The best international schools in Berlin: fees, curricula, and how to choose

For a family moving to Berlin, the school question is the one that quietly sets everything else: which side of the city you live on, how your mornings run, and how much of the year's budget is spoken for before you have signed a lease. Berlin is unusually good on choice, with a cluster of English-medium international schools, several bilingual German-English schools, and a genuinely free bilingual state school that most newcomers never hear about.

This guide covers the seven schools a newly arrived family is most likely to shortlist. For each one you get the address, the real per-child fee range, the curriculum and language of instruction, and whether the fee is flat or scaled to your income, because in Berlin that distinction is the single biggest thing separating one bill from another. If free public school or the state bilingual routes are also on your list, read the companion Schooling in Berlin guide first, which covers the German-medium state system, the Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin (SESB) bilingual track, and the John F. Kennedy School.

Two things worth knowing before the numbers below. First, Berlin splits its private sector in a way Spain or the UK does not: three of these schools charge flat, market-rate tuition, while three are state-recognised Ersatzschulen whose fees are scaled to household income under Germany's Sonderungsverbot rule, so a family on a modest income can pay a fraction of the top band. Second, fees are the published tariffs for 2025/26, and almost every school adds a one-time admission or enrolment fee, plus media, lunch, or resource charges on top. Confirm the exact figure for your child's year group with admissions before you budget.

Berlin International School: full IB at the lower end

Where: Dahlem, southwest Berlin. Language: English. Curriculum: the full International Baccalaureate continuum, from Primary Years through the Diploma, ages 3 to 18. Fees per child, per year: roughly €12,300 for the primary grades, €13,560 for grades 7 to 10, and €18,240 for the Diploma years. Fee type: flat, market-rate.

The most affordable of Berlin's fully independent international schools, and the natural first look for families who specifically want the IB the whole way through rather than a British curriculum that only converts to IB at sixth form. It runs a smaller, more community-feel campus than BBIS, with a genuine IB Primary-to-Diploma pathway. Budget for a one-time admission fee of around €800 plus annual resource fees of €125 to €225 on top of tuition. Fees step up noticeably at the Diploma years, so the headline early-years figure is the cheap end of the range, not the average.

Berlin British School: British curriculum, IB primary years

Where: Charlottenburg, west Berlin. Language: English. Curriculum: the English National Curriculum through to IGCSE and A-Level, with an IB Primary Years Programme option for younger children, ages 2/3 to 18. Fees per child, per year: about €13,100 to €19,400 depending on year group. Fee type: flat, market-rate, with a 2.5% sibling discount.

The pick for families who want a recognisable British pathway that travels cleanly if you move again, accredited as a British school overseas. Younger children can start on the IB Primary Years Programme before joining the National Curriculum stream. It is one of the pricier options once a child reaches the secondary years, and published figures vary a little by source, so confirm the live tariff directly with the school. The 2.5% sibling reduction is modest but real, and worth asking to have applied in writing.

Berlin Brandenburg International School: the established IB name, with boarding

Where: Kleinmachnow, just southwest of the city limits in Brandenburg. Language: English. Curriculum: the full IB continuum (Primary, Middle Years, and Diploma), ages 3 to 18, with boarding from around Grade 9. Fees per child, per year: from about €14,900 at Early Education up to over €32,000 in the senior school; boarding is charged separately, roughly €25,000 to €29,800 a year. Fee type: flat, market-rate.

The most established international school in greater Berlin, with the longest track record and the widest fee range of the group. It is the only school here with a boarding option, which makes it a real possibility for families splitting time between cities. Two caveats. The top of the day-fee range is the highest of any school in this guide, and published figures for the Primary and boarding tiers vary by source, so pin the exact number down with admissions. And the Kleinmachnow campus sits outside Berlin proper, a genuine commute unless you settle on the southwest side.

