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.
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What you tell us
- Where you are moving
- Berlin
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
You tell us once, for every child. Your adviser assesses the brief and contacts relevant admissions teams on your behalf.
Example only. 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 tell us what your family needs once, and see matched Berlin schools with places, fees and next steps.
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 relevant schools answer 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.
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
Your schools · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School
From the school
North campus · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Place availablePlace available for August
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
From the school
City campus · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Waiting listWaiting list, reviewed monthly
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
From our team
Main campus · British · Annual fees: Earlier-year reference fee
Fees for your intake not yet confirmed
- Sofia · Year 4Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
- Luca · Year 1Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
Next step: We ask admissions to confirm
Every option says who provided the information and whether places are confirmed. Your adviser explains what each answer means for your children.
Example school options. 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.
Your schools, side by side
Westbrook International School
- Information
- From the school
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- North campus
- Annual fees
- Confirmed for your intake
- Next step
- Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
- Information
- From the school
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- City campus
- Annual fees
- Confirmed for your intake
- Next step
- Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
- Information
- From our team
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- Main campus
- Annual fees
- Earlier-year reference fee
- Next step
- We ask admissions to confirm
Westbrook International School
Harbour Ridge Academy
Elmfield International College
Sofia · Year 4
Luca · Year 1
Information
From the school
From the school
From our team
Curriculum
British
British
British
Area
North campus
City campus
Main campus
Annual fees
Confirmed for your intake
Confirmed for your intake
Earlier-year reference fee
Next step
Assessment, then offer
Campus visit, then assessment
We ask admissions to confirm
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
Tell us what your family needs once, and see matched schools in Berlin with places, fees and next steps.
- 1
Tell us about your family and Berlin
Your children's ages and year groups, the curriculum you prefer, your budget and when you want to start. One brief covers every child named in it.
- 2
Your adviser researches Berlin
A 30-minute consultation, then research of the schools in Berlin that suit each child, and contact with relevant admissions teams about your start date.
- 3
Receive your recommendations
Three recommended schools plus up to two alternatives where suitable, with written reasoning for each child, a review call and follow-up questions answered for 30 days.
We do not publish scores or predict availability. How we select schools.
Questions families ask about Berlin
Find international schools in Berlin for your children
One conversation, every child, answers from the schools themselves.
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
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 telling us what you need to answers from the schools themselves.
Other destinations
You can search 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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