Berlin, Germany
International schools in Berlin: what families need to know
Berlin is unusual among European capitals: alongside the fee-paying international schools there is a large network of state bilingual and Europa-Schulen where instruction runs in two languages and there is no tuition. That makes Berlin one of the more affordable places in Western Europe to educate children in English — provided you are in the right catchment and apply on the local timetable, which is earlier and more rigid than most arriving families expect. This guide covers admissions, curricula, the school year, fees, areas and how places actually work here.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Your request
- Where you are moving
- Berlin
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
One request. We ask relevant schools whether they have places for each child. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Example request. School names in these examples are fictional.
Berlin in short
- Curricula available in Berlin: German state, Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin, IB, British and American.
- The Berlin school year runs Late August or early September to early July, with the main intake at the start of it.
- Schools are overseen by Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie (Berlin).
- Tuition is published per year group by each school. Registration, deposit, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are normally billed separately.
- Availability is decided per child, per year group and per campus, so two children in one family can get two different answers from the same Berlin school.
- You can create one request and we ask relevant Berlin schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished September 2026Last reviewed September 2026
Berlin at a glance
The facts that shape a Berlin school search
- Oversight
- Senatsverwaltung für Bildung, Jugend und Familie (Berlin)
- Main curricula
- German state, Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin, IB, British and American
- School year
- Late August or early September to early July
- Ages served
- Grundschule from age 6; Kita and preschool before that
- Language
- German in the state system; English or bilingual at international schools
How admissions work in Berlin
Most Berlin schools follow the same stages, whatever the curriculum.
- 1
Enquire and check the year group
Confirm the year group each child would enter in Berlin. Age cut-offs differ between systems, so the same child can be placed a year apart in two schools.
- 2
Assessment
Most schools assess before offering a place. This can be a short online task, a classroom visit or a subject test, depending on age.
- 3
Offer, deposit and registration
An offer is usually held only after a registration fee or deposit is paid. Check whether either is refundable before you accept.
Documents to prepare
Some documents can take time to arrange from abroad. Start collecting them before you have chosen a school.
- Passport and, where required, visa or residence documents for each child
- Birth certificate
- School reports for the last two years
- Transfer or leaving certificate from the previous school
- Vaccination and health records
- Any learning support or assessment reports, shared early rather than late
More detail: how international-school admissions work.
Curricula families meet in Berlin
We explain each system once, in the curricula library, rather than repeating it city by city.
British curriculum
IGCSE and A Level, and how English year groups are set by age.
International Baccalaureate
PYP, MYP and the Diploma, and who the IB suits on a later move.
American curriculum
US grades, high-school credits and AP, with their own placement rules.
Changing curriculum mid-move
What transfers cleanly between systems and where a child may repeat or skip a year.
The Berlin school year and when to apply
Timing decides how much choice you have. These are the stages most families move through.
Six to nine months ahead
Start looking for the main intake
Popular year groups in Berlin fill first, and assessment slots become scarce close to the intake.
Three to six months ahead
Assessments and offers
Schools assess, then make offers within days or weeks. Registration fees and deposits usually follow immediately.
One to three months ahead
Places confirmed, waiting lists move
Waiting lists move as leaving families release places, so keep asking rather than assuming a school is closed.
Start of the school year
Term begins
The Berlin school year runs late August or early September to early July.
Mid-year
In-year entry
Possible, but limited to whichever year groups have room. This is where asking schools directly saves the most time.
What school costs in Berlin
Published tuition is the starting figure, not the total. These are the charges to budget for.
What the Berlin market costs, in round numbers
Mid band- Primary, per year
- EUR 8,000 – 18,000
- Secondary, per year
- EUR 12,000 – 24,000
- Roughly, in US dollars
- US$9,000 – 26,000
Indicative annual tuition across mainstream international schools, for the stated academic year. Individual schools publish their own fees per year group, the top of each market runs above these ranges, and registration, deposits, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are billed separately. Figures refer to the 2025/26 academic year. Compare fees across cities.