Berlin Metropolitan School: income-scaled IB in Mitte

Where: Linienstraße 122, 10115 Berlin (Mitte). Language: bilingual German and English. Curriculum: IB Primary Years and Diploma plus Cambridge IGCSE, ages 3 to 18. Fees per child, per year: roughly €9,430 to €14,740, scaled to household income (about €100 a month at the lowest band up to €1,340 a month at the top). Fee type: income-scaled Ersatzschule.

The largest international school in central Berlin, with well over a thousand pupils from dozens of countries, and the most convenient of the group if you are living in the middle of the city. Because it is a state-recognised Ersatzschule, tuition is scaled to income rather than charged as a flat rate, which can make it meaningfully cheaper than the fully independent schools for families who are not at the top of the income bands. Budget for media fees of roughly €300 to €500 a year for books and materials on top of tuition. Primary lunches are covered; secondary meals are billed separately.

Berlin Cosmopolitan School: bilingual, near Hackescher Markt

Where: Mitte, between Alexanderplatz and Hackescher Markt. Language: bilingual German and English. Curriculum: the IB Diploma, a bilingual German Abitur, or both, ages 2 to grade 12. Fees per child, per year: income-scaled, reaching roughly €10,800 to €15,840 a year at the top bands and considerably less lower down. Fee type: income-scaled Ersatzschule.

A smaller, central bilingual school of around 700 pupils, and a strong option for families who want their child genuinely bilingual rather than educated only in English. The route to either the IB Diploma or the bilingual Abitur is unusual and useful: it keeps both a German and an international pathway open for as long as possible. Like Metropolitan, fees are based on gross household income, so the figure above is the ceiling, not what most families pay. Its central location suits families living in Mitte or the inner east rather than out in the leafier southwest.

Phorms Berlin: three bilingual campuses

Where: three sites, in Mitte, Zehlendorf (Süd), and Prenzlauer Berg. Language: bilingual German and English. Curriculum: a bilingual German-English programme to the Abitur, with IB options, from nursery upward. Fees per child, per year: income-scaled, from about €118 a month for households under €50,000 up to roughly €1,038 a month for households over €130,000. Fee type: income-scaled.

Phorms is the pick if location matters and you want a bilingual German-English education without a five-figure flat bill: with three campuses across the city, one is likely near where you settle. Its sibling and loyalty discounts are the most generous in this guide, 25% off the second child, 50% off the third, and 75% off the fourth, plus a loyalty reduction of 10% after six years and 20% after ten. For a family moving two or three children, or planning to stay long-term, that changes the maths considerably. As with the other income-scaled schools, you will need to document household income.

Nelson Mandela School: the free bilingual state option

Where: two campuses, primary at Pfalzburger Straße 23 (Wilmersdorf) and secondary on Kastanienallee (Charlottenburg). Language: bilingual, with the German and maths curricula following Berlin's framework and the primary curriculum aligned to the National Curriculum for England. Curriculum: state bilingual, leading to either the bilingual Abitur or the IB Diploma. Fees per child, per year: free. Fee type: state-funded, no tuition and no application fee.

The outlier, and the answer to the question every parent eventually asks: is there a good English-German bilingual school that does not cost a fortune? Founded by the Berlin senate in 2000, Nelson Mandela is a state international school that takes children from grade 1 to 13 and offers a genuine bilingual route to the Abitur or the IB, at no cost. The catch is demand: it is heavily oversubscribed, places are allocated under Berlin's admission rules rather than rolling international enrolment, and waiting lists are the norm. If it is the plan, contact the school as early as you possibly can and confirm the entry points and any bilingual requirements for your child.

How to actually choose

The honest shortcut in Berlin: decide the fee model before you fall for a campus. Three of these schools (BIS, Berlin British School, BBIS) charge flat, market-rate tuition; three (Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan, Phorms) scale fees to your income; and one (Nelson Mandela) is free but hard to get into. A family on a middle income can pay far less at an income-scaled Ersatzschule than at a flat-fee school for a comparable bilingual education, so the sticker price of the independent schools is not the whole picture.

