today run by the non-profit Vienna International School Association. In 1981 the school's Board, the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna signed an agreement on its status, and in 1984 the school moved into its current building next to UNO City. It has 1403 students from more than 100 countries, with 90 native languages. All three IB programmes are taught in English: the school states that it delivers "the IB curriculum in English". Every student learns German as the host-country language; from Grade 6 French or Spanish is added, and from Grade 7 Latin is optional via the Cambridge Latin Course. A paid Mother Tongue programme covers about 40 languages. Besides IB, CIS and Middle States accreditation, the school lists itself as an Eco-School.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $10 453–32 943 a year
9 253–29 160 EUR
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
German, French, Spanish, Latin
Registration fee
≈ $757
670 EUR
About the fees Fees for the 2026-2027 school year, in euros per year: ELC full day 15896, ELC half day 9253, Grades 0-5 23675, Grades 6-10 27997, Grades 11-12 29160. Tuition is the same for every family, whether UN staff, diplomats or private clients. The difference is only in one-off fees: the Capital Fee is 3500 for children of Vienna-based organisations (VBO) and the diplomatic corps and 5040 for others; the ELA fee (870 per semester) is not charged to VBO and diplomatic-corps children. The school offers no scholarships or discounts: "We are not able to grant any scholarships or reductions in fees". Fees can be paid at once or in four instalments during the year.
Admissions The school was created for Vienna's international community and admits first of all the "Children of officials of the International Organizations who are based in Austria", children of diplomatic and consular staff in Vienna, and children without Austrian citizenship whose parents work in international business. All other families are placed in the fourth admissions category; within it, priority goes to children of alumni, families who recently lived abroad for at least 2 years or expect to move to a non-German-speaking country, children whose mother tongue is not German, children born outside Austria and children of mixed-nationality parents. Siblings of current students and children re-entering within 2 years have priority. Approved applications go onto a waiting list and a place is offered when one becomes available; students are also admitted during the year. ELC children must be 3 years old and toilet-trained by 31 August; placement is by age. Grades 9-12 require English sufficient for the IB curriculum, shown by a standardised reading assessment; ELA support is offered in Grades 9 and 10 (up to 4 hours a week) and not in Grades 11 and 12. The school states that it does not discriminate on nationality, language or national origin.
Stages and year groups Grades ELC - Grade 12. Early Learning Centre for ages 3-5 (six classes), Grade Primary for ages 5-6, Grades 1-5 in the IB PYP, Grades 6-10 in the IB MYP, Grades 11-12 in the IB DP. Senior students can earn the IB Diploma, the VIS High School Diploma (with individual IB courses) or both. The school does not mention the Austrian Matura. The first 12 IB Diploma graduates finished in 1981.
Address Straße der Menschenrechte 1, 1220 Wien
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeCIS · accreditationMSA · accreditationCEESA · part of the associationThe IB register lists three programmes at the school: the Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes. The school is accredited by CIS and by MSA (Middle States Association); the MSA directory lists it as Active with the qualification "Accreditation with Stipulations", valid until 2031. It is a full member of CEESA.
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: 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 →MSAMiddle States Association of Colleges and Schools
One of the oldest American accreditations, working since 1887 in more than a hundred countries and linked to the Office of Overseas Schools of the US State Department. It judges the school as an institution across twelve areas, including finances, governance, premises and student support.
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 →CEESACentral and Eastern European Schools Association
About thirty international schools in the region. It runs conferences, teacher development and competitions between schools: robotics, football, volleyball, debating. An accreditation from CIS, NEASC, MSA, WASC or Cognia is a condition of entry here, not an outcome.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to the association. CEESA runs no inspection of its own, but a school is not admitted without somebody else's accreditation - so the school holds one, and that is what to look at. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Where leavers go: University of Cambridge · University of Oxford · Imperial College London · University College London · London School of Economics · University of Edinburgh · University of Manchester · University of Warwick · Durham University · University of St Andrews · University of Bristol · University of Bath
and others, 27 universities in the school's list in allOn its University Advice page the school shows universities its graduates attend and says the complete list for the two most recent cohorts is in its school profile brochure. A dedicated counselling service supports university applications.
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 transport
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Makerspace
Clubs and activities: Model United Nations (MUN) · The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award · VIS MYP Prose Writing Competition · Mother Tongue Programme · Primary Choir · Middle School Choir · High School Choir · Rock Bands · Jazz Band · Primary String Ensemble · Secondary String Ensemble · Guitar Ensemble · Soccer · Basketball · Volleyball · Beach Volleyball · Cross Country Running · Track & Field · Swimming · Tennis · Badminton · Rugby · Ski Racing Team
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 sizenot stated
The school employs 274 staff of 46 nationalities; the figure covers all staff, not only teachers. Grades 1-4 have four parallel classes with at most 92 students per grade; Grade 5 has five classes with at most 110 students. ELC and Grades 1 and 2 have Educational Support Staff alongside the teacher. Teachers receive annual training within the IB continuum.
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 training
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
Two "Child Protection/ Student Safeguarding Officers" work with the counsellors and the administration. The school trains all employees and outside service providers in child protection. Counsellors serve both the primary and the secondary school; for long-term therapy the school keeps a list of outside physicians and psychologists.
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 data70 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)95 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data80 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