- Tuition
- Published per year group by each school
- Registration fee
- Charged at application or offer stage, usually non-refundable
- Deposit
- Secures the place and is often deducted from the first term's tuition
- Transport
- School transport is charged separately and varies by distance and route
- Uniform, books, devices
- One-off costs at the start of the year, higher in the first year
- Meals and activities
- Optional at most schools, but a real part of the annual budget
- Examination entries
- IGCSE, A Level, IB and AP entries are billed in the exam years
See also understanding international school fees.
Places and waiting lists
Which Berlin schools have places for your children?
A place is not something a school has in general. It exists for one year group, at one campus, for one intake. Two children in the same family can get two different answers from the same school on the same day.
School websites cannot tell you this. Availability changes when a family leaves, when a contract ends, or when a new year group opens. That is why we ask schools directly instead of publishing a number that would be out of date by the time you read it.
For each child, a Berlin school can answer that a place is available, that there is a waiting list, that the intake is full, or that it cannot confirm yet. You see the answer, the fees and the next step, and you decide where to focus.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Answers from schools · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School
Answered in 1 day
North campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
Answered in 2 days
City campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Waiting list, reviewed monthlyWaiting list
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
Answered in 3 days
Main campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Full for the August intakeFull for this intake
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Register interest for January
Your contact details are shared only with the schools you continue with.
Example answers. School names in these examples are fictional.
Choosing where to live in Berlin
We do not rank areas. These are the questions that decide whether a school works day to day.
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Zehlendorf
The traditional international school belt in the west and south-west: leafy, family-oriented, several long-established schools, higher rents.
Mitte and Prenzlauer Berg
Central, apartment living, strong state and bilingual primary provision and a few international schools. Popular with families who want to walk or cycle to school.
Potsdam and the south-western edge
Over the Brandenburg border, with houses, gardens and international provision. Note that Brandenburg is a different Land with its own school rules.
Pankow and the north-east
Growing fast with young families. Newer bilingual provision, better value housing, longer journeys to the western schools.
Moving to Berlin with children: a checklist
The school-related steps that decide how smooth the first term is.
- Confirm each child's year group under the curriculum you are moving to in Berlin.
- Collect and, where required, attest school reports and certificates before you leave.
- Ask schools about places for every child in the same request, not one at a time.
- Check whether registration fees and deposits are refundable if your move date changes.
- Check the visa or residency steps that enrolment can depend on.
- Ask about learning support early, since capacity is decided case by case.
- Line up housing only after you know which school can take all of your children.
See also the moving-abroad timeline.
Moving with more than one child
One school that works for every child, not one child
Most families moving to Berlin are moving with more than one child, and the hardest part is rarely finding a good school. It is finding one school that can take all of your children in the same year.
Checking each child separately, school by school, is where the search becomes slow. A school that has room in Year 1 may be full in Year 4, and you only learn that after two emails and a wait.
One request covers every child. Each school answers for each child, so you can see immediately where all of your children could start together, and where you would be splitting the family across two schools.
- Ask once for the whole family, not once per child.
- See sibling answers side by side before you contact anyone.
- Ask about sibling priority and start dates while places are still open.
Answers side by side
Westbrook International School
Harbour Ridge Academy
Elmfield International College
Sofia · Year 4
Luca · Year 1
Curriculum
British
British
British
Area
North campus
City campus
Main campus
Annual fees
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Next step
Assessment, then offer
Campus visit, then assessment
Register interest for January
Example comparison. School names in these examples are fictional.
How schooling works in Berlin
Education in Germany is run by each Land, so Berlin's rules are Berlin's own and differ from Brandenburg, Bavaria or Hamburg. Berlin's Grundschule runs six years rather than the four common elsewhere, which changes when secondary choices are made. Private schools operate as Ersatzschulen — recognised alternatives following state-approved programmes — or as international schools running their own curricula.