Then weigh three things the headline fee hides:

• Language and pathway. English-only families gravitate to BIS, Berlin British School, and BBIS; families who want their child truly bilingual are better served by Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan, Phorms, or Nelson Mandela. Decide whether you want an IB, a British, or a bilingual-Abitur route, and half the list eliminates itself.
• The extras and the upfront hit. Admission fees (around €800), enrolment fees, media and resource charges, and lunch all land on top of tuition, and the deposits are only partly refundable. Factor them into the first year, not the annual average.
• Location and commute. Mitte schools (Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan) suit inner-city families; BBIS in Kleinmachnow and the southwest campuses suit families settling out that way. A cross-city school run in Berlin traffic is a real daily cost.

Finally, timing. The independent international schools run rolling admissions on their own calendar and are not tied to the German school year's October registration window, but popular year groups at the established names still fill ahead of September. The state and bilingual options (Nelson Mandela, SESB, JFKS) are competitive and worth inquiring about the moment your move is confirmed. Where you can, visit in person: fees and curricula narrow the list, but a morning on campus is what actually makes the decision.

Frequently asked questions

Do my children have to speak German to go to an international school in Berlin? No. BIS, Berlin British School, and BBIS teach in English and routinely take children with little or no German, with in-school language support. The bilingual schools (Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan, Phorms, Nelson Mandela) do teach substantial German from the start, so they suit families who want their child to become bilingual rather than those hoping to avoid German entirely.

What is the cheapest way to get an English-language education in Berlin? The genuinely free routes are the state bilingual options: the Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin (SESB) network, the John F. Kennedy School, and Nelson Mandela School, all covered here or in the companion Schooling in Berlin guide. All are oversubscribed. Among paid schools, the income-scaled Ersatzschulen (Metropolitan, Cosmopolitan, Phorms) are cheaper than the flat-fee international schools for most middle-income families, and Berlin International School is the lowest-priced of the fully independent ones.

What does "income-scaled" tuition actually mean? Under Germany's Sonderungsverbot rule, a state-recognised private school that receives public subsidy cannot select pupils purely by ability to pay, so several Berlin schools set tuition on a sliding scale tied to gross household income. You submit income documentation and pay the band you fall into. A family under €30,000 to €50,000 might pay around €100 a month, while a high-earning household pays the top band. It is not a discount you negotiate, it is the published fee model.

We are arriving mid-year. Can our child still start? Yes. The independent international schools admit on a rolling basis whenever they have space, so mid-year entry is normal there. For the state and bilingual schools, go to your district's Schulamt rather than the school itself, as that office assigns places outside the normal window and works through the summer. If your child has little German and is entering the state system, ask specifically about a Willkommensklasse, the welcome class that runs alongside a mainstream one until the language catches up.

Are there sibling discounts? Yes, and they vary a lot. Phorms is the most generous, with 25% off the second child, 50% off the third, and 75% off the fourth, plus loyalty reductions for long-standing families. Berlin British School offers a smaller 2.5% reduction. At the income-scaled schools the sliding scale already does much of the work. Everywhere else, treat a sibling reduction as something to ask about directly and get in writing.

What paperwork do I need to register for school in Berlin? For the state system, bring the child's birth certificate, proof of your address registration (Anmeldung beim Bürgeramt), residence documents (an Aufenthaltstitel for non-EU nationals), the mandatory measles vaccination proof, and previous school reports. The independent schools run their own admissions with an application, assessment, and previous reports; requirements are lighter on the residence side but the assessment and fees come earlier.

Use the school comparison below to line up fees, curricula, and verdicts side by side, then confirm the exact number for your child's year group with each admissions office. Published tariffs move every year, and in Berlin the gap between a flat fee and an income-scaled one is where the real budget lives.