The Staatliche Europa-Schule Berlin is a genuinely different offer
SESB is a state programme running bilingual classes in German plus a partner language — English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Greek and Portuguese — across primary and secondary, without tuition fees.
Places are allocated with an intended balance between native speakers of each language, so the year your child applies and their first language both matter. Apply in the official window; there is no rolling admission.
Six years of primary changes the timeline
In Berlin most children stay in Grundschule to year 6, then move to a Gymnasium or Integrierte Sekundarschule. A few Gymnasien admit from year 5.
Families arriving from systems that transfer at 11 should check which year group their child enters here before assuming the equivalent grade.
International schools: fees, and what sits outside them
Berlin's international schools are less expensive than Munich, Zurich or London, and several offer the IB Diploma alongside German qualifications.
Registration fees, a one-off enrolment or development contribution, lunch, buses and trips are billed separately. Some schools operate income-scaled tuition, which is uncommon elsewhere.
Anmeldung, and why the paperwork comes first
Registering your address (Anmeldung) is the gateway to most administration in Germany, including state school registration and catchment allocation.
Schools ask for the child's records, birth certificate, vaccination proof — measles vaccination is a legal requirement for school attendance — and, for state schools, proof of Berlin residence.
German support for new arrivals
Berlin runs Willkommensklassen: preparatory classes where newly arrived children build German before moving into mainstream classes.
This works well at primary age. For a teenager arriving mid-secondary without German, an international school is usually the more realistic route to a school-leaving qualification.
What families get wrong in Berlin
The local details that cost families a term, a deposit or a long daily drive.
Missing the state application window
Berlin's state and Europa-Schule admissions run on fixed windows months ahead of the school year. Arrive after it and you take what is left.
Assuming Brandenburg rules match Berlin
Potsdam and the outer suburbs are a different Land with different admission rules and cut-offs.
Registering the address late
No Anmeldung, no catchment, no state place. Book the appointment as early as you can — slots are scarce.
Expecting a transfer at age 11
Berlin primary usually runs to year 6, so the secondary transfer sits a year later than in many systems.
Overlooking measles vaccination proof
It is a legal condition of attendance and schools check it at enrolment.
Ruling out the state system too quickly
Bilingual and Europa-Schule provision is strong and free. Many families who assumed they needed a private school did not.
Official Berlin resources
Primary sources for regulation, inspection and enrolment. We link out rather than paraphrase.
How InternationalSchools.org works in Berlin
One request. We ask relevant Berlin schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
- 1
Create one request for Berlin
Where you are moving, each child's age, the curriculum you prefer and when you want to start. One request covers the whole family.
- 2
We ask relevant Berlin schools
We start with schools that serve your children's ages in Berlin. Curriculum, budget and area help us decide which relevant schools to ask first.
- 3
Schools answer for each child
Availability, fees, timing and what happens next. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Schools cannot pay to be prioritised, and we do not publish scores or predict availability. How we select schools.
Questions families ask about Berlin
Find out which Berlin schools have places for your children
One request, every child, answers from the schools themselves.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Go deeper on Berlin
How fees compare across cities
What is published, what is billed separately and how Berlin compares with the other markets we cover.
Compare the main curricula
British, IB and American side by side, and what a later move between countries changes.
How admissions work
The stages most international schools use, and where relocating families lose time.
Continue reading
Waiting lists and availability
How waiting lists really work, and what to ask before you join one.
School year and intake timing
When places open, and what a mid-year move changes.
How it works
From one request to answers from the schools themselves.
Other destinations
You can create a request for any destination, published guide or not.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Guide version 3.0. Berlin information is compiled from official regulators, curriculum authorities and school-published material. Fees, intakes and requirements are set by individual schools and change, so confirm details directly with a school before you rely on them.
Sources
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